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WASHINGTON: The United States is “deeply concerned” by reports of systematic rape and sexual abuse against women in internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region, and there must be grave consequences for the atrocities committed there. the US State Department said on Wednesday (February 3).
A BBC report earlier on Wednesday said that women in the camps were subjected to rape, sexual abuse and torture. The British broadcaster said that “several former detainees and a guard told the BBC that they experienced or saw evidence of an organized system of mass rape, sexual abuse and torture.”
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When asked to comment, a State Department spokeswoman said: “We are deeply disturbed by the reports, including first-hand testimonies, of systematic rape and sexual abuse against women in internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims. in Xinjiang “.
The spokeswoman reiterated US accusations that China has committed “crimes against humanity and genocide” in Xinjiang, adding: “These atrocities shock the conscience and must have serious consequences.”
The official said China should allow “immediate and independent investigations by international observers” into the rape allegations “in addition to the other atrocities taking place in Xinjiang.”
Beijing denies allegations of abuse in Xinjiang and has said that the complexes it set up in the region provided vocational training to help eradicate Islamist extremism and separatism. Those in the facility have “graduated” since then, he says.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the BBC report “lacked any factual basis” and charged that the people interviewed for it had been “repeatedly proven” as “actors spreading false information” .
The administration of US President Joe Biden, who took office on January 20, has backed the determination made the previous day by the outgoing Trump administration that China has committed genocide in Xinjiang.
Last year, a report by a German researcher published by a Washington think tank accused China of using forced sterilization, forced abortion and coercive family planning against Muslim minorities.
