Chinese treatment of Uyghurs

welland2

Jan 21

This is a post from Amnesty International about the fearsome treatment and torture of Uyghurs

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(Trigger warning: Descriptions of a graphic nature)

"The man was forced to sit in an iron chair in our cell for three days. His arms and legs were chained so he urinated and defecated in the chair. He died after he was taken from the cell." These are the words of Madi—a detainee in a camp set up by the Chinese government in the Xinjiang region, where ethnic minorities, including Muslims, are being held and tortured.

Up to one million people are held under repressive conditions in camps like these. This is the result of a systematic drive by the authorities to erase the religious and cultural identities of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other mainly Muslim ethnic minorities, and replace them with the secular ideals of the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese government vehemently rejects all allegations of human rights abuses in the camps, which are known as 'transformation through education' centres. It continues to deny investigators access to the region, and no global action against these practices is currently being taken.

But by interviewing people who were held in the camps—each without having committed any internationally-recognised criminal offence—Amnesty International has exposed the truth about the Chinese government's crimes against humanity.

Using data gleaned from one of the world's most sophisticated and intrusive mass surveillance systems, police routinely take people they believe to be 'suspicious', 'untrustworthy', or a 'terrorist' from their homes without warning. Then, they interrogate them and record their biometric data before sending them to the camps. There's no privacy for those detained. Everyone is monitored and evaluated 24/7 and forced to speak in Mandarin Chinese—a language many of them don't understand. If they fail to do so, they're given brutally punishments, including being forced to sit still in uncomfortable positions for the entire day.

Detainees are also forced to attend classes where they're indoctrinated to reject the 'evils' of Islam and embrace China's prosperity, power, and 'benevolence'. According to former detainee Yerulan, "The purpose of the classes was to destroy our religion. They said that it was not Allah who gave you everything, it was President Xi Jinping."

Everyone interviewed by Amnesty International was tortured or subjected to severe ill-treatment. Some suffered beatings, electric shocks, extreme cold, or solitary confinement. Others were deprived of food, water, and sleep. Mansur, a farmer, describes an interrogation session: "If I told them I'd been praying, I'd get sentenced for 25 years. So, I told them I never prayed. Then they became upset. They said, 'All that time with livestock, you became an animal too!' They hit me with a chair until it broke. I almost fainted. They said, 'This guy hasn't changed yet, he needs to stay in the camp longer.'"

Amnesty International continues to hold China to account for its blatant human rights abuses. But all over the world, people are being persecuted because of their religion, ethnicity, and beliefs. By remembering Amnesty International UK in your Will, you'll be supporting us to expose oppressive governments and demand justice for their crimes against humanity. Get your free guide to writing your Will today.