Thread by @adrianzenz

In a stunning move, Erkin Tuniyaz, Xinjiang governor and vocal camp defender, is expected to meet U.K. gov't officials and EU diplomats.

New evidence from the #XinjiangPoliceFiles shows he gave personal orders on "escape prevention" from the camps: /1
politico.eu/newsletter/chi…

Background: since mid-2014, Tuniyaz has been XUAR party committee standing committee member and XUAR government vice chairman. This means he was part of overseeing the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which controls all security organs and camps. /2
web.archive.org/web/2023020822…

The XUAR party committee was also closely involved in the drafting of the De-Extremification Regulation, which provided the basis for the mass internments into re-education camps. This began mid-2014, after Xi Jinping authorizing it in his secret speech./3 uyghurtribunal.com/wp-content/upl…

Meaning, Tuniyaz was involved in drafting the Regulation from its inception. In 2016, Tuniyaz attended an event demonstrating the successful re-education of prisoners, at that time a relatively new measure being tested on prisoners: /4 news.sina.cn/gn/2016-02-02/…

But the key evidence implicating him in the atrocity comes from the #XinjiangPoliceFiles:

On July 6, 2018, shortly after the visit of Chinese Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi's visit to Xinjiang, Tuniyaz spoke to the XUAR Stability Maintenance Command headquarters: /5

There, Tuniyaz exhorted this entity, which oversees day-to-day police / security / camp operations, to ensure the “absolute security” of the prisons and internment camps, and the “anti-escape” measures (“Five Prevents”) taken to prevent escapes from the camps. /6

This means that in mid-2018, at the height of the campaign of mass internment, Tuniyaz was directly implicated in enforcing the security and anti-escape measures of the internment camps holding Uyghurs. /7

Tuniyaz also refers to a highly inflammatory speech from Chen Quanguo held on June 18th, in which Chen tells officials to "resolutely open fire" on anyone moving against the camps, and to ruthlessly enforce stability maintenance at all cost. /8

Together, all of this means that Tuniyaz was closely informed of camp detention statistics, security measures, and closely involved in the work leading up to the mass internments. /9

In the summer of 2019, Tuniyaz then defended the so-called "vocational training centers" at an event held at the United Nations in Geneva. /10 cbc.ca/news/world/gen….

In September 2021, he was named XUAR governor, replacing Shohrat Zakir. In December 2021, he was sanctioned by the U.S. government. Recently, in January 2023, he was formally elected as chairman.
home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/…

His anticipated Europe visit is consistent with Beijing's pivot away from a "wolf warrior" to more of a "soft power" diplomacy. He hopes to discuss the "situation in Xinjiang" with European politicians - an overt propaganda ploy.
theguardian.com/world/2023/feb…

For good measure, you can watch Tuniyaz's presentation from summer 2019, where he asserts that re-education camp dormitories are "are fully equipped with radio, TV, telephone, air conditioning, bathroom, and shower."

https://twitter.com/PeterIrwin_/status/1623727995608264710