Uyghur Files - Part 2
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2,884 faces. All Uyghur Muslims. All detained in facilities the Chinese government called voluntary vocational training. The leaked files show shoot-to-kill orders.
The Xinjiang Police Files, hacked from Chinese police computer systems and published by ICIJ in May 2022, contain the mugshots of 2,884 Uyghur Muslim detainees alongside operational manuals, security directives and case files. They document shoot-to-kill orders for escape attempts, machine gun posts, forced renunciation of Islam, and the confiscation of Qurans and hijabs as illegal items. The UN OHCHR concluded in August 2022 that credible evidence exists of torture, sexual violence and forced sterilisation. The Uyghur Tribunal in London concluded in December 2021 that China committed genocide against Uyghur Muslims specifically through forced birth control measures. The Chinese government denied everything.
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Xinjiang Police Files · ICIJ May 2022 · 2,884 mugshots · Operational manuals · Authenticated02 / 07
The operational manual. In the Chinese government's own words. Points management. Discipline protocols. Prevention of escapes.
The Xinjiang Police Files were hacked from police computer systems in Konasheher and Tekes counties in Xinjiang and provided to independent researcher Adrian Zenz of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. They were published on May 23-24 2022 and authenticated by ICIJ, multiple academic experts and journalists through geolocation, metadata analysis and cross-referencing with official Chinese documents. The files contain more than 5,000 photographs including the mugshots of 2,884 Uyghur Muslim detainees, along with official operational manuals, security directives and detainee case files. ICIJ, icij.org, May 2022.
The operational manuals contained in the files describe a points-based discipline system, protocols for preventing detainees from communicating with family members, procedures for political indoctrination sessions, and security arrangements including armed guards, watchtowers and anti-escape measures. The manuals use the language of an institution with absolute control over its occupants: detailed numbered rules, disciplinary consequences, surveillance requirements and movement restrictions. The same files include official speeches by senior Chinese Communist Party officials calling for the expansion of the detention system and stricter implementation of ideological transformation programmes. YIP Institute, Xinjiang Police Files analysis, June 2022.
Source: Xinjiang Police Files, ICIJ and Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, May 2022, icij.org · YIP Institute, June 2022, yipinstitute.org
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Shoot-to-kill order · Machine gun posts · Snipers · Strike teams · In a facility officially called a school03 / 07
The shoot-to-kill order. For escape attempts. From a facility the Chinese government described as a free voluntary training centre.
The Xinjiang Police Files document an explicit shoot-to-kill policy authorising the use of lethal force against any detainee attempting to escape from the detention facilities. The files also document the security infrastructure of the camps: machine gun posts, snipers, armed strike teams, tear gas dispensers, taser equipment and armed guards with explicit anti-escape protocols. The CCSM Global analysis of the files, published July 2022, documents this security infrastructure in detail. The presence of machine gun posts and snipers in a facility officially designated as a free voluntary training school is documented in the Chinese government's own files. CCSMGLOBAL, ccsmglobal.org, July 2022.
The YIP Institute's June 2022 analysis of the Xinjiang Police Files estimates that with new information from the leaked documents, up to 2 million Uyghur Muslims may be in some form of detainment, though this figure draws on a combination of sources including the files, ASPI satellite mapping and survivor testimony. The files themselves document unprecedented levels of surveillance and police violence used to enforce strict policies of religious and cultural suppression. Detainee records show arrests often linked to religious observance or perceived extremism risks including possessing a Quran, having overseas contacts or returning from abroad. YIP Institute, June 2022 · Campaign for Uyghurs, May 2022.
Source: Xinjiang Police Files, ICIJ May 2022 · CCSMGLOBAL, July 2022, ccsmglobal.org · Campaign for Uyghurs, May 2022, campaignforuyghurs.org
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UN OHCHR August 2022 · Crimes against humanity · Forced sterilisation · Section reportedly weakened under Chinese pressure04 / 07
August 2022. The UN concluded crimes against humanity may have been committed in Xinjiang. Torture. Sexual violence. Forced sterilisation of Uyghur Muslim women. Documented.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published its assessment of the human rights situation in Xinjiang in August 2022, concluding that serious human rights violations had occurred and that the violations may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity. The assessment found credible evidence of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including through the imposition of forced birth control measures and forced sterilisation on Uyghur Muslim women. The report had been delayed for months from its originally expected publication date. UN OHCHR, August 2022, ohchr.org.
