China ups security spending for Xinjiang re-education camps
XINJIANG, CHINA — Beijing has massively upped security expenditures in Xinjiang, where it's reported to have detained ethnic Muslim minorities.
According to an analysis of Chinese government budget by U.S. think tank the Jamestown Foundation, spending on security-related construction in the western region of Xinjiang rose by 213 percent in 2017.
The spending pattern is consistent with the construction and operation of highly secure political re-education camps meant to detain Uighurs.
Mass disappearances of Uighur minorities since 2017 likely resulted in imprisonment in these camps, where former detainees say they had to endure intense political and cultural indoctrination.
But while prison spending increased by 94 percent, formal prosecutions stagnated, indicating that many are detained without a trial or with minimal due process.
China claims the institutions are vocational training centers, but figures show vocational spending in the same year actually decreased by 7 percent.
The country's human rights record is set to be reviewed by the UN human rights council, which is expected to focus on its treatment of minorities like Uighurs and Tibetans, reports the Guardian.
According to an analysis of Chinese government budget by U.S. think tank the Jamestown Foundation, spending on security-related construction in the western region of Xinjiang rose by 213 percent in 2017.
The spending pattern is consistent with the construction and operation of highly secure political re-education camps meant to detain Uighurs.
Mass disappearances of Uighur minorities since 2017 likely resulted in imprisonment in these camps, where former detainees say they had to endure intense political and cultural indoctrination.
But while prison spending increased by 94 percent, formal prosecutions stagnated, indicating that many are detained without a trial or with minimal due process.
China claims the institutions are vocational training centers, but figures show vocational spending in the same year actually decreased by 7 percent.
The country's human rights record is set to be reviewed by the UN human rights council, which is expected to focus on its treatment of minorities like Uighurs and Tibetans, reports the Guardian.