China: 1 Million Uyghurs Imprisoned Under Guise of “Job Training” | Democracy Now!

19.10.18

China: 1 Million Uyghurs Imprisoned Under Guise of “Job Training” | Democracy Now!: In northwestern China, the governor of the Xinjiang autonomous region is defending his government’s imprisonment of up to 1 million ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in massive internment camps. Governor Shohrat Zakir said the camps were aimed at teaching Mandarin language and job skills. Human rights groups have blasted the mass internment, with Amnesty International saying, “No amount of spin can hide the fact that the Chinese authorities are undertaking a campaign of systematic repression in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, with up to one million people arbitrarily detained. The mass internment camps are primarily places of punishment and torture, not learning. There are consistent reports of beatings, food deprivation and solitary confinement.”