The regular use of violence in detention, both in punishment and interrogation, has been reported in the vast majority of eyewitness accounts from Xinjiang. In an attempt to corroborate this forensically, the Xinjiang Victims Database analyzed the thousands of photos from the Xinjiang Police Files for evidence of skin discoloration, so as to identify potential bruises and to see if they featured more prominently in detainees.
Author: Editor
An estimate on the number of children separated from parents in southern Xinjiang
In the vast majority of cases, the father was detained first and the mother was detained later. The most common scenario by far was the father being given a long prison term in 2017 and the mother being sent to camp the following year.
Kazakhstan is a “dangerous country”. Why Nur-Sultan cannot protect those who fled from Xinjiang
Despite seeking asylum in Kazakhstan, refugees from Xinjiang also consider the country dangerous. Ethnic Kazakhs and Uyghurs do not stay in Kazakhstan for long and look for ways to leave.
10 small insights into Xinjiang camps and factories (2018-2019)
A brief summary of takeaway points from a conversation between a former camp employee and a journalist, originally held off the record but now reproduced here in a very basic form.
Prominent businessman, survivor of Xinjiang’s mass incarcerations, given 8 years in Kazakhstan
Esbol Muqamadan, a successful Kazakh entrepreneur and previously a victim of the mass incarcerations in Xinjiang, is now serving an eight-year prison sentence in his historical homeland – a verdict that he claims is partially due to political interference by the Chinese authorities.
Two years of being illegally locked up in Xinjiang “education-and-training centers”
The erasing of traces began. A large pit was dug with an excavator, then many plastic bags were brought in, bulging with stuff, and thrown into the pit, to burn for a long while. Public security vehicles were on the scene to supervise the process.
A review of pre-trial detention centers in Xinjiang: II. A complete list of active and retired facilities
A comprehensive review of all the pre-trial detention centers in Xinjiang has identified a total of 199 facilities, of which around a third have been retired while around two-thirds are active and operating.
“There are no secrets in Xinjiang. All the most advanced equipment in the country is here.”
With the authorities claiming that sending to training was an important measure, I couldn’t help but ask: then why do it in the middle of the night?
A review of pre-trial detention centers in Xinjiang: I. Role in the overall detention system
The large-scale advent and use of camps between 2017 and 2019 gave pre-trial detention centers in Xinjiang additional functions. Instead of just being a precursor to formal prison, the detention center was often a temporary holding facility for those later transferred to camp.
“Commitment not clear and precise, as he did not dare to smoke in front of religious figures.”
A full translation of an article published in the Urumqi Evening News on April 9, 2017, illustrating the strict disciplinary measures taken by the government at the beginning of the mass incarcerations, with many officials demonstratively censured.