DETENTION OF ONE MILLION UIGHUR MUSLIMS

During a two-day conference from 25 - 26 September 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that he was “completely correct” for detaining approximately one million Uighur Muslims among other minorities, and he said that the practice will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

The United States (US) have taken punitive action by placing sanctions on approximately 50 Chinese companies who allegedly support China’s human rights violations by subjecting the detained Uighurs Muslims to forced labour for their own commercial gain. Jinping justifies his decision to unlawfully detain people “to turn them into loyal citizens who disavow separatism” by saying that “Xinjiang is enjoying a favourable setting of social stability with people living in peace and contentment”.

The comments made by China’s President imply that practicing Islam has incited calls for Xinjiang to be independent of the Middle Kingdom. Whilst this is yet to be substantiated, China’s persecution of  Muslim citizens is in breach of several international treaties, for example, article 5(d)(vii) of the International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and article 2(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, of which China is a party.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN XINJIANG 

Xinjiang was an independent region during the 1940s, however, that was short-lived as China took control in 1949. Subsequently, tensions rose between the Han Chinese and Uighurs. Throughout 1990, protests erupted and continued until 2013 when 21 people died.

Despite fasting being a religious practice for Muslims once a year during Ramadan, in 2014 Uighurs Muslims were banned from fasting and told to lead a “normal life,” threatened with violence if they persisted, and warned that it would damage their career prospects. 

Over the last six years, China has developed approximately 400 camps to re-educate citizens and allegedly provide detainees with “stable employment and [an] improved quality of life”. Due to the world’s increasing attention, China claims that the camps are beginning to decline in numbers as once-detained citizens have “graduated” and have reentered society. Satellite images, however, that were taken by Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) reveal that 14 new camps are currently under construction.

Nathan Ruser of the ASPI reported that “available evidence suggests that many extrajudicial detainees in Xinjiang’s vast ‘re-education’ network are now being formally charged and locked up in higher security facilities, including newly built or expanded prisons, or sent to walled factory compounds for forced labour assignments.”

China’s intentions are clear. It will continue to unlawfully detain its citizens. The Chinese Communist Party are also accused of several violations, including “rape, forced abortions and sterilisations, organ harvesting, and experimental medical procedures as well as torture and undocumented cases of death”.

Notwithstanding China’s human rights record, China was still elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council for 2021-2023. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “urged UN member states to take immediate action to reform the Council before it became irreparable”. Electing China as a member of the Council implies that the treatment of their citizens is legitimate and appropriate, and until the CCP are held accountable for these practices, there will be no justice for the Uighur community.

After having completed the Bar Professional Training Course (2018), Safia currently working as a Costs Advisor in a law firm. Her life goal is to make a positive change in the society we live in, no matter how small that change might be.

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