By Rohini Chatterji
Trigger warning: This article talks about physical and psychological abuse and torture.
The United Nations published a report on Wednesday saying it had found grave human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region against the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities, allegations that China has denied. The report said that allegations of torture, forced medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention had been found to be true. It said that this also included "allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender-based violence".
The UN Human Rights Office said that it found that the the degree of treatment against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities may amount to "international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity."
The UN embarked on writing this report since violations of human rights had been brought to the notice of the organisation since 2017. The UN found that some of the measures taken by the Chinese Government to combat terrorism and "extremism" were in violation of international laws.
China has denounced the report calling it a "farce". Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian was quoted by AFP as saying, "We firmly oppose the release of the so-called Xinjiang-related report by the UN Human Rights Office. This report is a farce orchestrated by the US and a small number of Western powers."
While thereport comes at the final hours of outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, China had hoped they would not publish the report. Bachelet had promised that the much-awaited report would be published before she left office.
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China has maintained that there were several "human rights achievements" made together by all the ethnic groups in Xinjiang. China claimed that it took a people-centred approach to tackle "extremism" and "terrorism" that affected the lives of those who live in Xinjiang.
According to the report, most detainees interviewed by them, who spent between two months to 18 months in facilities across eight different places, said they had been subjected to torture. They had been detained in areas including Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Aksu, Bayingol, Hotan, Karamay and Urumqi. "Two-thirds of the twenty-six former detainees interviewed reported having been subjected to treatment that would amount to torture and/or other forms of ill-treatment," the report said.
Here are the key takeaways from the report:
Marked Increase In Incarceration
The UN found that Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region had seen a marked increase in incarcerations of people belonging to ethnic communities. It also observed an increase in referrals to the Vocational Education and Training Centres, where ethnic minorities where subjected to harsh conditions. "Government information indicates an increase in criminal cases in 2018, amounting to a 25.1 per cent increase over the average amount in the preceding five years. Similarly, in 2019, the figure was 19.2 per cent higher than the average of the preceding five years. OHCHR notes that China has in general a 99.9 per cent conviction rate in criminal cases," the report said.
Detainees were kept shackled and hungry
People interviewed by the UN for this report said that they were treated harshly even outside of interrogations and punishment. They were kept shackled and hungry. The report said, "A consistent theme was description of constant hunger and, consequently, significant to severe weight loss during their periods in the facilities," the report revealed.
Deteriorating physical health
Because of the extreme conditions, detainees in these centres said that their health deteriorated significantly. "A number of interviewees stated that they suffered from persistent health conditions as a result of the harsh conditions and treatment they reported experiencing in the facilities," the report said.
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Psychological trauma
The UN found that many of the detainees were left with long-term mental health consequences because of what they were subjected to. "Some of the interviewees also described their stay in the facilities as a "psychological torture", due to the uncertainty about the reasons for their detention, the length of their stay, their conditions, the constant atmosphere of fear and lack of contact with the outside world," the report said.
Forced medication
Most people said they had been forcefully medicated, without information about the medications they were being made to consume. They said forced medication included injections, pills and blood samples. This, the report said, continued throughout their stay in these detentions centres. A former detainee told the UN, "We received one tablet a day. It looked like aspirin. We were lined up and someone with gloves systematically checked our mouths to make sure we swallowed it."
Sexual violence
Interviewees recalled rampant sexual violence against mostly women. Interviewees said they had been forced to perform "oral sex in the context of interrogation and various forms of sexual humiliation, including forced nudity. The accounts similarly described the way in which rapes took place outside the dormitories, in separate rooms without cameras."
Women also reported forced and "invasive gynaecological examinations" in groups that "made old women ashamed and young girls cry".
Surveillance and patriotism
Interviewees found it difficult to sleep in the dorms at the detention centres because the light would be kept on all night. This was to ensure they were under constant surveillance. Detainees would have to be on two-hour shifts in the night to ensure that their cellmates were not breaking rules. The interviewees said they were not allowed to speak in their own language or practice their religion, but only learn and memorise "political teachings". One of the interviewees told the UN, "We were forced to sing patriotic song after patriotic song every day, as loud as possible and until it hurts, until our faces become red and our veins appeared on our face."
