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.
Category: Eyewitness accounts
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.
“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?
“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.
“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 what has happened to me. The world should know!”
“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.
“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.
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.