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“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?
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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.
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“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.
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Lives lost: Xinjiang-related violence vs. mass incarceration (in numbers)
This page seeks to maintain a detailed list of all the known violent incidents related to Xinjiang since 2000, and to calculate how the resulting death toll compares to the equivalent death toll from mass incarceration.
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“The oppressive system aside, I forgave all who could be called human.”
A detailed summary of Abduweli Ayup’s memoir, “Mehbus Rohlar” (“Imprisoned Spirits”), which details his 458 days in pre-trial detention.
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Estimating sentencing numbers from Xinjiang’s judicial statistics
Judicial data between 2007 and 2022 are reviewed, inconsistencies are identified and removed, and lower and upper estimates on numbers of individuals sentenced are computed.
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The 2009-2015 Prisoners List: Summary and analysis of the 18000+ individuals therein
At the end of 2021, two large prisoner lists were leaked to database staff. One of them, covered here, contains information regarding over 18000 individuals, sentenced between 2009 and 2015 for political/religious reasons.
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Detentions, arrests, fines: Three years of protests in front of the Chinese consulate
68-year-old Qalida Aqythan is among those who have been regularly participating in the protests outside the Chinese consulate in Almaty for the past three years. She has a compelling reason not to stop fighting: three of her children are in Chinese prison.
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“Afraid of demons in my dreams? I’m used to them now, as I’ve seen them in real life.”
“There is nothing that I can do to prevent them from doing what they need to do. But if I disappear or if I die, I want the world to hold them responsible. To ask what happened to me, to know that I didn’t die a natural death. Many people should know about this, about…
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An appeal for help from Qaster Musahan
Qaster Musahan, a refugee in Kazakhstan who had previously spent over 4 years in prison in Xinjiang and fled the region in October 2019, was seriously beaten by 4 unknown men in Almaty. He needs medical treatment, a place to live, food, and a new phone.
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“Here on featherweight rights, with relatives in Xinjiang pressured”: The fates of those who fled China
A few years ago, ethnic Kazakhs Qaisha Aqan, Qaster Musahan, and Murager Alim, fearing persecution in Xinjiang, fled China and illegally crossed the Kazakhstan border. This year marks their third living on refugee certificates, as Astana is neither granting them citizenship nor issuing the travel documents necessary to relocate to a third country.
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Zhou Yuan, the “Nie Shubin of Xinjiang”, Finally Exonerated: But is Justice 20 Years Late Still Justice?
On the night of May 17, 1997, Zhou Yuan, then 27, was taken away by the police from his home in Ghulja, Xinjiang. The police suspected him of being the perpetrator in multiple cases of physically injuring and raping women, with the trial of first instance seeing him sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.
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“The camp broke me – spiritually, materially, and physically.”
The following is a translation of a first-person eyewitness account from Zhazira Asen, a businesswoman and writer who spent a year and a half in camp.
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“Those were times when speaking the truth had serious consequences.”
In 1944, while studying in the city of Urumqi, Qazhygumar Shabdan was accused by the Chinese authorities of participating in an ethnic-minority uprising and sent to prison. That became the first of the prisons in which he would end up spending half of his life.
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“My legs hurt, and one leg is almost paralyzed. They are killing me like this. I beg for your help.”
The following is a translated transcript of a series of videos released by Aimurat Erzhuman in 2022, from Xinjiang, in a desperate attempt to convey his situation to the world outside.
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They called us the “terrorist family”
My name is Gulnar Omirzaq. I’m from Chapchal County – a village called Termenbulaq, in Segizsumyn. I’m going to share everything that happened to me and other members of minority groups that live in China. I am one of the people who witnessed these things.
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“He will be 17 when his mother is back”
Unable to get in touch with her relatives, Aminem Osman doesn’t know if her sister is still alive. What she knows is that she got a 15-year prison sentence, and that her four children are now growing up without their parents.
Xinjiang Victims Database Blog
The official blog outlet of the Xinjiang Victims Database.