US ‘Deeply Disturbed’ By Reports Of Rape Of Uighur Woman In Chinese Camps

Uighur Woman Report: On Wednesday, BBC reported detailed horrific allegations of rape, sexual abuse, and torture, based on interviews with several former detainees and a guard at internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang.

The interviewees revealed that more than a million men and women were detained in the camps which China claims are for “re-education” of the Uighurs and other minorities.

Several former detainees and a guard revealed that they witnessed organised system of mass rape, sexual abuse and torture as each night women were taken from their cells and raped by one or more than one Chinese men who were masked. Detainees also confessed that they were gangraped by men who tortured their genitals with electric sticks and bit their bodies as if they were animals.

A woman who was detained for 18 months in the camp reported that her job was to strip Uighur women naked and handcuff them, before leaving them alone with Chinese men. The woman alleged that some Chinese man from outside or a policeman would “pay money to pick the prettiest young inmates.” “Some of them would never return back. You can’t tell anyone what happened, just sit down quietly. This is to destroy everyone’s spirit,” the woman said as she claims to be forced for this job due to her helplessness.

In response to the report, the United States government said it is “deeply disturbed” and demanded a serious consequence for the heinous crime.

Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, said that Australia is in continuous efforts to raise concern on abuse of human rights in Xinjiang. “These latest reports of systematic abuse and torture of woman is deeply disturbing and raise serious questions on the treatment given to Uighurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang,” the minister said.

However, China has denied the allegations of any such abuse against Uighur Woman and accused the BBC of making a “false report” that was without factual basis.  China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin claimed that the woman interviewed were “actors disseminating false information” and said that China has released multiple reports which proved people of all ethnic groups living with peace and contentment in their camps, The Guardian reported.

The horrific revelations have shocked the global Uighur community, many of whom have missing family members detained or suspected to be detained in the camps.

Uighur Woman