‘We don’t let them go to the toilet and we do not give them food’: Whistleblower describes torture of Uyghurs in camps
A Chinese defector has revealed to Sky News how Uyghur detainees are transported in their hundreds on packed prison trains, along with details of torture and deaths inside re-education centres in Xinjiang.
The man, who says he served as a police officer in Xinjiang and asked only to be identified by the name Jiang, told Sky News of the grim conditions on board the trains.
“We gather them together, put hoods on their head, two people handcuffed together, to prevent them from escaping,” he told Sky News.
Jiang said freight trains were used to transport Uyghurs who had travelled to other parts of China back to Xinjiang
Jiang said that freight trains were used to transport Uyghurs who had travelled to other parts of China back to Xinjiang.
Some 500 detainees would be transported at a time from freight stations, with more than 100 prisoners to each carriage, he said. Two policemen would be assigned to each prisoner.
“During the train transportation we do not give them food,” he said.
“Only bottle caps are allowed to be used for drinking water.
“They are only allowed bottle caps to drink water – to moisten their lips.
“To keep order, we don’t let them go to the toilet.
“They reach their destinations in two days. They reach Xinjiang.”
Uyghurs are allegedly trampled on inside the centres
Drone footage released in 2019 showed apparently Uyghur prisoners being unloaded from a train – blindfolded and shackled, their heads shaved.
Jiang said that the video most likely showed prisoners being transferred from various detention centres to a larger central facility, because of their different uniforms.
Jiang told Sky News he had served as a soldier before working as a detective in a local Public Security Bureau.
He provided extensive documentation of his credentials, including pictures, videos, police graduation and registration certificates, and other official documents. The specific details he alleged are impossible to verify.
A whistleblower says that this video most likely showed prisoners being transferred from various detention centres to a larger central facility
Sky News asked the Chinese government for comment on Jiang’s allegations but did not receive a response before publication.
It has previously described accusations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang as “the lie of the century” and insisted that people in Xinjiang live happy lives.
Jiang’s testimony contradicts that. Evidence from those who worked for the Chinese state in Xinjiang is extremely rare.
Drone footage released in 2019 showed apparently Uyghur prisoners being unloaded from a train – blindfolded and shackled, their heads shaved
He described the brutal tactics used by police and camp guards.
“In cases related to politics, jeopardising the regime, cases involving overthrowing the regime – you’re allowed to beat people,” he told Sky News. “It’s ok, to make them turn in other people’s names.”
“You use various methods to put pressure; two people use sticks to weigh down their legs; tie him up and trample their arm; shackle their hands, pour cold water – put a water pipe into their mouth and tie them up,” he added.
“How to say, under this kind of management in the re-education centre, beating somebody to death, for sure, it happens.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
June: Uyghur torture victim: I was chained for 4 months
“If accidents occur, it’s normal that some people die. That’s just how you get used to saying it. Please do not blame me.
“They don’t see ordinary people as human beings. They do things that you don’t do to human beings.”
Jiang said he usually worked in criminal investigation departments elsewhere in China but was dispatched to Xinjiang as part of an “Aid Xinjiang” programme which involved tens of thousands of armed police and ordinary officers being transferred to the region.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
June: How China is erasing Uyghur cemeteries
He told Sky News that Xinjiang “was in a state of wartime control” when he was posted there in 2018.
“When I got there, more than 900,000 people had already been detained for numerous petty reasons like saying something wrong. They had been sent to the re-education centres to be controlled.”
“We detained them on orders from the superiors. Not on any evidence. What kind of evidence can we have? What kind of evidence does this need?”
Jiang said that people in Xinjiang lived under constant surveillance
He said that people in Xinjiang lived under constant surveillance, physically and digitally.
Grounds for suspicion and detention included differing opinions on the government, appealing to higher authorities for help, or even not selling alcohol and cigarettes, he said – all could be considered “ideological issues” justifying re-education.
Jiang drew a distinction between those sentenced to prison and those sent to re-education centres.
“Those who actually contacted other people and planned to rebel, they can be sentenced.
The Chinese government has released videos of Uyghurs singing and dancing in the re-education centres
“But in people in the re-education centres are not severe enough to be sentenced.
“They have problems with their thoughts.”
Jiang also said that prisons and re-education centres both contained factories.
“They do different things which can make money, but nobody wants to do,” he said.
The Chinese government has previously described accusations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang as ‘the lie of the century’
“If one official says that they need to work nine hours, the head of the re-education centre might think, if I make them work two hours more, I can make more money.”
Jiang left China in 2020. He said he was already disillusioned by Communist rule before he arrived in Xinjiang.
He said: “The leadership says very good things on stage: ‘I’ll serve the people! Let’s do our best!’ But offstage, in reality – corruption. They accept bribes every day, they corrupt state property. It’s reached a degree you can’t imagine.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Uyghur tribunal into alleged Chinese genocide
“My values collapsed. One’s values about what is right and what is wrong.
