A Chinese police officer takes his position by the road near what is officially called a vocational education centre in Yining in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 4, 2018. Picture taken September 4, 2018. To match Special Report MUSLIMS-( Thomas Peter/Reuters) RC1BB8158830

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using big data and surveillance to target Uyghurs for detention based on behaviors that are allowed under the laws of the Peoples Republic of China, such as studying the Quran or calling family abroad.

Human Rights Watch says in a new report that the CCP uses itsIntegrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP)to scan data from surveillance cameras, cell phones, police checkpoints and other sources to select Uyghurs for possible detention.

The report, China: Big Data Program Targets Xinjiangs Muslims, is based on HRWs analysis of a leaked list of more than 2,000 detainees from Aksu Prefecture, and found that the vast majority of detainees on the list were flagged for nonviolent behavior.

The Aksu List provides further insights into how Chinas brutal repression of Xinjiangs Turkic Muslims is being turbocharged by technology, HRW China researcher Maya Wang says in the report issued December 9.

The Chinese government should immediately shut down the IJOP, delete all the data it has collected, and release everyone arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang, Wang adds.

Since 2017, the CCP hasinterned more than 1 million Uyghursand members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups in camps in Xinjiang where they are forced to renounce their religious and ethnic identities and swear allegiance to the CCP.

The Aksu List identifies more than 2,000 detainees and provides the CCPs reasons for their detention. Reasons given include legal activities, ranging from traveling within Xinjiang or speaking with a relative abroad, to simply being born after 1980.

After the IJOP identifies someone for possible detention, HRW says, police or other administrative officials make detention decisions without involving prosecutors or the court a violation of Chinas constitution. Aksu Prefectures population is 80 percent Uyghur and all the detainees on the list are Uyghurs.

The mass surveillance and arbitrary detention of Xinjiangs Turkic Muslims violate fundamental rights under Chinas constitution and international human rights law, the report says.

The United States in Julysanctioned CCP officials and entitiesin connection with serious human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and it has restricted exports of certain technologies to companies that have contributed to mass surveillance programs linked to human rights abuses.

The world cannot stand idly by as the PRC government perpetrates horrific and systematic abuses against people in China, including violating the internationally recognized right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief, Secretary of State Michael R.Pompeo said December 10.

By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 5 January, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of religion, technology, Uyghurs

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