{"id":7734,"date":"2021-01-13T23:36:19","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T23:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=149823"},"modified":"2021-01-13T23:36:19","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T23:36:19","slug":"repression-of-uyghurs-emblematic-of-worsening-rights-in-china-under-xi-jinping-hrw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/13\/repression-of-uyghurs-emblematic-of-worsening-rights-in-china-under-xi-jinping-hrw\/","title":{"rendered":"Repression of Uyghurs \u2018Emblematic of Worsening Rights\u2019 in China Under Xi Jinping: HRW"},"content":{"rendered":"
China\u2019s increased repression of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is \u201cemblematic of the worsening human rights situation under President Xi Jinping,\u201d sparking a mounting backlash from the global community, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday in an annual report issued the same day the United States banned all cotton imports from the XUAR over forced labor concerns.<\/p>\n
The crackdown in the XUAR\u2014where authorities are believed to have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a vast network of internment camps since early 2017\u2014as well as severe restrictions in Hong Kong and an initial coverup of the coronavirus that contributed to a global pandemic, \u201chave generated growing international mobilization against Beijing\u2019s rights record,\u201d HRW said in its World Report 2021<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cGovernments increasingly realize that Beijing\u2019s rights abuses at home have global consequences,\u201d said\u00a0Sophie Richardson, China director at HRW.<\/p>\n \u201cThat momentum should translate into support for independent investigations into Xinjiang, a new United Nations mandate to monitor human rights abuses, and an end to the Chinese government\u2019s impunity for serious violations.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the report, the Chinese government\u2019s efforts to \u201cerase the identity\u201d of Uyghurs and other Muslims continued in 2020, citing reports that more than 100 traditional Uyghur cemeteries had been destroyed in the XUAR, as well as other measures aimed at eradicating the ethnic group\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n HRW also noted reports that authorities had built more than 260 large detention structures in the XUAR since 2017, further supporting claims of a policy of mass extralegal incarceration in the region.<\/p>\n It said that under increasing international scrutiny, authorities in the XUAR have begun to send detainees to work at factories as part of an effort to label the camps \u201cvocational centers,\u201d although those held in the facilities regularly toil under forced or coerced labor conditions. In February last year, an Australian think tank revealed a list of 82 global brands that sourced from factories in China that used workers from the region under conditions that \u201cstrongly suggest\u201d forced labor.<\/p>\n HRW\u2019s report was released hours before the U.S. announced it will ban imports on all cotton products and tomatoes from the XUAR, citing concerns over forced labor.<\/p>\n \u201cForced labor is a form of modern slavery,\u201d Acting Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Kenneth Cuccinelli said on a call announcing the move, which follows similar bans on three hair-product and garment producers in the XUAR in 2020.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Made in China\u2019 doesn\u2019t just indicate country of origin\u2014it\u2019s a warning label.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n