Uyghur activists and exiles had hoped that a long-delayed United Nations report on China’s alleged human rights abuses would make it impossible for the world to ignore their plight.

On Thursday, they grappled with a less crucial finding: a report that justified claims of systemic Chinese abuse but failed to use the word “genocide,” signaling a long battle ahead.

Minutes before stepping down from her post as UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet released a 46-page “final assessment” documenting what she described as possible “crimes against humanity” committed by China over a number of years.

The text – which was fiercely opposed by Beijing – contained serious allegations of mass arrests, torture, sexual violence and forced medical procedures against China’s Muslim and Uyghur minorities in the Xinjiang region.

For Norway-based activist Abduweli Ayup, it was “a very emotional moment,” a justification after years of being blocked by Beijing’s vocal denials.

It’s a statement to the skeptics, “yes, these things really happened,” he said.

“It’s really important.”

Many Uyghurs had counted on Bachelet as their advocate, believing that their past experiences would lead them to listen sensitively to their plight.

The former Chilean president was a political prisoner herself, suffered torture and was forced into exile.

Her father died against the regime of military dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Crucially, the UN report did not declare the alleged crimes to be genocide – an indictment with the power to upend China’s relations with much of the world.

For many Uyghurs, the report was therefore only a partial victory.

“We were hoping Bachelet would be a voice for the Uyghurs,” said Salih Hudayar, a Uyghur-American campaigner for the independence of Xinjiang, also known to some as “East Turkestan.”

“But on the contrary, they remained silent and tried to placate the Chinese government.”

Hudayar, like many others, suspects that China’s intense behind-the-scenes lobbying has resulted in the report being significantly watered down, calling into question the integrity of the UN itself.

Sadam Abdusalam was not surprised. Abdusalam, a young Australian Uyghur whose wife and infant were until recently trapped in China, has never put much faith in the UN or its report to make a difference.

“There have already been many reports of what is happening in Xinjiang,” he told AFP, citing years of revelations that have failed to stop abuses and hit a wall of Chinese denial.

“Many Uyghurs have false hopes. What can the UN or the rest of the world actually do to help?” he asked. “We need real action.”

For others, the UN can still redeem itself.

Born out of the ashes of World War II and the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, the UN Office for Human Rights was founded by Bachelet to ensure history would not repeat itself.

Tahir Imin, an activist and academic, said the UN could have done more earlier, but he believes half a step is better than no step.

It is a “signal that humanity is still alive,” he said, expressing hope that leaders now see the report and feel spurred into action.

Above all, he wants what is happening in Xinjiang to end – no matter what label he is given.

“I wish to get out of prison for my mother, two brothers, sisters-in-law, uncles and aunts who are imprisoned for their identity and their relationship to me,” he told AFP.

“(I wish) my ex-wife, my daughter and everyone else could see the light of a bright sun, breathe freely and hear my voice.”