Alex Tyr/TICR Group (2022)
The Uyghur Genocide is a modern-day holocaust against the North West Turkic ethnic group. Uyghur people historically and typically follow Islamic ideology. This genocide has been going on for the last 8 years, with no foreseeable end in sight.
Uyghurs are the second-largest Chinese population, behind Han Chinese. The Uyghur language is part of the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia. Xinjiang has a population of nearly 26 million. There are 11 million Uyghurs and 15 million Hans.
The Uyghur people have a very long history of being discriminated against. The first recorded known existence of Uyghurs from Chinese records is in the 3rd century CE.(201-300). The “Uyghur Empire” was the first established kingdom and came nearly 500 years later in the 8th century(701-800AD), which existed for less than 100 years from 744AD to 840AD.
In the year 839, Yaoluoge Hu, the eleventh ruler of Uyghurs, was killed and Kürebir, minister of Kyrgyzstan, seized the throne by using 20,000 horseback warfighters. He was subsequently killed one year later. 839 was also a particularly harsh year for the region. There was a regional famine, epidemic, and winter so severe that the majority of livestock perished, which was what the Uyghur economy was based on.
Throughout the year 840, nearly 200,000 Kyrgyz troops destroyed many cities throughout the empire but it wasn’t until 846 that the Uyghur kingdom officially fell.
The remaining Uyghur people fled Southwest and into the Tien Shan mountain range (Celestial Mountains) and formed their second kingdom in present-day Xinjiang. The Uyghur people in Xinjiang formed multiple kingdoms in separate cities, all of which primarily practiced Buddhism. It was not until between the 10th(901-1000AD) and 16th(1501-1600AD) centuries that the Uyghur people identified as primarily Islamic.
In the 13th(1201-1300AD) century some people believe that the Uyghur empire was abruptly overthrown by the Mongols, but the minister of the Idiqut kingdom surrendered himself and his kingdom to Ghengis Khan and received Khan’s daughter for marriage. This surrender forced a very large population to be under the Yuan dynasty and served the Mongol military in Central Asia, China, and the Middle East. The majority of the Uyghur population at this time fled to Gansu. Many battles and changes of power took place between the 13th and 18th centuries.
By the year 1920 Uyghurs had been an independent population and had a strong sense of Uyghur nationalism. This nationalism was seen as a threat by the Chinese ruler of the region, Yang Zengxin. This was the beginning of the present-day situation in Xinjiang. Poets and artists were martyred by Chinese warlords for practicing Uyghur nationalism in their works.
Uyghur independence activists staged two uprisings, 1933 and 1944, which ultimately allowed them to regain their independence which ultimately lasted until 2004 when today’s holocaust began.
Women are being forced to take an anesthetic pill and drink an unknown white liquid. The pill makes them lose consciousness and the liquid, for some women, causes menstruation to stop completely, while others experience extreme bleeding and sometimes even death.
Uyghur women are often tortured after being detained. The most common method of torture was electrocution. Prison guards transport detainees to a room with an electric chair, bind their arms and legs, shave their heads, and place a helmet designed for electrocution on their heads. The current was typically not strong enough to induce cardiac arrest, for young and healthy individuals, its main purpose is to only cause extreme pain. Victims are completely conscious during the torture and are be able to feel the electricity coursing through every inch of their bodies.
Prisons containing only the Uyghur population have all built crematoriums inside of the complex. Satellite imagery clearly shows all facilities within the complex, but prisoners are never seen. The only time that anyone in the public is notified of a Uyghur person leaving the complex, is after they have died. There are very rarely reported instances of anyone being released. Police in the Xinjiang region detain Uyghur people on the pretense that they need to be educated.
In 2011, All Xinjiang schools transitioned their curriculum to eliminate the Uyghur language. Signs at the entrance of schools inform students to only speak “Standard Chinese”(Mandarin). The Uyghur language is utilized at most a few hours a week, and it is only to communicate to Uyghur speakers when teaching Mandarin. Han Chinese children are typically not taught Uyghur at all.
In 2014, the Chinese government announced that they will pay Uyghur women 10,000 CNY (US$1,450) when they marry a Han Chinese man. These intermarriage couples are also given preferential treatment for employment and housing, and free education for the couples, their parents, and their offspring.
In October 2017 a Han Chinese man was celebrated on his county’s Facebook page for marrying a Uyghur woman. The post’s quote said: “They will let ethnic unity forever bloom in their hearts, Let ethnic unity become one’s own flesh and blood.”
A Uyghur woman that marries a Uyghur man, to the Chinese government is seen as a potential sign of extremism, just like when a Uyghur person suddenly gives up alcohol or tobacco, or having an “abnormal” beard, or even having an “overly religious name”.
