Trigger warning: this email has reference to sexual abuse which may be upsetting for some readers.
Did you see the BBC report earlier this month, in which Tursunay Ziawudun shared her horrifying story of cultural and religious repression, torture, forced sterilization and gang rape during her nine months of detention in one of hundreds of forced labor camps in the Uyghur Region?[1]
She said: "They don't only rape but also bite all over your body, you don't know if they are human or animal.”
Her testimony backs up previous statements made by others who have managed to escape the repressive state of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, also known as East Turkistan. As you know, for years the Chinese government has ordered the imprisonment, abuse and forced labor of over a million people whose only crime is belonging to an ethno-religious minority.
The Chinese government has dubbed Ziawudun’s testimony as ‘false’ and has banned the BBC World News from broadcasting in the country.[2] But we know the truth. And they need to know that we are all outraged. |
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“The screams echoed throughout the building. I could hear them during lunch and sometimes when I was in class.”
This was the chilling account in 2019 from Qelbinur Sedik, a woman from the Uyghur Region sent to one of the camps to teach Chinese to Uyghur and other Muslim minority detainees. The screams she heard came from what she called the “room of torture” in the building where she was forced to participate in the Chinese government’s ‘re-education' project.
Buying and selling the forced labor of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups is now a key tool of Chinese political and economic strategy – and benefits around 82 foreign and Chinese companies.[3] Around 80,000 persons were transferred from the Uyghur region to factories across China between 2017 and 2019.[4]
The country-wide transfers have made it more difficult to track the use of forced labor and so, unless they take action, companies supplied by Chinese factories cannot guarantee that their goods are not tainted by forced labor. Forced labor is likely used in factories supplying beloved household brands such as Apple, Uniqlo, Nike, Zara and many more. |
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This practice continued even when the COVID 19 pandemic sent the rest of the population into lockdown not only putting laborers’ lives at risk of infection but also further abuse since factory auditors were unable to access factories to conduct labor inspections.
Factories continue to welcome forced laborers because, as government ads proclaim, “[T]he advantages of using Xinjiang labor are: semi-military style management; can withstand hardship; no loss of personnel; will work for the length of the contract!”[5] And labor is cheap with the Chinese government subsidizing many of the companies for taking on forced laborers.
A firsthand report of a visit to a labor camp found that, “Prisoners are brutally beaten for not working fast enough or for not meeting the quota of the day, and they don't have access to medical care for their injuries. They sleep in very tight quarters, with many people in a cell, or sometimes people even sharing a bed. They don't necessarily have access to laundry, so everyone is just wearing the same clothes over and over again.”[6]
As reports continue to surface on the abusive work conditions facing forced laborers in factories, including constant surveillance, threats to family members, physical abuse, restriction of movement and political indoctrination, there is a growing movement of representatives from government, private sector and civil society rejecting these human rights violations.
When enough of us speak out, we can’t be ignored. The U.S. government has banned the importation of all cotton and tomato products from the Uyghur region.[7] Some companies have left the Uyghur region and others, such as Marks & Spencer,[8] have committed to investigating their supply chains in line with our campaign call to brands. This is thanks to people like you who have stood up and said enough is enough. |
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But the pace of progress is still too slow. The Chinese government is trying to destroy the Uyghur people and others belonging to ethnic, cultural, and religious minority groups in Northwestern China.
We can’t let this happen without speaking out. Share this petition with your friends and family so they can join the fight against the forced labor of Uyghurs and other marginalized groups.
Together, we can pressure the Chinese government to close the detention centers and end this practice of modern slavery.
In solidarity,
Krysta and the Freedom United team |
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Krysta Bisnauth
Advocacy, Freedom United |
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©2021 Freedom United is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
4501 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 110, Raleigh, NC 27604 USA |
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