5:59 v originále: The Horrors of Chinese Re-education Camps in Pictures

A large trove of secret documents of the Chinese police reveals new evidence of widespread human rights abuses committed against the Uyghur minority in China's Xinjiang Province. Thousands of photos, secret and official speeches and other government files show the organized nature of the system of detention facilities which Beijing calls „re-education“ centres.

What do the so-called Xinjiang Police Files tell us about the lives of detained Uyghurs and methods used by their captors? And does the growing evidence of the repressive approach of the Chinese regime against Uyghurs have the power to change the international reaction and affect policy towards China?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. „And indeed it is,“ points out German anthropologist Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a think-tank based in the United States.

It was Zenz who was contacted anonymously by people who obtained a voluminous data set from the systems of Chinese police – and apparently even from computers inside the camps. After the expert managed to verify its authenticity, the material, known as the Xinjiang Police Files, came to light.

Among the leaked documents are secret speeches by politicians at the highest levels of the Chinese government, police instructions and thousands of photographs.

„That is really a game changer for communicating these atrocities to people, to politicians but especially to a wider audience,“ the German expert points to the power of images. The public can browse through images of police manoeuvres in the camp, for example, as well as photographs of Uyghur detainees. The government in Beijing is reacting to the latest allegations as it has so far, denying that there are systematic human rights violations in Xinjiang. However, the approach of Western countries could shift, according to some indications.

How did the German expert manage to verify the authenticity of the leaked documents? And does he fear retaliation from the Chinese authorities for his work? Listen to the whole interview via the audioplayer which you can find at the beginning of the article.