New cache of Xinjiang papers ‘a manual for China’s detention camps’
- Trove of classified Chinese documents reveals instructions on how to prevent escapes and maintain secrecy about the system, journalists’ group says
United Nations experts and activists say at least 1 million Uygurs and members of other largely Muslim minority groups have been detained in camps in Xinjiang.
The ICIJ says it obtained a 2017 list of guidelines “that effectively serves as a manual for operating the camps”, with instructions on how to prevent escapes, maintain secrecy about the camps’ existence, indoctrinate internees and “when to let detainees see relatives or even use the toilet”.
Other documents it obtained include “intelligence briefings” showing how police have been “guided by a massive data collection and analysis system that uses artificial intelligence to select entire categories of Xinjiang residents for detention”.
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But, The Guardian newspaper, an ICIJ affiliate, reported the Chinese embassy in London as saying “the so-called leaked documents are pure fabrication and fake news”.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to faxed questions about the ICIJ report. Authenticity of the documents cannot be verified independently.
The leaks come amid a rising international outcry over China’s broader human rights record in Xinjiang. The United States has led more than 30 countries in condemning what it called a “horrific campaign of repression”.
Beijing denies any mistreatment of Uygurs or others in Xinjiang, saying it is providing vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism and to teach new skills.
