Women in China’s ‘re-education’ camps for Uyghurs have been systematically raped, sexually abused, and tortured, according to detailed new accounts obtained by the BBC.
Tursunay Ziawudun spent nine months inside China’s vast and secretive internment camps in East Turkistan(renamed Xinjiang), the BBC reported on Tuesday.
Several former detainees and a guard have told the BBC they experienced or saw evidence of an organized system of mass rape, sexual abuse, and torture.
“For decades Uyghur and other Turkic women in East Turkistan have been victims of sexual violence, rape, forced sterilization, forced abortion, forced marriages, and other crimes perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Salih Hudayar, Prime Minister for the East Turkistan Government in Exile, the democratically elected official body representing East Turkistan and its people.
“We urge governments, international bodies like UN Women, women rights organizations and activists to speak out about these crimes against Uyghur and other Turkic women.”
The East Turkistan Government in Exile, The East Turkistan National Awakening Movement, and other human rights groups say the Chinese government has stripped away the religious and other freedoms of the Uyghurs, culminating in an oppressive system of mass surveillance, detention, in doctrination, and forced sterilization.
“As part of its genocide, Chinese Communist Party security forces are also profiting by selling Uyghur and other Turkic women as temporary sex slaves to Chinese men,” Mr. Hudayar said.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court on July 6, 2020, that provides detailed and extensive evidence that the Chinese government is committing crimes amounting to genocide and other crimes against humanity against the Uyghur and other Turkic peoples in that region.
“The systematic rape of Uyghur and other Turkic women are part of China’s ongoing genocide against East Turkistan’s people. We urge the international community to support our case against China at the International Criminal Court. Our complaint also highlights the systematic rape and other sexual violence against Uyghur and other Turkic women.” Mr. Hudayar said
“I have a mother, a wife, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. The rape of any woman breaks my heart and makes my blood boil,” Mr. Hudayar continued. “While the world talks about Human Rights, Women’s Rights, and MeToo, it ignores the rape of Uyghur and Turkic women in EastTurkistan.”
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