China is called for immediate release of Uighur Muslims who were held in alleged political re-education camps on the “pretext of countering terrorism”, a committee of UN human rights experts have said.
From tens of thousands to upwards of a million Uighurs, a largely Muslim minority, may be held involuntarily in extra-legal detention in China’s far western Xinjiang province, according to estimates cited by the committee. Its findings were issued after a two-day review of China’s record, the first since 2009.
China’s foreign ministry has denied the allegations, saying anti-China forces are behind criticism of policies in Xinjiang.
A former inmate in one of the interment camps said Muslims were forced to eat pork and drink alcohol, acts which are forbidden by their religion.
Legislators have written to the Trump administration asking for sanctions on Chinese officials allegedly tied to the mass internment programme and “ongoing human rights crisis” in Xinjiang. Muslim ethnic minorities confronted torture and “egregious restrictions on religious practice and culture”, said the letter, which was signed by Senator Marco Rubio, Representative Chris Smith and 15 others. The letter singles out Xinjiang’s top official, Chen Quanguo, accused by many of turning the region into a “high-tech police state”.
> Shiuly Rina
UN Urged China to End Detention of Uighurs amid Claims of Prison Camps
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