While CCP claims “re-education camps” operate just like boarding schools, and respect and protect human rights, victims assert tortures and abuses on various levels. Some were arrested for merely installing WhatsApp in their phones. Some were caged standing for days, and tortured on cucking stools every night. Some were starved and beaten by security officers for four days. Female prisoners were forced to pour chili water on their genitals and “hurt for a whole week”.

Six victims that Apple Daily interviews all insist innocent. Five of them have long relocated to Kazakhstan, returned to Xinjiang to visit families or other reasons, and been arrested at the border. Some never know why they were arrested or released. Some were arrested for installing WhatsApp. Some were even arrested for visiting Kazakhstan.

According to what victims describe, concentration camps are shabby, and several people are put in one room. The 46-year-old Tursynbek Qabi was caged for seven days. He used to live in Emin County, Tacheng Prefecture in Xinjiang, and emigrated to Kazakhstan with his family many years ago. In September 2017, he returned to Xinjiang after his older brother passed away. His passport was taken away at the border. After house arrest in Xinjiang for nearly one year, he was suddenly arrested by national security, and caged for seven days.

He was detained in a dungeon under a new prison beside Emin County Prison. There were many rooms in the dungeon, and six cages were placed in each room. Iron bars were erected from ceiling to floor. Each cage was less than one square meter in size, and prisoners could only crouch on a small bench. “It was unbearable to crouch in the cage, with serious sleep deprivation, hunger, and coldness.”

Besides bad environments, Tursynbek only had minimal food over seven days without any water. He could only sip drips from the tap when he was escorted by guards to the toilet twice a day, two minutes each time. He was kicked by knee or beaten by fist “to go slower or faster”.

Several victims have all mentioned “cucking stool”. Security guards brought Tursynbek to an interrogation room each night, and tied his hands, feet, and waist on the stool. The interrogation was more or less the same each night. They continued to question him about emigration to Kazakhstan. They also told him if he confessed that his wife as a Muslim, he could be “processed easily”.

Females were tortured in another way. Another victim Rahima claims that, while in the concentration camp, security guards forced her to pour chili water on her genitals for disinfection. “Even though it only happened once, I hurt for a week.”

The 32-year-old Zharqynbek Otan has been living in Kazakhstan since 2011 with work visa. In January 2017, as his Chinese passport almost expired, he returned to Xinjiang for visa extension. He was taken away by two Chinese security officers at the border, stripped off for body search, detained in an interrogation room for a week, and transferred to a police station in Zhaosu County. For the first four days in the police station, he had no food or water at all, was tortured with iron bars for an hour each day, and was handcuffed for the rest of the day. “They only hit me on the back, so no scars were left.”

Zharqynbek asked about reasons for imprisonment, but the torturer threw the iron bar afar, and ordered him to retrieve it. “I asked them why the treatment, but they only told me to shut up, and continued to beat me.” When talking about experiences in the detention center, Zharqynbek often frowns. He fell into a coma and lost consciousness on the third day, while verbal and physical insults continued. “My memories about those days were muddled with terrible mental conditions.”

After staying in the police station for another week, Zharqynbek was transferred to a concentration camp. At the night before transfer, his head was covered with a black hood, and he was sent to a place to take blood, before more torture. “They asked me if I did prayers regularly, and if I went to other countries besides Kazakhstan. I was in so much pain that I yelled until I passed out.” When he was back to consciousness, he was already in a concentration camp.

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