Biometric data collected from entire Chinese region ‘violates human rights’

CHINESE authorities have collected DNA and other biometric data from the entire population of Xinjiang, the volatile western region, campaigners said yesterday, denouncing the operation as a gross violation of human rights.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Xinjiang in recent years in violence between Uighurs, a mostly Muslim people, and Han Chinese, the ethnic majority, which Beijing blames on Islamist militants. The unrest has fuelled a sweeping security crackdown, including restrictions of religious and cultural expression, and widespread surveillance, rights advocates say.

Police had collected pictures, fingerprints, iris scans and household registration information, while health authorities took DNA samples and blood type information as part of a Physicals For All programme, Human Rights Watch said in a statement, citing a government document.

“The mandatory databanking of a whole population’s biodata, including DNA, is a gross violation of international human rights norms, and it’s even more disturbing if it is done surreptitiously, under the guise of a free healthcare programme,” said Sophie Richardson, the group’s China director.

State media reporting on the campaign checks have said participation was voluntary.

Last month, Xinhu, the official China news agency, cited health authorities as saying 18.8million people in the region had received such physicals in 2017 for a 100 per cent coverage rate.

According to the Xinjiang-wide plan posted online by the Aksu city government in July, the main goals for the campaign include collecting the biometric data for all people between 12 and 65, and verifying the region’s population for a database.

“Blood type information should be sent to the county-level police bureaus, and DNA blood cards should be sent to the county police bureaus for inspection,” the plan said. Data for “priority individuals” should be collected regardless of age, it said, using a term the government has adopted to refer to people deemed a security risk.

Xinjiang officials could not be reached for comment.

Lu Kang, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, has accused Human Rights Watch of “untrue” statements.

The group also cited an unidentified Xinjiang resident saying he feared being labelled with “political disloyalty” if he did not participate, and that he had not received any results from the health checks.