All Reading
This section contains a curated list of useful articles, investigations, books and other reading materials. The list is updated on a weekly basis and suggestions for additions are welcome.
Starting Points:
Uyghur forced laborer died at factory in China’s Xinjiang, officials say
A Uyghur woman who had been interned in a detention camp in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region died of a stomach ailment in September 2020 while performing forced labor at a sock factory adjacent to the internment facility, RFA has learned.
Activists Call For Release of Uyghur Scholar on 7th Anniversary of His Jailing
Human rights activists on Thursday called on China to release jailed Uyghur academic Ilham Tohti, sentenced seven years ago to life in prison for “separatism,” for his advocacy work in Xinjiang.
US tech products enable Chinese surveillance in Xinjiang, researchers find
U.S. technology companies are still supplying China’s surveillance state, including in the Xinjiang region, according to researchers.
US Targets China Polysilicon Makers Over Uyghur Forced Labor in Xinjiang
The United States took new measures on Thursday to address China’s use of Uyghurs as forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), halting imports from a major Chinese producer of polysilicon for the solar panel industry and blacklisting other firms operating in the region. The targeting of polysilicon makers followers similar moves since last year against hair products, electronics, tomatoes, and cotton made in Xinjiang with suspected forced labor.
Uyghur Businessman Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison For Ties to Turkey
The Uyghur founder of a grocery store chain with more than 500 food stores and 200 product lines throughout China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) was sentenced in May to more than 17 years in prison for his alleged “suspicious” relations with Turkey, following a three-year investigation, sources outside and inside the region told RFA.
Thousands of ‘Terrorism Suspects’ on ‘Shanghai List’ Include Uyghur Children, Elderly
A recently leaked Chinese government document provides new insight into how China characterizes extremist threats. More than three quarters of the names on the list of some 10,000 “suspected terrorists” are ethnic Uyghurs, while the document includes hundreds of minors and the elderly, providing rare insight into how Beijing characterizes threats it has used to lock up more than a million people.
Dismaying Uyghurs, Legislatures of Australia and Turkey Reject Motions on China Genocide Label
Lawmakers in Australia rejected a motion on Monday to recognize human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as genocide, disappointing hopes by Uyghurs and other XUAR natives that the country would follow similar designations by the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands. The decision followed a similar move by Turkish lawmakers last week in Ankara.
Trapped in the System: Experiences of Uyghur Detention in Post-2015 Xinjiang
This report presents the results of in-depth interviews conducted with eight individuals with recent direct experience inside detention facilities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
‘It Went on For Four Hours, Just to Film a Single Video’: Uyghur Former Camp Instructor
Qelbinur Sidik, 51, is one of the few people to relate their experiences working at a facility in the vast network of internment camps in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). A well-respected instructor, Sidik was forced to teach the language at a men’s camp between March and September 2017, as well as at a women’s camp between September and October of that year. Sidik, who now lives in the Netherlands, estimates that the two camps held around 3,000 and 10,000 detainees, respectively.
Interview: ‘To Fight for Truth is a Great Calling’
On March 4, Sayragul Sauytbay was one of a dozen recepients of the Annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award. Originally from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), Sayragul is a former medical doctor who was separated from her family, tortured, imprisoned, and faced execution for speaking out about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) repression of Muslim minorities. In this Q&A, Sayragul gives her thoughts on her award and the message it sends to Chinese authorities and about the reasons behind China’s persecution of Muslim minorities forced into the camps.
Interview: ‘I Did Not Believe I Would Leave Prison in China Alive’
Tursun was taken into custody several times, including at one of a network of political “re-education camps,” where Chinese authorities began detaining Uyghurs accused of harboring “strong religious views” and “politically incorrect” ideas in April 2017. Tursun said she was targeted because she had lived in Egypt—one of a number of countries blacklisted by authorities in the XUAR because of a perceived threat of religious radicalization.
PART III: Interview: ‘We tell them that they would be banned from seeing their family again.’
An officer at a police station in Kashgar prefecture recently told RFA’s Uyghur Service about the conditions at a camp where he worked as a guard for 10 months. In the third part of the interview, the officer—who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal—describes how the ban on religious practices in the camp affects bedtime, and even the specific language detainees can use when talking with family members.
China’s Government Has Ordered a Million Citizens to Occupy Uighur Homes. Here’s What They Think They’re Doing.
Little attention has been paid to the mobilization of more than a million Chinese civilians to aid the military and police in their repressive campaign by occupying the homes of Xinjiang’s Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.
PART II: Interview: ‘We Can Observe The Toilet With Cameras as Well’
An officer at a police station in Kashgar prefecture recently told RFA’s Uyghur Service about the conditions at a camp where he worked as a guard for 10 months. In the second part of the interview, the officer—who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal—describes the stern regimen detainees must follow in one camp.
Interview: ‘We Give Them a Warning Before Ordering Them to Stand as Punishment’
An officer at a police station in Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi) prefecture recently told RFA’s Uyghur Service about the conditions at a camp where he worked as a guard for 10 months. In the first part of an interview, the officer—who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal—detailed the layout of the camp, the daily routine of the detainees, and the punishments they were subjected to if they did not obey the rules.
Behind The Walls: Uyghurs Detail Their Experience in China’s Secret ‘Re-education’ Camps
RFA’s Uyghur Service recently interviewed several Uyghurs who shared details of the abuse they endured while forced to attend political indoctrination sessions, or while detained in extrajudicial prisons and in the re-education camp network.
Chinese Authorities Jail Four Wealthiest Uyghurs in Xinjiang’s Kashgar in New Purge
Authorities in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region have jailed the four wealthiest ethnic Uyghurs in Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi) city for acts of “religious extremism,” according to an official, amid a crackdown he said is unlikely to end any time soon.
Uyghur Teenager Dies in Custody at Political Re-Education Camp
A teenage Uyghur boy detained for traveling overseas has died of unknown causes at a political “re-education camp” in Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi) prefecture, in northwest China’s Xinjiang region, according to local authorities.
Uyghur Muslim Scholar Dies in Chinese Police Custody
A prominent Uyghur Islamic scholar has died in Chinese police custody, some 40 days after he was detained in the Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi, overseas Uyghur organizations said on Monday.
China Dangles Huge Payouts For Tips on ‘Terrorists’ in Largely Uyghur Hotan Prefecture
Authorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang region have earmarked a substantial amount of cash to reward residents of Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture who report “acts of terrorism” in the predominantly ethnic Uyghur-inhabited area, according to official sources.