31 August 2022, the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report accusing China of human rights violations towards the Uyghur community within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Chinese government issued the following report ‘Fight against terrorism and extremism in Xinjiang: truth and facts’, denouncing the accused violation of human rights. 

Who are the Uyghurs?

The Uyghurs are a Sunni Muslim minority group within China with the largest population of around eleven million located within the Xinjiang province. This Turkic ethnic group is native to the Xinjiang region and in recent years has been under high surveillance observation due to the Chinese government’s initiatives for counter-terrorism. Historically, the region of Xinjiang has been a topic for contention between the Chinese and Uyghurs for centuries, even before the coming to power of the Chinese Communist Party. The region, previously populated with Uyghurs and known as East Turkestan, was conquered in 1759 by the Qing dynasty. After a short success of an independent government in Kashgar in 1867 was formed by Yakub Beg (1820-77), Qing authorities cracked down on his regime and East Turkestan was renamed Xinjiang (New Territory) in 1884. When the People’s Republic of China came to power, Xinjiang was registered as an autonomous region under China’s rule. Tensions rose between Uyghurs and Han Chinese, as Uyghurs of the region wanted sovereignty. These tensions still exist today, and have increased in recent years. Since 2017, over a million Uyghurs have been detained to vocational education and training centres in China’s efforts to combat terrorism in response to the rise in tensions.  

What are the “vocational education and training centres” that Uyghurs and other minorities are being sent to?

In China, the Uyghur community and other minority groups are sent to vocational education and training centres, otherwise known as re-education camps, as a result from terrorist and extremist efforts to separate the Xinjiang province from China. The rise of terrorist and extremist activities has forced the Chinese government to take action in safeguarding the security of the general population, in which the government has enacted counter-terrorism laws within the Xinjiang region. 

These vocational education centres are explained by the Chinese government: 

to “balance harsh  punishment for serious acts, with compassion, leniency, education and rehabilitation for minor cases.” Individuals are placed in these centres for re-education and de-radicalisation to ensure extremist mentality is diminished. 

The UN reports

Within these centres, Uyghurs convicted of minor acts of extremism are to renounce their religious affiliation with Islam, praise communism and learn Mandarin. The “assessment of human rights concerns” report argues that while the Chinese government distinguishes between minor and severe cases of terrorist and extreme actions, the line drawn between the two is unclear. The vagueness on the terrorist laws implemented in the Xinjiang region is critiqued as a deprivation of liberty as the definitions do not specify the extent to which actions are deemed as severe or minor cases. 

These minor acts that have caused the detention of many Uyghurs seem to have been for various reasons, such as visiting mosques, travelling or contacting any of the twenty-six countries sensitive to China, e.g. Turkey and Kazakhstan, and, as many human rights groups conclude, simply practising their religion. The UN reports “patterns of torture or other forms of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, other violations of the right of persons deprived of their liberty to be treated humanely and with dignity, as well as violations of the right to health,” within these vocational education centres through evidence of previously detained Uyghur individuals, journalistic reporting and satellite images.

The Chinese government claimed that these re-education camps had closed in 2019, claiming all detainees had “graduated” from the vocational centres. However, leaked governmental documents and satellite images proved otherwise, as the Australian Strategic Policy Institute discovers that at least 61 detention sites (vocational centres) between July 2019 and July 2020 had experienced expansion or new construction, despite the Chinese government claiming to have closed these centres. 

What does China say?

Chinese government officials argue the “assessment of human rights concerns” overlooks the security policies formulated to address the threats of terrorism and extremism on the Chinese population formulated in the “Fight against terrorism and extremism in Xinjiang” report. The report solidifies the argument of necessary counter-terrorism laws through evidence of terrorist attacks within the region. Further, the Chinese government claims the counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation has explicit and clear legal and policy framework through adhering to the “principles for legally prescribing punishment for specific crimes, presumption of innocent until proven guilty and presumption of evidentiary adjudication.” 

Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, responds to the “so-called assessment” claiming the orchestrated misinformation of the OHCHR was done by Western forces as a political tool to contain China. He raises concern that the OHCHR is funded largely by Western countries, therefore underhandedly enforcing democratic ideology onto China, with ASPI also seeming to convey misinformation to push a narrative of anti-China propaganda. 

Current life as an Uyghur

While these vocational education centres were said to have closed, Uyghurs in Xinjiang still face strict day to day surveillance, as journalist Isobel Yeung captures unprecedented footage of the region. She exposes the high security measures of “airport type security” where bodies and faces are scanned before entering areas, such as malls. She further came across the arrest of a group of Uyghur men and was immediately questioned by Chinese officials and forced to remove evidence. 

Previous detainees came forward to discuss what happened to them in Xinjiang and their community with Yeung. They mentioned their DNA was taken and thorough analysis of their faces were recorded, including their voice, and other forms of violations, including sexual assault. They also mentioned that many Han Chinese were sent to live with Uyghurs inside their own homes, resulting in many women committing suicide from humiliation. However, only the detainees living outside China spoke up about the truths happening to them in the ‘re-education camps’. Inside China, many Uyghurs were reluctant to share information in fear for their community and of their own safety. 

Outside of China, VICE news reports the leaked evidence of Uyghur information sent to Uyghur activist, Asiye Abdulaheb. She discusses the dangerous impact of having relations with a detainee, mentioning the thorough details recorded of relatives abroad under the document titled, “Trainees whose relatives went abroad and did not return.” These records put risk to Uyghurs living abroad, oftentimes threatening Uyghurs abroad to not speak about the incidents they have faced or witnessed through blackmail, resulting in few confessions of the current situation in Xinjiang. 

Conclusion 

While the Uyghur community remains under counter-terrorism safety measures implemented by the Chinese government, this concern has turned into a political debate between the Chinese government and the OHCHR surrounding the universal declaration of human rights and whether they are enforcing Western ideology or embrace a truly universal ideology. The UN assessment concludes a list of recommendations for the Chinese government to take in order to avoid political and economic spurn by opposing governments, without truly having the power to hold China accountable. China argues that the bias towards Western ideologies and the supposed anti-China narrative undermines the credibility of the OHCHR’s report over the concerns of the Uyghur’s human rights violations. With the Western international community facing activist burnout in advocating for Uyghur freedoms and China’s border being restricted for COVID-19 safety measures, the media surrounding the situation has declined since 2019, leaving the current situation of the Uyghurs largely untold, as journalists publicise the international discussion of China’s response towards the Uyghur community. The current question on the exposed evidence of remaining vocational training centres is left with ambiguity as the Chinese government leaves no comment.