Leaked documents reveal Uighurs repressed, monitored in detention camps

Classified Chinese government documents made public by an international group of journalists describe the repressive inner workings of detentioncampsinXinjiang, in a second rare leak in days of secret files concerning the troubled western region.

The publication on Sunday of the documents by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) follows a New York Times report on November 16 based on a cache of secret papers revealing details ofChina'sclamp-down on ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in the region.

United Nations experts and activists say at least 1 million Uighurs and members of other largely Muslim minority groups have been detained incampsinXinjiang.

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The ICIJ says it obtained a 2017 list of guidelines "that effectively serves as a manual for operating thecamps", with instructions on how to prevent escapes, maintain secrecy about thecamps' existence, indoctrinate internees and "when to let detainees see relatives or even use the toilet".

Other documents it obtained include "intelligence briefings" showing how police have been "guided by a massive data collection and analysis system that uses artificial intelligence to select entire categories ofXinjiangresidents for detention".

Foreignministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news conference on Monday thatXinjiangaffairs were an internal matter ofChina's, and that a stable and prosperousXinjiangwas the best response to what he said amounted to slander.

The Guardian newspaper, an ICIJ affiliate, reported the Chinese embassy in London as saying "the so-calledleakeddocuments are pure fabrication and fake news".

Reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the documents.

The leaks come amid a rising international outcry overChina'sbroader human rights record inXinjiang. The United States has ledmorethan 30 countries in condemning what it called a "horrific campaign of repression".

Beijing denies any mistreatment of Uighurs or others inXinjiang, saying it is providing vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism and to teach new skills.