'Strapped to tiger chair, raped, drugged': Damning UN report reveals how China tortured, abused Uighurs in Xinjiang

The report describes in detail China's use of re-education camps, called “Vocational Education and Training Centre” (VETC), for the purpose of “deradicalization”.
The Chinese government in 2019 said the VETC is a "lenient" form of rehabilitation for those involved in "minor cases".
However, the UN report said that the distinction between what constitutes “serious” and “minor” acts of terrorism and/or “extremist” acts is unclear, with the same types of conduct often included under both legal categories.
File: Security officers in protective suits stand at a reception area at the visitors' hall at the Urumqi No. 3 Detention Center in Xinjiang (AP)
Moreover, the report says it found "credible" allegations of torture and sexual assault — including rape — at such detention centres in Xinjiang.
Individuals interviewed by OHCHR gave shocking details of treatment meted out by the authorities during their confinement at VETC facilities.
Their accounts included being "beaten with batons, including electric batons while strapped in a so-called 'tiger chair', being subjected to interrogation with water being poured in their faces, prolonged solitary confinement, and being forced to sit motionless on small stools for prolonged periods of time."
The number in the VETCs, at least between 2017 and 2019, "was very significant, comprising a substantial proportion of the Uighur and other predominantly Muslim minority populations", the UN said.

One of the most glaring examples of torture was the widespread use of tiger chairs by the Chinese police.
Over two-thirds of the individuals reported that prior to their transfer to a VETC facility, they were held in police stations where they were "beaten" while they were immobilised in a "tiger chair".

“Tiger chairs” are devices whereby an individual is strapped to a chair by their hands and feet. It is often accompanied by beatings or other forms of torture.
The use of “tiger chairs” at the VETCs was further detailed by the “Xinjiang Police Files”, including a number of internal instructions.

Individuals interviewed by UN said they were under constant surveillance during their confinement and the lights in their dorms/cells remained switched on throughout the night, leaving them sleep deprived.
They described how people in the dorms/cells would have to take two-hour night shifts to ensure cellmates were not praying or otherwise breaking rules during the night.
Some also noted that they were not allowed to speak their own language (read Uighur or Kazakh) and could not practice their religion.
A farmer walks past government propaganda depicting ethnic minority residents reading the constitution in Xinjiang (AP)
Moreover, the detainees were forced to learn and memorised "red songs" — songs that praise the Communist Party of China and PLA — and other official CCP material.
“We were forced to sing patriotic song after patriotic song every day, as loud as possible and until it hurts, until our faces become red and our veins appeared on our face," one of the individuals told UN.

According to the report, forms of harsh treatment beyond those related to interrogations and punishment were also reported.
It said that the consistent theme was the description of constant hunger which led to severe weight loss among inmates during their detention.
Moreover, the UN found that almost all individuals were administered injections or pills during their time at the VETC facilities.

The report said the detainees were consistent in their descriptions of how the administered medicines made them feel "drowsy".
“We received one tablet a day. It looked like aspirin. We were lined up and someone with gloves systematically checked our mouths to make sure we swallowed it," one of the interviewees said.

Some of the detainees — primarily women — also spoke of various forms of sexual violence, including rape, at these centres.
The interviewees said they were forced by guards to perform oral sex during interrogation and various forms of sexual humiliation, including forced nudity.
Several women also recounted being subject to invasive gynaecological examinations at the centres. One of the women described this taking place in a group setting which “made old women ashamed and young girls cry” because they did not understand what was happening.

The detainees on average spent between 2 to 18 months at the VETC. However, none of them were informed of the length of their stays when they were taken to the facility.
Moreover, the detainees were not even allowed to stay in regular touch with families, with half of them saying they did not get to contact their relatives even once.
This file photo taken on May 31, 2019 shows a watchtower on a high-security facility near what is believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained. (AFP)
The report said that individuals described their stay in the facilities as a “psychological torture”, due to the uncertainty about the reasons for their detention, the length of their stay, their conditions, the constant atmosphere of fear and lack of contact with the outside world, especially their families.
What added to the stress was the constant surveillance they were placed under.
"Th worst thing was that you never knew when you would be let out," said one of the former detainees.
Many reported long-term psychological consequences from their periods of confinement, including feelings of trauma

China's mission in Geneva was quick to hit out at the UN report and maintained its firm opposition to its release. It shared a 121-page document from the Xinjiang provincial government defending Beijing's policies in the region.
In a sternly worded protest, China said it firmly opposed the release of the UN assessment, which it said ignores human rights achievements made in Xinjiang and the damage caused by terrorism and extremism to the population.
“Based on the disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces and out of presumption of guilt, the so-called assessment' distorts China's laws, wantonly smears and slanders China, and interferes in China's internal affairs,” the protest read in part.
"People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are living a happy life in peace and contentment. It is the greatest human rights protection and the best human rights practice," it said.
Later, the Chinese foreign ministry accused the US of "orchestrating" the report and termed the damning document as "illegal, null and void."

Human rights groups as well as countries like Japan and Germany welcomed the report.
Japan was in fact one of the first foreign governments to comment on the report, with the government urging China to improve transparency and human rights conditions in Xinjiang.
“Japan is highly concerned about human rights conditions in Xinjiang, and we believe that it is important that universal values such as freedom, basic human rights and rule of law are also guaranteed in China,” chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.
Later, Germany said that China must grant everyone in Xinjiang their "full human rights" and release anyone who has been arbitrarily detained.
File: A demonstrator takes part in a protest by supporters of the Uighur minority in Istanbul. (AFP)
"We will discuss the consequences of the (UN) report with our partners in the European Union and the United Nations," it added.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on the UN and governments to set up an independent investigation into the human rights abuses.
“Never has it been so important for the UN system to stand up to Beijing, and to stand with victims,” said John Fisher, the deputy director of global advocacy for the group.

China has long been accused of forced detention and torture by various human rights groups, especially in the Xinjiang region. The UN report comes as a validation of such claims made over several years.
In fact, China was deliberately trying to delay or block the release of the report, which had been in the works for a long time.
Beijing was aware of how the report could validate claims that more than 1 million ethnic minority members were forcibly sent to centres it says were for vocational training.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she had to resist pressure both to publish and not publish. The report was published just minutes before her tenure officially ended.
Bachelet gives a final press conference at the United Nations offices in Geneva after releasing the report. (AFP)
Not just Uighurs, China is infamous for locking up political opponents and critics, a practice which has intensified under President Xi, the country's most hardline ruler in decades.

A recent report released by Madrid-based NGO Safeguard Defenders revealed chilling details of China's use of psychiatric hospitals to imprison activists.