US Holocaust Museum Adds China to List of Case Studies Over Mass Internment of Uyghurs

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum added China as an “area of focus” to its list of nations that include “historical cases of genocide and other atrocities, places where mass atrocities are currently underway or populations are under threat, and areas where early warning signs call for concern and preventive action.” In particular, the center highlighted the XUAR’s vast network of internment camps, where up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities accused of harboring “strong religious views” and “politically incorrect” ideas are believed to have been held since April 2017.

Also cited by the center was the government’s use of “sophisticated social and technological surveillance systems in order to control everyday aspects of Uyghur life.” “The Chinese government is systematically persecuting Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities on the basis of their religion and ethnicity,” the center says in its case study.

“There is a reasonable basis to believe that the government of China is committing crimes against humanity … The massive surveillance and detention infrastructure China has constructed poses a significant threat to the Uyghur people, whose ability to express through cultural and religious practice their unique identity is seriously infringed.”

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