state security - uighurs

• Since 2017, under the guise of a campaign against ‘terrorism’, the government of China has carried out massive and systematic abuses against Muslims living in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
• article 17 of ICCPR

  'no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home, or correspondence’
• VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 17

  Amnesty International 

  • Denotes Xinjiang to be that of an ‘omnipresent surveillance state’. 
  • Data collection is primarily conducted through the Integrated Joint Operations Platform, which has been utilised for ‘reporting on activists or circumstances deemed suspicious and promoting investigations of people’. 
  • Could include peaceful religious practices, or abnormal (considerably) uses of gasoline or electricity. 
  • ‘Suspicious’ behaviours were reportedly tracked and flagged for ‘reasons’ why Uighurs were sent to camps. 
• VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 17 (continued)

  • Households deemed by the government to be ‘targeted’ (having members in camps) were subjected to heightened  in person monitoring and electronic surveillance. 
  • Since 2014, the government has assigned cadres to live in the homes of ethnic minority residents and monitor their activities, trying to teach ‘correct ideology’. 
• article 18 of ICCPR

  'everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
• VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 18

  Amnesty International 

  • Cultural assimilation through ‘education’ methods employed in internment camps. 
  • Classes fixate on perpetuating Chinese language, law, history and ideology throughout the day, and see detainees ever having to review content covered or watch more of these ‘educational’ videos. 
  • The insistence of showing these classes act to regiment a specific thought in the Uighur individuals of that of a ‘benevolent’ China, forced to sing ‘red songs’ about the greatness of China.
• article 27 of ICCPR

  'minorities shall not be denied the right...to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.’
• VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 27

  Amnesty International 

  • Since 2017, over 16,000 mosques have been destroyed or damaged. 
  • Fear that comes with visiting sites (in the event of their possible desecration)
  • 2017 De-extremification Regulations restricted certain Islamic religious practices like growing an ‘abnormal beard’, wearing a veil or headscarf, regular prayer, or possessing books or articles about Islam.
• INTERNMENT CAMPS

  • Camps are designed to ensure that these types of torture and other ill-treatment are an inescapable aspect of daily life for every detainee
  • Severe beatings, forced ‘confessions’, being shackled or cuffed for extended periods of time