Religion-Based Detainment
China, after having initially lied about the existence of the camps, eventually acknowledged that they have “re-education camps” aimed to “establish a correct perspective on the country." What we find is that the CCP’s vision for “re-education” means eradicating Islamic practices and striping Uyghurs away from their culture and religion.
Sina Corporation, a Chinese technology company headquartered in Shanghai, published the following news report titled Local Authorities in Xinjiang Organize People to Identify 75 Types of Religious Extremist Activities:
The site encourages people to contact police if one of the 75 observations is seen from an Uyghur.
Here are a few of the reasons that would warrant contacting police in the region:
“9. Behaviors show extreme religious characteristics, such as young and middle-aged men growing beards and wearing short pants, and women covering their faces and wearing "Jili Sifu" clothes. They have close ties with each other and work in groups.”
“10. Drinking and smoking people suddenly quit drinking and smoking, and do not interact with other drinking and smoking relatives, friends or even parents.”
“13. Deliberately expand the scope of "halal" and promote the ban on smoking and alcohol on the grounds of religion; boycott the circulation of normal commodities on the grounds of "non-halal".”
“17. On the grounds of religion, women are not allowed to go out for activities and work; women are forced to wear "Guri Bav" clothes, etc.”
“19. Drop out of school voluntarily for the purpose of learning religion.”
“25. Participating in religious activities across counties, townships, towns and villages without valid reasons.”
“31. Gather people to pray in public places (indoors or outdoors) other than mosques, and have someone lead the prayers.”
“39. Use mobile phone text messages and WeChat and other social chat software to exchange experiences on learning and reading illegal religious propaganda materials, and recommend illegal propaganda materials and documents.”
“50. Instigate, organize, and participate in sporadic Hajj.”
We can clearly see that the CCP has made praying, sharing religious content, organizing Hajj, refraining from smoking or drinking, and wearing beards, thobes, abayas, etc. grounds for detainment and anyone who sees Muslims engaging in this behavior is encouraged to report them to the police.
According to the reporting of Bitter Winter, the efforts to detain Uyghurs because of their religious behavior became more organized as the CCP established the “Ten-household Joint Defense Program.” This is a way for Han Chinese neighbors of Uyghurs to spy on them in a coordinated way and report them to the local authorities if they find them violating these discriminatory rules. They also put up notices threatening religious behavior, such as owning and selling halal products as seen in Figure 2:
Bitter Winter reported on this in the following articles:
https://bitterwinter.org/authorities-force-han-chinese-to-buy-riot-control-gear/
https://bitterwinter.org/authorities-force-han-chinese-to-buy-riot-control-gear/
https://bitterwinter.org/how-ccp-is-destroying-businesses-in-xinjiang/
Bitter Winter, funded by volunteer contributions, is dedicated to raising awareness about human rights abuses in China. They have faced bans and arrests due to their reporting:
Bitter Winter, funded by volunteer contributions, is dedicated to raising awareness about human rights abuses in China. They have faced bans and arrests due to their reporting:
The reasoning for detainment is not about extremism, terrorism, or conspiracy. The reasoning for detainment is clearly about practicing Islam. There is no freedom for Uyghurs to live an Islamic lifestyle under the tyranny of the CCP, and if they are caught doing so by the police or even their Han Chinese neighbors, they will be reported and detained.