New evidence of brutal repression of Uighurs in China

The leaked documents are part of the largest ever data leak from state-run re-education camps in northwest China’s Xinjiang region. They illustrate the extent of the mass persecution and detention of many people. The “Xingjiang Police Dossier”, which is now being reported by a group of international media outlets, contains information on about 300,000 Chinese registered by the authorities, mostly members of the Uighur Muslim minority. Official photos, speeches and instructions show that the camps are not “vocational training institutions”, as the Chinese government claims, but camps held under the supervision of major security forces, according to reporters from 14 media companies from around the world. In Germany, Bayerischer Rundfunk and Der Spiegel are involved in this research.

Security guards with rifles, chairs for torture…

Published photos show security forces with rifles in their arms. Other photos document how men armed with batons lead away a prisoner with handcuffs on his hands and feet. He is carrying a black bag over his head and, at the end of the series of photos, is sitting in a so-called tiger chair – a special chair that, according to human rights organization Human Rights Watch, is used for torture in Chinese prisons. This data also includes a speech previously unknown from 2017, of the then leader of the Communist Party in the Xinjiang region. It says that any prisoner who tries to escape, even if only a few steps, should be “shot dead”.

High prison sentences

For many people, the authorities have recorded the reason for their detention there. It is known that a man together with his mother listened for an hour to an audio recording, which included “religious taxes”. They were both sentenced to 20 years in prison “for preparing a terrorist act”. For studying religious books, another person was jailed for a full 34 years after this offense and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He too has been convicted of converting and preparing terrorist acts. The 15-day workout in a fitness gym has been interpreted by Chinese security authorities as preparation for a terrorist act. The person for this offense has been sentenced to twelve years in prison.

The “Xinjiang Police Files” were provided to German anthropologist Adrian Zenz by an anonymous source. According to the researcher, the data came from computer systems in the Public Security Bureau in Ili and Kashgar counties in Xinjiang region. For security reasons, he hacked into computer systems and then contacted the person. According to Zenz, the person provided the data unconditionally and was not paid any money. Germany then forwarded these documents to the media.

Zenz has been heavily involved in the discovery of the Xinjiang camp system in the past. For the China expert, who is researching at the Communist Victims Memorial Foundation in Washington, “Xinjiang Police Files” represent a “new dimension.” The material is “unique” and rejects the “Chinese state propaganda” that it is a “normal school”.

The Chinese government has not yet commented on the published documents and photos. In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC did not answer specific questions, but explained that the measures in Xinjiang were directed against terrorist efforts and not against “human rights or a particular religion.”

Bütikofer demands new sanctions against China

The head of the European Parliament delegation for relations with the People’s Republic of China, Reinhard Bütikofer, calls for new sanctions against China, following the “Xinjiang Police Files”. “The photos show ‘with dramatic clarity’ what we are dealing with here,” the environmentalist said in an interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk and Der Spiegel magazine. These “images of horror” must be clearly condemned by the European Union.

The publication of the “Xinjiang Police Files” coincides with the visit of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to China. Bachelet is expected to visit the cities of Urumqi and Kashgar in Xinjiang this Tuesday and Wednesday. The Beijing government has been accused in the past of deporting more than a million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities to “re-education camps” in the far-west region of the country.

In addition, Uighur cultural sites are said to have been razed to the ground. The whole region is under strict surveillance. The US talks about genocide. They also expressed doubts that Bachelet would take an “unmanipulated” view of the situation. China vehemently denies the allegations./DW

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