#cultural genocide

IOF soldiers pushing and shoving journalists is nothing new. What is being reported here? Israeli settlers in Al-Khalil (Hebron) destroyed a historical landmark, and IOF is clearing out the area to protect them. Cultural genocide as well as regular, all in one go.

Leaked list: China database reveals the thousands detained in Xinjiang

A leaked list of thousands of detained Uyghurs has helped Nursimangul Abdureshid shed some light on the whereabouts of her missing family members, who have disappeared in China’s sweeping crackdown on Xinjiang.

Researchers estimate over one million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities are being held in a secretive network of detention centres and prisons, ostensibly as part of an anti-terrorism campaign after a series of attacks.

Yet information on the crackdown in Xinjiang region – and those who have been ensnared by it – is closely guarded by China’s Communist authorities.

That has left relatives unable to contact detainees or seek answers from police, with just a fraction of court notices from Xinjiang publicly available.

Abdureshid, who now lives in Turkey, lost contact with her family five years ago.

It took until 2020 for the Chinese embassy in Ankara to confirm that her younger brother Memetili, as well as her parents, had been imprisoned for terrorism-related offences.

But a suspected police list leaked to Uyghur activists outside China has located Memetili in a prison outside the city of Aksu, some 600 kilometres (375 miles) from their home.

He was sentenced to 15 years and 11 months in jail, the documents show – a figure confirmed by Beijing’s embassy in Ankara.

“It is much better than not knowing anything about where he is. There is a small happiness,” Abdureshid, 33, told AFP from Istanbul, where she has lived since 2015.

“I check the weather there sometimes, to see if it is cold or warm.”

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