HRW: China government conducting campaign of human rights violations against Muslims News
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HRW: China government conducting campaign of human rights violations against Muslims

The Chinese government has been engaging in a systematic campaign of human rights violations against Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang province, Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleged in a report [text] Monday.

The report presents evidence [press release] of these violations, and is “primarily based on interviews with 58 former residents of Xinjiang, including 5 former detainees and 38 relatives of detainees.”

According to HRW, “authorities have stepped up mass arbitrary detention, including in pretrial detention centers and prisons, both of which are formal facilities, and in political education camps, which have no basis under Chinese law.” The report also claims that Turkic Muslims are subjected to “such extraordinary restrictions on personal life that, in many ways, their experiences resemble those of the people detained.” The report states that constant surveillance, checkpoints, political indoctrination, and other administrative measures are some of the restrictions that Turkic Muslims are subjected to.

HRW recommended that foreign governments “pursue a range of multilateral and unilateral actions” in response to these violations, as well as “pursue joint actions at the UN Human Rights Council” and create a coalition to assess the evidence of these violations.