China locks up Muslims in Xinjiang for their religion, not extremism, leaked data shows
- Detainees chosen for reasons such as ‘heavy’ religious atmosphere, visiting people ‘without reason’, having a passport or beard, or birth in a certain decade
- People who had committed no crime sent for political re-education that Beijing first denied existed then claimed was vocational training
For decades, the Uygur imam was a bedrock of his farming community in China’s far west. On Fridays, he preached Islam as a religion of peace. On Sundays, he treated the sick with free herbal medicine. In the winter, he bought coal for the poor.
Now, a newly revealed database exposes in extraordinary detail the main reasons for the detentions of Emer, his three sons, and hundreds of others in Karakax county: their religion and their family ties.
The database obtained by Associated Press profiles the internment of 311 individuals with relatives abroad and lists information on more than 2,000 of their relatives, neighbours and friends.
Each entry includes the detainee’s name, address, national identity number, detention date and location, along with a detailed dossier on their family, religious and neighbourhood background, the reason for detention, and a decision on whether to release them.
Issued within the past year, the documents do not indicate which government department compiled them or for whom.