NGO reports custodial deaths, tortures in China's Xinjiang

A US-based Uyghur rights organisation has called for international action over reports of alleged mass detention and abuse of members of China's Uyghur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region.

The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), based in Washington, said there were credible reports of deaths in custody, torture and political indoctrination at facilities it described as re-education or internment centres.

"Credible reports of deaths in custody, torture, and systemic political indoctrination must propel the international community into action on behalf of the Uyghurs," the organisation said in a statement.

The allegations came amid growing international concern over reports that large numbers of Uyghurs were being held in detention facilities across Xinjiang. Civil society organisations had estimated that as many as one million people could be detained, although the scale and nature of the facilities remained disputed.

China had rejected the existence of such detention centres when questioned by the US, while maintaining that its policies in Xinjiang were aimed at addressing security concerns and preventing extremism.

The UHRP said the alleged mass detention campaign was taking place while Beijing was simultaneously promoting itself internationally through initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative.

The organisation called on governments and international institutions to press China for greater transparency and accountability. It urged Beijing to release people allegedly being held without charges and called on the United Nations to address the issue during its Universal Periodic Review of China's human rights record, scheduled for November 2018.

The group also proposed the use of the US Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials it alleged were involved in human rights abuses. It further called for an end to the forced return of Uyghurs living abroad under alleged pressure from Chinese authorities.

The controversy centred on the treatment of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang, a strategically important region in western China that has experienced periods of ethnic tension and violence.

China is home to an estimated 23 million Muslims, including the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs as well as Hui, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz and Tajiks. The Uyghurs are concentrated mainly in Xinjiang and have cultural and historical links with Central Asia.

The allegations surrounding Xinjiang were adding to international scrutiny of China's human rights policies, with rights groups urging governments to investigate reports of mass detention and alleged mistreatment while Beijing continued to reject claims that it was operating the type of camps described by its critics.