The Chinese government on Monday released a report in which it claims to have arrested 13,000 ‘terrorists’ in the Xinjiang province in the last five years. Various international organizations and foreign governments have accused Beijing of gross human rights violations in its treatment of the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. Alleged violations include the forced detention of Uyghur Muslims in “re-education” labor camps and the use of facial recognition technology to track citizens of the Xinjiang province.
Last week, US officials stated that China’s persecution of the Uyghur population makes the country the world’s worst performer in terms of human rights. China has consistently denied these allegations and a Chinese official recently described the reeducation camps for Uyghurs as ‘boarding schools’ rather than ‘concentration camps.’
Read more: China: High-Tech Surveillance Leads To 13,000 ‘Terrorist’ Arrests in Xinjiang
