#Newspaper
China convicts Uighurs in sham trials at Xinjiang camps
//Detainees were forced to endure countless hours of indoctrination and language classes, perched on small stools.
//In some facilities, they had to watch TV propaganda broadcasts praising President Xi Jinping for hours on end.The slightest infraction, such as a whispered conversation, was met with swift and harsh punishment.
//After picking a crime from the list came a sham trial, in which the detainees had no legal representation and were convicted without evidence or due process of any kind.
//they were handed a piece of paper detailing more than 70 acts and forced to choose one or several of them. Most of them were religious acts, such as praying or wearing a headscarf.
//the Chinese government has released those with Kazakh residency permits, passports and family members living in Kazakhstan, which is home to a sizable Uighur community.
//For those without outside links and citizenship, however, it is virtually impossible to escape China's vast network of repression and constant surveillance.
//"They threatened us: 'if you don't pick anything, that means you did not confess your crime. If you don't confess, you will stay here forever.' That's why we picked one crime,"
//one man managed to refuse, a rare show of individual bravery in a camp surrounded by high walls and watchtowers and guarded by armed officials.Over the course of three days, officials — some high-ranking — berated him endlessly, trying to force him to sign a confession... he was released into months of strictly monitored house arrest. At the time, he says, he was the only one who was freed, while all the other detainees remained in the camp.
//most acts deemed illegal were of a religious nature is a further indication that the Chinese authorities are targeting the religion and cultural practices of its Muslim minorities in an attempt to eradicate them
//Since 2016, the Chinese government has been arresting ethnic Uighurs and Kazakhs and imprisoning them in what... have been referred to in the West as "re-education" camps.
//According to estimates, at least 1 million of the roughly 10 million Uighurs and Kazakhs living in Xinjiang have disappeared into the vast network of prisons and camps.
//There are legitimate reasons for Chinese authorities to be concerned about Uighur extremism... decades of cultural and political discrimination... state-sponsored migration of the majority ethnic Han Chinese to Xinjiang, widespread discontent has... turned violent.
//in the majority of cases, China is imprisoning Uighurs based on their religious practices and culture, rather than extremist behavior.
//there are three categories of re-education camps: Those with minimum security, which seem to have been built with the goal of reintegrating detainees back into society and have a strong vocational training element. Secondly, there are medium-security facilities, where detainees spend three to five years but are eventually released. Finally, Ruser says, there are the maximum-security facilities, where detainees are locked up indefinitely, "with no intention of ever letting them back into society again" — an extrajudicial form of detention
//imams and those deemed religious are more likely to be sent to prison, sometimes for decades, most likely as they are considered "irreformable."
//Others were sent to labor camps, like one detainee who told DW she was forced to work in a glove factory.
//Their experience has left deep emotional and physical scars. All of the former inmates DW spoke to suffered from obvious post-traumatic stress disorder, including memory loss and insomnia. During the interviews, they alternated between rage and tears, as they recalled their ordeals, which included interrogations and sexual abuse.
Full Article: DW EXCLUSIVE (08-June)
Further reading:
Trump Signs Sanctions Law Over China Crackdown of Uyghurs
https://international.thenewslens.com/amparticle/136604
#China #reeducationcamp #Detention #Xinjiang #Uighurs #Kazakhs #Muslim #Prison
China convicts Uighurs in sham trials at Xinjiang camps
//Detainees were forced to endure countless hours of indoctrination and language classes, perched on small stools.
//In some facilities, they had to watch TV propaganda broadcasts praising President Xi Jinping for hours on end.The slightest infraction, such as a whispered conversation, was met with swift and harsh punishment.
//After picking a crime from the list came a sham trial, in which the detainees had no legal representation and were convicted without evidence or due process of any kind.
//they were handed a piece of paper detailing more than 70 acts and forced to choose one or several of them. Most of them were religious acts, such as praying or wearing a headscarf.
//the Chinese government has released those with Kazakh residency permits, passports and family members living in Kazakhstan, which is home to a sizable Uighur community.
//For those without outside links and citizenship, however, it is virtually impossible to escape China's vast network of repression and constant surveillance.
//"They threatened us: 'if you don't pick anything, that means you did not confess your crime. If you don't confess, you will stay here forever.' That's why we picked one crime,"
//one man managed to refuse, a rare show of individual bravery in a camp surrounded by high walls and watchtowers and guarded by armed officials.Over the course of three days, officials — some high-ranking — berated him endlessly, trying to force him to sign a confession... he was released into months of strictly monitored house arrest. At the time, he says, he was the only one who was freed, while all the other detainees remained in the camp.
//most acts deemed illegal were of a religious nature is a further indication that the Chinese authorities are targeting the religion and cultural practices of its Muslim minorities in an attempt to eradicate them
//Since 2016, the Chinese government has been arresting ethnic Uighurs and Kazakhs and imprisoning them in what... have been referred to in the West as "re-education" camps.