The Chinese government’s policies and extremism awareness are particularly strict against the Uyghur population when it comes to cell phones. Authorities, at any moment, can confiscate an individual’s cell phone to verify that they have the prescribed spyware application downloaded and turned on. Mobile police stands are stationed every 100 yards on public streets, and they will stop any Uyghur individual to search their phone. They will also look for any banned content, which includes pictures of the Uyghur flag, or anything related to the Quran. Not having a cell phone on your person is a detainable offense, and someone that charges their phone too many times in a week is cause for suspicion. The Chinese government says that charging your phone too many times is a sign that you are using your phone for things like social media, or basic internet browsing, which is not allowed for Uyghur people. The government strictly monitors Uyghur people’s electricity usage and has made it illegal to leave your home using the back door instead of the front.
Images have been released that show Chinese government officials that are assigned to live with Uyghur families. The official eats at the same table as the family and sleeps in the same bedroom as the family.
Uyghur children are encouraged and often rewarded by their schools to report their parents’ activities to potentially catch illegal activity. Which has had parents sent to camps the same day. This also causes the Chinese government to force Uyghur children into state-run orphanages that are very similar in appearance to the camps that their parents are forced into.
Over 1 million Uyghurs have been detained and placed into concentration camps. The Chinese government insists that they have all volunteered themselves to receive a “re-education program”.
More and more details of the concentration camps are released from undercover operations and investigations, Chinese whistleblowers, and women that have been able to communicate with journalists regarding their treatment.
Leaked documents and videos from inside of these detention camps can be seen online. Tours of the camps that have been given to journalists are eerily similar to the North Korean tours that are given in their prop cities. China has gone to extensive lengths to attempt to cover up their inhumane acts and justify by saying they are volunteer-based education camps.
In August 2018, the United Nations instructed Chinese officials to end the detention and torture of the Uyghur people. To this day, they deny the existence of torture and forced detention camps.
A list of known locations compiled in 2020 will be listed below. Copy and paste the coordinates into any online map. This is only a partial list as China is constantly building new locations.
- Aksu City Second Vocational Skills Education Training Center
41°46’35.2″N 82°58’37.2″ E
- Yining County Vocational Skills Education and Training Center and Instability Prevention
43°58’26.0″N 81°29’42.5″ E
- Huocheng Jiangsu Vocational and Technical School
44°01′ 29.8″N 80°52′ 36.8″E
- Korla Vocational Skills Education and Training Center
41°42′ 21.5″N 86°16′ 55.9″E
- Urumqi Vocational Skills Education and Training Center
43°23′ 00.3″N 88°17′ 16.4″E (This is a blatant one)
- Tulu City Vocational Skills Education Training Center
42°57′ 43.8″N 89°13′ 03.4″E
- Hami City Re-education Concentration Camp
42°48′ 40.5″N 93°26′ 05.1″E
- Yutian County Vocational Skills Education Training Center & Hotan City Vocational Skills Education Training Center
36º 48′ 06.8” N 81º 49′ 58.6” E (Close together)
- Makit County Training Center
37º 06′ 42.3” N 79º 38′ 30.9” E
- Moyu County (Karakax County) Concentration Educational Correction Center
37º 15′ 12.6” N 79º 43′ 10.2” E
- Hotan City Education and Training Center
37º 14′ 57.4” N 79º 50′ 48.3” E
- Yecheng Number 7 and 8 Training Center
37º 51′ 03.4” N 77º 26′ 12.1” E
- Yecheng County (Kargilik County) Legal Transformation Through Education School
37º 55′ 01.5” N 77º 21′ 03.5” E
- Zepu County (Poskam County) Legal Transformation Through Education School
38º 05′ 10.8” N 77º 06′ 45.7” E
- Bachu County (Maralbexi County) Legal Transformation Through Education School
39º 49′ 33.7” N 78º 32′ 50.6” E
- Jiashi County Industrial Park Education and Training Center
39º 26′ 09.5” N 76º 44′ 31.8” E
- Jiashi County Legal Education Through Transformation School
39º 32′ 19.3” N 76º 42′ 43.7” E (hard to see)
- Sixth Vocational Skills Education and Training Center
39º 08′ 59.9” N 75º 57′ 01.7” E (hard to tell)
- Akto City North Light Industry Park Vocational Skills Education and Training Center
39º 15′ 39.1” N 76º 00′ 08.0” E
- Shufu County Legal Transformation School
39°19’55.6″N 75°41’11.3″ E
- Shufu County Legal Transformation through Education School
39º 21′ 33.4” N 75º 51′ 51.9” E
- Shule County Chengnan Training Center
39º 21′ 32.7” N 76º 03′ 08.0” E
- Shule Secondary Vocational School & Shule County Training Center (Sunshine Jinyuan and People’s Building Hospital 4)
39º 22′ 60.0” N 76º 04′ 26.8” E (Across the street from each other)
- Kashi City Education Transformation School
39º 25′ 53.0” N 76º 03′ 14.7” E
- Kashgar City Vocational Technical Education Training Center
39º 27′ 04.3” N 76º 06′ 35.9” E
- Atushi City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Center
39º 38′ 22.3” N 75º 59′ 01.9” E