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China documented in December 2024 that the section of the UN OHCHR report on forced sterilisation was reportedly weakened under pressure from Chinese government officials before publication. The CECC documentation notes that forced sterilisation is one of the acts constituting genocide under the Genocide Convention and that its specific inclusion in the report was subject to pressure from PRC officials to minimise discussion of it. The report that was published described forced birth control credibly documented; the full scope of evidence the Mission had compiled was reportedly reduced. CECC, December 2024, cecc.gov.
Source: UN OHCHR, Xinjiang assessment, August 2022, ohchr.org · CECC, Xinjiang findings report, December 2024, cecc.gov
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Uyghur Tribunal London · December 9 2021 · Sir Geoffrey Nice KC · Genocide concluded · Forced birth control05 / 07
December 9 2021. The Uyghur Tribunal, London. Chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice KC. Conclusion: China committed genocide against Uyghur Muslims specifically through forced birth control.
The Uyghur Tribunal was an independent people's tribunal established in London to examine evidence of atrocities against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. It was chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, who had previously served as lead prosecutor against Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal delivered its full judgment on December 9 2021, concluding that the People's Republic of China had committed genocide against the Uyghur people. The judgment specified that the genocide finding was based on the evidence of forced birth control measures, including forced sterilisation, imposed on Uyghur Muslim women, which the Tribunal concluded constituted acts intended to prevent births within the group. Uyghur Tribunal, uyghurtribunal.com, December 9 2021.
The Tribunal also found beyond reasonable doubt that the Chinese government had committed crimes against humanity against the Uyghur Muslim population, including imprisonment or severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enforced disappearance and persecution. Sir Geoffrey Nice stated in his capacity as tribunal chair that the evidence was clear and convincing. The Chinese government did not engage with the Tribunal proceedings and denied its legitimacy. The Tribunal's full judgment is publicly available at uyghurtribunal.com. Human Rights Experts, July 2026.
Source: Uyghur Tribunal, full judgment December 9 2021, uyghurtribunal.com · Human Rights Experts, July 8 2026, thehuman-rights.com
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Survivor testimony · Forced renunciation of Islam · Qurans confiscated · Hijabs listed as illegal items06 / 07
Survivor testimony. Cross-referenced with the leaked files. Forced renunciation of Islam. Qurans confiscated. Hijabs listed as illegal items in Chinese government documents.
The Xinjiang Police Files document the confiscation of items categorised as illegal from Uyghur Muslim detainees. The confiscated items listed include Qurans, hijabs, prayer rugs and other markers of Islamic religious practice. Detainees are documented in survivor testimony as having been forced to denounce their Muslim faith, forbidden from praying, fasting during Ramadan or wearing Islamic dress. The systematic targeting of Islamic religious practice as the basis for detention and indoctrination is documented both in the leaked files and in the survivor testimony cross-referenced by the UN OHCHR, the Uyghur Tribunal and multiple human rights organisations. YIP Institute, June 2022.
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect documented in its July 2026 country report on China that Uyghur Muslims and other predominantly Muslim Turkic groups face coercive campaigns to reduce birth rates, mass arbitrary detention accompanied by widespread rape, sexual abuse and torture, and forced labour transfers relocating Uyghur workers over 2,000 miles from their home region. The UN OHCHR August 2022 assessment found that the Chinese government's policies in Xinjiang had the characteristics of collective punishment and were implemented on the basis of Muslim religious identity and Uyghur ethnic identity. Global Centre for R2P, globalr2p.org, July 2026.
Source: Xinjiang Police Files, ICIJ May 2022 · YIP Institute June 2022 · Global Centre for R2P, July 2026, globalr2p.org · UN OHCHR August 2022
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The question. Not a claim. Series continues next week.07 / 07
2,884 faces in the leaked files. Shoot-to-kill orders in the operational manuals. Forced sterilisation documented by the UN. Qurans listed as illegal items. The Uyghur Tribunal concluded genocide. What is the system's name when the international community knows and does not act?
The Uyghur Files continue next week. Part 3 of 4: The Labour Transfer. Uyghur Muslim workers relocated over 2,000 miles from home to walled factory compounds. The global supply chain connecting this to cotton, solar panels and electronics bought in Europe and North America. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act signed December 2021. The May 2025 investigation showing the system is more widespread than previously understood. Part 3 of 4.
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