“It’s not betraying the motherland, I’m just against the corrupted class.
“I’m not afraid of the danger. I have seen much life and much death. I have seen many dead people. It’s a way for me to free myself.”
World
Ron Benjamin: Body of Israeli hostage kidnapped during cycling trip on 7 October found in Gaza, IDF says
World
Update given on health condition of Slovakia’s PM – as suspect in court over attempted assassination
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in a stable but serious condition as the man accused of attempting to assassinate him appeared in court for the first time.
Health minister Zuzana Dolinkova said further two-hour surgery on Friday “contributed to a positive prognosis” for the 59-year-old, who was shot five times at point blank range while greeting supporters in the former mining town of Handlova on Wednesday.
Pic: AP
However, although awake at the hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Mr Fico was taken by helicopter after being shot, his condition still made it impossible to transport him to the capital, Bratislava.
Read more:
Who is Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico?
Deputy prime minister Robert Kalinak has said there was no need to formally take over Mr Fico’s official duties.
The suspected gunman was tackled to the ground and arrested at the scene of the attack and the first assassination attempt of a European political leader for more than 20 years.
He has previously been named as 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, a former shopping centre security guard who also writes poetry.
The special criminal court in Pezinok, a small town outside the capital, Bratislava, was guarded by officers wearing balaclavas and carrying automatic weapons for his court appearance.
The media were kept at a distance. Pic: AP
News media were not allowed in for the hearing and reporters were kept behind a gate outside.
Officers had taken the suspect, who has been charged with attempted murder, to his home in the town of Levice on Friday and seized a computer and some documents, according to local media.
The attack sent shockwaves throughout Europe and raised concerns over the already polarised and febrile political situation in Slovakia.
Health minister Zuzana Dolinkova gave the latest update on the PM’s condition. Pic: Reuters
Mr Fico has long been a divisive figure.
His return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American ticket fuelled worries among fellow EU and NATO members over the country’s direction.
Slovakia had previously been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, but on taking office Mr Fico halted arms supplies to the nation battling invading Russian forces.
Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country to protest against his policies.
The bodies of three Israeli hostage taken by Hamas have been recovered in Gaza.
The remains were discovered in an overnight operation carried out by Israel’s military and intelligence agency Shin Bet, said chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari.
Itzhak Gelerenter, 56, Amit Buskila, 28, and Shani Louk, 22, were killed at the Nova music festival on 7 October, with their bodies then taken into Gaza by Hamas militants.
Ms Louk’s body was seen face-down in a pick-up truck travelling through Gaza in a video that was shared widely on social media after the hostages were taken.
Israel-Gaza war latest updates
Shani Louk
Itzhak Gelerenter
Amit Buskila
“They were celebrating life in the Nova music festival and they were murdered by Hamas,” said Mr Hagari.
He said their families have been notified.
“Our hearts go out to them, to the families at this difficult time. We will leave no stone unturned, we will do everything in our power to find our hostages and bring them home.”
The military did not give immediate details on where their bodies were found.
Ms Louk’s father has said the return of his daughter’s body to her family has been a form of closure.
Nissim Louk told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz his daughter “radiated light, to her and those who surrounded her, and in her death she still does”.
He added: “She is a symbol of the people of Israel, between light and darkness. Her inner and outer beauty that shone for all the world to see is a special one.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘No respect’ for the world after Gaza horrors
Read more:
Hostages’ families urge Netanyahu to accept deal
Hamas releases video of hostages
Hostage’s parents tell him ‘stay strong’
In November, the brother of Ms Louk told Sky News of their last phone call as his sister tried to escape Hamas.
Speaking about the video that was circulated online after she was taken, Amit Louk said: “I never thought I was going to be in contact with this type of video, seeing my sister in that brutal position.
“And just in that moment, the whole family just crashed.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths “heartbreaking”, saying: “We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the dead.”
Meanwhile, Professor Hagai Levine, a member of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, has said the recovery of the bodies is a “painful reminder” of those who are still in captivity.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Child with rare genetic disorder stuck in Gaza
“We do not lose hope. We are preparing for the return of the hostages that are alive,” he added.
Israel has been operating in the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah, where it says it has intelligence that hostages are being held.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the 7 October attack.
Around half of those have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a ceasefire in November.
Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza since the attack has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Gaza situation ‘a complete disaster’
Mr Netanyahu has vowed to both eliminate Hamas and bring all the hostages back.
He faces pressure to resign, and the US has threatened to scale back its support over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Israelis are divided into two main camps: those who want the government to put the war on hold and free the hostages, and others who think the hostages are an unfortunate price to pay for eradicating Hamas.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Environment12 months agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports1 month agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports7 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment1 year agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Environment1 year agoTesla advances Powerwall pilot project with German electric company