Protect Uighur Rights
/By Nikki Bambauer
“I was exhausted. They took me into a secure room with heavy metal doors […] The room was around 20 meters squared and there was no window. There were about 40 women inside, half of them were standing up; the other half were laying on the ground against each other. All of them wore heavy chains on their feet.” [1]
– Gulbahar Jelilova, former detainee in Xinjiang “re-education” camp
Over the past three years, China has detained as many as one million Uighurs in internment camps.
The Uighur are an ethnic minority group that lives in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, an area that is very rich in natural resources – and therefore very important to Chinese authorities. Most Uighurs are Muslim, and the group has strong cultural ties to the Central Asian countries that surround them. For decades, Chinese authorities have tried to curtail Uighur religious and cultural activities, claiming the group is engaged in both separatist and terrorist activity. From outlawing beards to banning Uighurs from fasting during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, authorities are actively trying to eradicate Uighur culture.
In 2009, the crackdown intensified when interethnic violence broke out in Xinjiang. These clashes resulted in 200 dead and hundreds injured. The government quickly increased security throughout the region.
Today, Xinjiang could be considered a police state. The government uses high-tech surveillance methods and is said to have installed close to one million facial recognition cameras. It has also downloaded spyware to Uighur cell phones and imposed a series of checkpoints. The police even use a mass surveillance app that alerts them when someone is engaged in anything considered “suspicious activity.”
And then there are the camps.
CHINA’S UNLAWFUL DETENTION OF UIGHURS
Chinese authorities have rounded up large swaths of the Uighur population and forced them into what it calls “re-education” or “job training” centers. In these internment camps, detainees are indoctrinated with pro-Communist Party propaganda and forced to declare loyalty to the state. Some outlets have reported that detainees are punished for speaking and forced into restraint devices or stress positions for hours on end. Others have reported that the government has implemented a system of forced labor in the camps.
Last week, The New York Times exposed more than 400 pages of internal Chinese government document. The leaked material gives the world an unprecedented view into China’s ruling Communist Party. “Even as the government presented its efforts in Xinjiang to the public as benevolent and unexceptional,” the exposé states, “it discussed and organized a ruthless and extraordinary campaign in these internal communications.”
The documents confirm what the international community has known all along: Uighurs are being rounded up and subjected to weeks, months, and years of imprisonment and indoctrination – and the highest government officials, including China’s leader Xi Jinping, are directing these operations. In a leaked speech from 2014, Xi stated, “We must […] show absolutely no mercy.”
HUMAN RIGHTS MUST BE PROTECTED
The Chinese government’s actions against the Uighur population violate several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including:
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence […]
Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion […]
People around the world have spoken up for the protection of these rights. In September, the Senate passed the “Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019,” condemning China’s treatment of the Uighur population and directing various bodies of the government to prepare reports on the atrocities in China. In October, the U.S. placed sanctions on government and business organizations which facilitate China’s anti-Uighur campaign. Only time will tell what effect these actions may have on Chinese policy. We must continue to speak out against these atrocities and protect the Uighur community. We must demand an end to arbitrary detention and the trampling of Uighur rights in China.
ADDRESSING THE UIGHUR CRISIS IN YOUR CLASSROOM
One way that we can do this is through education. How have you addressed this ongoing human rights crisis in your classroom? By helping to keep students informed about world events, teachers can create truly global citizens out of today’s young people.
Activity:
After pointing out the region on a map, give students a very brief overview about the situation in Xinjiang or watch “China’s secret internment camps” (9:23).[2] Then, discuss the following questions:
The Chinese government claims that Uighurs are sent to “re-education centers” as part of its efforts to fight terrorism. What are some other examples from history where governments have justified their actions in the name of safety and the “war on terror”?
How and why do governments use fear as a tool to achieve their goals? What do you think the ultimate goal of China’s Uighur policy might be?
What responsibility does the international community have to help the Uighurs?
Resources
The Targeting of Uighur Muslims in China | Facing History and Ourselves
What Can You Do | Uyghur Human Rights Project
Notes
[1] France 24, “Surviving China’s Uighur camps,” YouTube video, 33:36, posted May 10, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Shla50pRxA.
[2] Vox, “China’s secret internment camps,” YouTube video, 9:23, posted May 7, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMkHcZ5IwjU.