Female prisoners in Xinjiang, China’s far northwestern region, are sprayed with a “stinging” disinfectant every week and made to drink nauseating medicine in draconian official measures meant to “disinfect” them amid the coronavirus pandemic, a news report has said.

A middle-aged Uighur woman told the wire agency, Associated Press, that she was forced during detention to drink a liquid which made her feel weak and queasy, and that she and other prisoners were disrobed down to their birthday suits so jailers could spray disinfectant on them.

“The disinfectant was stinging,” said the woman, who declined to be named over fears of repercussions. “My hands were ruined. My skin was peeling.”

Released after more than a month, she was further quarantined at home as community workers visited and forced traditional medicine in white unmarked bottles down her throat. The community workers threatened to send her back to jail if she refused to comply.

Xinjiang is currently the area in China most severely affected by the coronavirus. Since mid-July, it has recorded 826 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The authorities are said to be resorting to drastic measures in defiance of medical ethics.

The outbreak containment strategies were revealed by the Associated Press in an examination of data from government notices and social media posts, and through interviews with three quarantined people in Xinjiang.

The authorities coerced some residents into taking Chinese medicine that had not yet been proven to be effective against the virus, the wire agency reported.

Local residents said that female prisoners had to strip naked and be sprayed with disinfectant every week. Some residents were made to stay at home for as long as 40 days despite testing negative for the coronavirus. People who did not comply were arrested.

Under Beijing’s heavy-handed rule, the Uighur population in Xinjiang has been suffering suppressions and crackdowns since support for separatist groups rose to dominance in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.

Apart from the Uighurs, China’s majority Han residents in Xinjiang were reported to be subjected to strict anti-pandemic measures as well.

An ethnic Han Chinese businessman said he had been detained since mid-July despite having tested negative for the virus. He said that when he discussed his condition online, his social media posts were deleted and he was told to keep quiet.

“The most terrifying thing is silence,” he wrote in mid-August on Weibo, the equivalent of Twitter in mainland China. “The long silence makes me fall into the abyss of despair.”

Several days later he continued: “I have been staying in this room for so long that I have lost count of [time]. I just want to forget everything.”

He also claimed to have been forced to take traditional Chinese medicine during the quarantine period.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play