Since April 2017, millions of Uyghurs have been rounded up by Chinese authorities and sent to large modern-day concentration camps. A document quoted the party secretary Chen Quango on detention centers stating the camps should “teach like a school, be managed like the military and be defended like a prison” and “must first break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections and break their origins.” These chilling words stated in an internal document, reported by the media, only touch on Beijing’s harsh policies towards the Uyghurs.

The entire region is branded. Punishment is cultural and collective. More than 3 million people in detention are charged with no crime. Counties, districts, and neighborhoods are filling quotas. China has characterized all political resistance as “Islamic terrorism,” and on that pretext developed a surveillance state built on DNA collection, ubiquitous cameras, facial-recognition software, police checkpoints on every corner, GPS tracking devices on vehicles, and QR codes on every home.

 Rushan Abbas of the Campaign for Uyghurs

Huge numbers of men and women from predominantly Muslim ethnic groups, including Uyghurs, have been arbitrarily detained and sent to internment camps or prison. The internment camp system is part of a larger campaign of subjugation and forced assimilation of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. The evidence Amnesty International has gathered provides a factual basis for the conclusion that the Chinese government has committed at least the following crimes against humanity: imprisonment, torture, and persecution.

You can read the extensive Amnesty International report, with first person interviews and data collection over 3 years. Use the tabs at the top to browse through parts that interest you.  Report on China’s Mass Internment, Torture and Persecution of Muslims here.

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Take action by signing this petition to the Chinese President.  (Please sign by September 20 as it will be presented to the Chinese government the following week!)

Take action by writing a letter to Chinese officials (sample letter provided) 

Take action - print, sign and send these letters to U.S. officials  (opportunities to email them are also included. Keep up the pressure about how they keep human rights in mind when interacting with China) 

Amnesty International’s report, Hearts and Lives Broken: The Nightmare of Uyghur Families Separated by Repression follows six Uyghur parents separated from their children as a result of the crackdown in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 

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Enforced disappearance is frequently used as a strategy to spread terror within society. The feeling of insecurity and fear it generates is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared, but also affects communities and society as a whole. No one knows if they are next or if they will be targeted if they speak out about it.  We are grateful to those who are brave enough to document the evidence or advocate for those taken away.