//According to estimates, at least 1 million of the roughly 10 million Uighurs and Kazakhs living in Xinjiang have disappeared into the vast network of prisons and camps.
//There are legitimate reasons for Chinese authorities to be concerned about Uighur extremism... decades of cultural and political discrimination... state-sponsored migration of the majority ethnic Han Chinese to Xinjiang, widespread discontent has... turned violent.
//in the majority of cases, China is imprisoning Uighurs based on their religious practices and culture, rather than extremist behavior.
//there are three categories of re-education camps: Those with minimum security, which seem to have been built with the goal of reintegrating detainees back into society and have a strong vocational training element. Secondly, there are medium-security facilities, where detainees spend three to five years but are eventually released. Finally, Ruser says, there are the maximum-security facilities, where detainees are locked up indefinitely, "with no intention of ever letting them back into society again" — an extrajudicial form of detention
//imams and those deemed religious are more likely to be sent to prison, sometimes for decades, most likely as they are considered "irreformable."
//Others were sent to labor camps, like one detainee who told DW she was forced to work in a glove factory.
//Their experience has left deep emotional and physical scars. All of the former inmates DW spoke to suffered from obvious post-traumatic stress disorder, including memory loss and insomnia. During the interviews, they alternated between rage and tears, as they recalled their ordeals, which included interrogations and sexual abuse.
Full Article: DW EXCLUSIVE (08-June)
Further reading:
Trump Signs Sanctions Law Over China Crackdown of Uyghurs
https://international.thenewslens.com/amparticle/136604
#China #reeducationcamp #Detention #Xinjiang #Uighurs #Kazakhs #Muslim #Prison
Deutsche Welle
China convicts Uighurs in sham trials at Xinjiang camps
More than 1 million Uighurs have disappeared into China's internment camps in Xinjiang province. A DW investigation reveals how many of them were tried for their alleged "crimes" in sham trials.
US Senate Proposed Bipartisan Resolution Seeking to Declare "Genocide" of Uyghurs in China
Many US senators proposed a resolution on Tuesday (October 27), seeking to officially declare China's measures against Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims in Xinjiang a genocide.
A group of bipartisan senators jointly proposed the draft resolution, but the Congress will not consider it until after the general election next week at the earliest. The resolution states that "China's measures against the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region constitute genocide".
Republican Senator John Cornyn, the sponsor, said the resolution is a first step toward holding China accountable for its horrific actions. The Co-sponsor, Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, said the United States could no longer remain silent. He added, "China's aggression against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, including its escalating surveillance, imprisonment, torture, and forced 're-education camps', is nothing short of genocide”.
Source: Apple Daily #Oct28
https://hk.appledaily.com/international/20201028/YYYULP42F5BA5EAH26KU3B7W2I/
#Xinjiang #Uyghurs #USSenate #Kazakhs #EthnicMinoritiesInChina #ChinaGenocideOfUyghurs #MuslimsInChina #ReEducationCamps #JohnCornyn #JeffMerkley
Many US senators proposed a resolution on Tuesday (October 27), seeking to officially declare China's measures against Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims in Xinjiang a genocide.
A group of bipartisan senators jointly proposed the draft resolution, but the Congress will not consider it until after the general election next week at the earliest. The resolution states that "China's measures against the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region constitute genocide".
Republican Senator John Cornyn, the sponsor, said the resolution is a first step toward holding China accountable for its horrific actions. The Co-sponsor, Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, said the United States could no longer remain silent. He added, "China's aggression against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, including its escalating surveillance, imprisonment, torture, and forced 're-education camps', is nothing short of genocide”.
Source: Apple Daily #Oct28
https://hk.appledaily.com/international/20201028/YYYULP42F5BA5EAH26KU3B7W2I/
#Xinjiang #Uyghurs #USSenate #Kazakhs #EthnicMinoritiesInChina #ChinaGenocideOfUyghurs #MuslimsInChina #ReEducationCamps #JohnCornyn #JeffMerkley
China’s Uyghurs living in a ‘dystopian hellscape’, says Amnesty report
Amnesty International has collected new evidence of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region of China, which it says has become a “dystopian hellscape” for hundreds of thousands of Muslims subjected to mass internment and torture.
The human rights organisation has collected more than 50 new accounts from Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities who claim to have been subjected to mass internment and torture in police stations and camps in the region.
Source: The Guardian#Jun10
https://t.co/7zp352CCrM
#China #Uyghur #Xinjiang #Kazakhs #Muslim #HumanRight
Amnesty International has collected new evidence of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region of China, which it says has become a “dystopian hellscape” for hundreds of thousands of Muslims subjected to mass internment and torture.
The human rights organisation has collected more than 50 new accounts from Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities who claim to have been subjected to mass internment and torture in police stations and camps in the region.
Source: The Guardian#Jun10
https://t.co/7zp352CCrM
#China #Uyghur #Xinjiang #Kazakhs #Muslim #HumanRight