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The People’s Republic of China (hereinafter, “China”) began its invasion and subjugation of the region now known as Xinjiang in 1949 which was conducted 5 years after the Chinese Civil War with the intention of preventing Russia from taking the land over. Therein, various ethnic groups, notably the Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic group whose lives are predominantly influenced by Islamic teachings. The Uighurs make up the second-largest primarily Muslim ethnic group in China and are native to Xinjiang.
The establishment of the Communist Party in China during a time of religious intolerance
coupled with a general recognition that all forms of religion were incompatible with the
communist ideology contributed to the fanaticism and discrimination done by the Chinese
government. All forms of religious expressions were eradicated through measures such as
imposing penalties for praying and forcibly converting the usage of mosques and other places of
worship.
Furthermore, China’s ambition of pursuing greater autonomy for the Han Chinese (hereinafter “Han”), who make up the bulk of the population in China, caused an ethnic conflict by encouraging migration as well as the establishment of businesses and jobs for their race. According to the anthropologist Darren Byler, the number of Han Chinese in Xinjiang has multiplied a thousand times in recent years. They made billions of dollars by profiting on the Xinjiang region’s natural resources, which produced one-fifth of the world’s ketchup, tons of high-quality cotton that was sold to luxury brands, and vast quantities of coal, fossil fuels and natural gas reserves for China.
The Han, China, and any other prospective stakeholders established a stable flow of income which excluded the Uighurs. The latter were expelled from employment, a reasonable standard of living, and all political and religious expressions. The increasing financial gain and blooming economic cycle further affects the cost of living, consequently surging the poverty level amongst the Uighurs. In response to the continuous innequality and discrimination, the Uighurs fought back with sporadic violence and riots in Xinjiang throughout the 1990s Barren Township Riots, and more recently the 2014 and 2017 riots, with the notable 2009 Uruqumi riot that left hundreds dead and thousands injured. A handful of Uighurs were also brainwashed and recruited by violent groups condemned by the United Nations such as ISIL and Al-Qaeda.
On the other hand, these riots and their participation were giving China a valid and legitimate reasons in justifying their actions in a counterterrorism agenda referred to as “The Three Evils” which endorses three main principles: separatism, terrorism, and religious extremism. In doing so, by 2017, China spent almost ten billion dollars to monitor and rule on the Uighurs’ actions and thoughts by inaugurating thousands of street camera with face recognition technology, wifi and mandatory mobile app for tracking for content deemed to be politically incorrect, disallowing women to wear hijab and men to grow long beards, prohibiting fasting, the use of islamic names for newborns, Islamic as well as Uighur cultural educations, and ultimately the distribution of Quran must be approved by the government which risks a high chance of text and teachings alterations. Furthermore, the Hajj Pilgrimage is not possible due to passport seizures to restrict the freedom of movements and additionally, a Xi Jinping’s picture inside a mosque for the Uighurs to look up to when they are praying.
Violations of these rules will be considered as extremist behavior and result in the consequence of being sent to prison for “re-education” camps or what China refers to as “Vocational Education and Training Centres” (hereinafter “VETC”). According to a testimony of a former detainee in the OHCHR Assessment of Human Rights Concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China (August 2022) (hereinafter “OHCHR Assesment”), there were torture and other ill-treatment inside the camps, such as being beaten with batons, including electric batons while strapped in a so-called “tiger chair,” being subjected to interrogation while having water poured in their faces, being kept in solitary confinement for extended periods of time, and being forced to sit motionless on small stools for lengthy periods of time. This is in addition to the cases of sexual violence in the form of sexual humiliation, forced nudity, and rape, which are mostly done towards women. One interviewee described their experience as follows: “We were forced to sing patriotic song after patriotic song every day, as loud as possible until it hurts, until our faces become red and our veins appear on our face.”
Some of the interviewees also referred to their time in the facilities as “psychological torture” due to the uncertainty surrounding the circumstances during their detention, the length of their stay, their health, the ongoing fear and isolation from the outside world, particularly their families, and the stress and anxiety caused by the ongoing surveillance. Many further mentioned
long-term psychological repercussions, including feelings of trauma, from their imprisonment at
VETC institutions. All these actions have violated religious, cultural and linguistic identity and expression, rights to privacy and freedom of movement, and reproductive rights. They further impose employment and labour issues, family separations and enforced disappearances, intimidations, threats, all of this which are clearly protected under international law, particularly in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); which all have been ratified by China. Such actions further contravene the provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), although it is worth noting that China so far has only signed, but has yet ratified such Convention.
