Xinjiang province has become dystopian hellscape: Amnesty
China is committing human rights abuses on Muslim minorities in the province of Xinjiang, a “dystopian hellscape” where brainwashing and torture in camps are commonplace, human rights group, Amnesty International has said.
“Uighurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) face systematic state-organised mass imprisonment, torture and persecution amounting to crimes against humanity,” a report said, quoting dozens of new testimonies from former camp detainees. “The Chinese authorities have created a ‘dystopian hellscape’ on a staggering scale in XUAR,” Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said at the release of the report on Thursday.
Sleep deprivation, beatings, and the use of “tiger chairs” iron chairs with iron buckles to restrain those being questioned - were recorded, the report said, adding that detainees could be hooded and shackled during questioning.
“It should shock the conscience of humanity that massive number of people have been subjected to brainwashing, torture and other degrading treatment in internment camps, while millions more live in fear amid a vast surveillance apparatus,” Callamard added.
The Chinese government does not deny the existence of camps in XUAR - it first acknowledged the camps in October, 2018 - but says they are part of anti-terrorism and de-radicalisation efforts in the region in accordance with the law to protect people’s lives.
In February, state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi told the UN Human Rights Council that it was taking counter-terrorism measures in accordance with the law and that Xinjiang enjoyed “social stability and sound development” after four years without any “terrorist case”.
People of all ethnic groups enjoy labour rights and Muslims were free to pray in the 24,000 mosques in Xinjiang, he said.
HK to censor films citing national security worries
Hong Kong censors are to vet all films for national security breaches under expanded powers announced on Friday. Authorities have embarked on a sweeping crackdown to root out Beijing’s critics after huge and often violent democracy protests convulsed the city in 2019.
In a statement, the government said the Film Censorship Ordinance had been expanded to include “any act or activity which may amount to an offence endangering national security”.