Former Chinese Policeman reveals chilling information about Uyghur camps in Xinjiang

Beijing, Jun 8: After a four-day hearing at a London-based tribunal on the treatment of Uyghurs, chilling testimony regarding torture of the Muslim minority has been revealed by a witness depicting blatant humans rights violation taking place in northwest China's Xinjiang province.

 

 

 

The testimony, by a former Chinese policeman, was part of a hearing held from June 4-7 under nine UK-based jurors of the "Uyghur Tribunal" which heard allegations regarding perpetrating serious crimes against the Uyghurs. The former Chinese policeman -- now living in Germany -- gave his statement under the pseudonym Wang Leizhan on the last day of the hearing. Recalling his days in Xinjiang in 2018, Leizhan said his job was mainly related to maintaining social order and national security. He also worked on investigating political and religious suspects, including Falun Gong and Islamist groups.

 

 

During the testimony, the former officer revealed that he learned about the "re-education or ideology transformation" camps, from a senior colleague who said that these re-education camps were aimed to make people with different ideologies, politically correct.' "I also learned that the largest group locked in these re-education camps was the Uyghurs. These re-education camps have nothing to do with education or training, but they are about brainwashing the prisoners," he said. During his time in Xinjiang, Leizhan learned that the Chinese government initiated a recruitment drive for individuals from mainland China who were ready to move to Xinjiang to work as police guards.

 

 

 

"Many of these individuals were used to man the many check posts that were created in Xinjiang. There were checkpoints at every 500 meters in the city but in the suburbs of Urumqi, these checkpoints were at every 200 meters. These police guards were also used to enforce censorship laws and arrest people," he said. Divulging the details about the so-called re-education camps, Leizhan said he has witnessed Uyghurs being tortured. Dismissing the London-based panel, the Chinese Foreign Ministery spokesperson Wang Wenbin last week had said, "The so-called "Uyghur Tribunal" is neither legal nor credible. It is just another anti-China farce concocted by a few individuals."