Other than the clear human rights violations and crimes against humanity recognized in the OHCHR Assessment, it is important to highlight that there also has been strong and reasonable doubts of the genocide violations, which are deemed as the greatest crimes under international law or also often called the “crime of crimes” after the Nuremburg Trials. Article 2 of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”
It is clear from the beginning that all these mistreatment and conducts arise from China’s deeply rooted Islamophobia and its desire to control the region’s natural resources, including oil and gas. Even if it does not amount to genocide, China has to be responsible for all its existing, ongoing, or upcoming actions of human rights violations throughout the years. On this matter as well, the OHCHR Assessment made several recommendations :
(i) Takes prompt steps to release all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty in XUAR, whether in VETCs, prisons or other detention facilities;
(ii) Urgently clarifies the whereabouts of individuals whose families have been seeking information about their loved ones in XUAR, including by providing details of their exact locations and establishing safe channels of communication and travel enabling families to reunite;
(iii) Undertakes a full review of the legal framework governing national security, counter-terrorism and minority rights in XUAR to ensure their compliance with binding international human rights law, and urgently repeal all discriminatory laws, policies and practices against Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minorities in XUAR, in particular those that have led to the serious human rights violations as detailed in this assessment;
(iv) Promptly investigates allegations of human rights violations in VETCs and other detention facilities, including allegations of torture, sexual violence, ill-treatment, forced medical treatment, as well as forced labour and reports of deaths in custody;
(v) Implements, as a matter of priority, the Concluding Observations from the UN Committee against Torture and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, including establishment of an independent oversight mechanism to ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigation into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment;
(vi) Ensures that surveillance both on and offline comply with strict tests of legality, necessity and proportionality, including for matters of national security, and does not infringe on fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals;
(vii) Cooperates with the ILO and social partners in the implementation of the recommendations made by the ILO Committee of Experts on Conventions No. 111 and 122, including by allowing a technical advisory mission, and in the implementation of Conventions No. 29 and 105 on forced labor, and the 2014 Protocol;
(viii) Provides adequate remedy and reparation to victims of human rights violations;
(ix) Clarifies the reports of destruction of mosques, shrines and cemeteries by providing data and information and suspend all such activities in the meantime;
(x) Ceases immediately all intimidation and reprisals against Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minorities abroad in connection with their advocacy, and their family members in XUAR; and ensure that all citizens including of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minorities can hold a valid passport and travel to and from China without fear of reprisals;
(xi) Ratifies the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; and the Optional Protocols to the Convention against Torture, to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;
(xii) Invites as a matter of priority the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Minorities, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, the Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights and the Working Group on Business and Human Rights to conduct unrestricted country visits to China, including to XUAR; and
(xiii) Continues engagement with OHCHR to enable further assessment of the situation; and facilitates further visits by OHCHR and technical exchanges on human rights issues in XUAR, in follow up to the High Commissioner’s visit. Indonesia shall follow the steps of several countries that have advocated on this issue; such as France in December 2020, who declared that it would oppose the proposed Comprehensive Agreement on Investment between China and the European Union over the use of forced labor of Uyghurs. Furthermore, in September 2019, the Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne stated, “I have previously raised Australia’s concerns about reports of mass detentions of Uyghurs and other Muslim peoples in Xinjiang. We have consistently called for China to cease the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other Muslim groups. We have raised these concerns—and we will continue to raise them—both bilaterally and in relevant international meetings.”
I concur with the suggestions proposed in the OHCHR Assessment as it acknowledges the flagrant violations of human rights by China that have been consistently ignored. Additionally, I believe there needs to be active international condemnations, pressure, and responses from other countries. As one of the largest Islamic nations, I therefore strongly urge the Indonesian government to speak out on this matter and advocate for the liberation of our relatives and friends, whether as fellow Muslims or at the very least out of compassion for humankind.
