Chinese govt has been systematically changing hundreds of village names with religious, historical, or cultural meaning for Uyghurs into names reflecting recent Chinese Communist Party ideology, @hrw + Uyghur Hjelp's analysis of Chinese govt data shows hrw.org/news/2024/06/1… We identified 630 villages in Xinjiang where the names have been changed that way. The top 3 most common replacement village names are “Happiness,” “Unity,” “Harmony.” The top 3 most disappeared names were "Mazar" (shrine), "Hoja" (a Sufi teacher) and "Meschit" (mosque).

#HongKong authorities should drop the baseless charges against Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, and release him from prison, Human Rights Watch @hrw said today. Lai's treatment has been shocking 1/8 hrw.org/news/2023/12/1…
Jimmy Lai faces 3 “foreign collusion” charges under the draconian National Security Law, and a sedition charge. Why? For tweeting, hosting interviews, and publishing articles in Apple Daily. The National Security Law charges carry a max sentence of life in prison. 2/8

Just in: The Chinese government is significantly reducing the no. of mosques in two provinces in China under its “mosque consolidation” policy, Human Rights Watch @hrw reveals in new research released today: hrw.org/news/2023/11/2…
To reduce the number of mosques, the Chinese authorities have decommissioned, closed down, demolished, and converted mosques for secular use in Ningxia and Gansu--two regions which have the highest Muslim populations in China after Xinjiang, where Uyghurs live.

California Governor @GavinNewsom's heading to China + Hong Kong on Mon. His office says he will focus on climate change, but “steer clear” of human rights. Why? Why is there trade-off between climate & human rights? 1/6 hrw.org/news/2023/10/1… .@GavinNewsom recognizes the human rights toll of fossil fuels; his state's committed 2 phasing out fossil fuels 2 protect communities from harm + slow the climate crisis; California's suing top fossil fuel companies. He clearly understands that rights + climate are connected...

UN says it will *finally* publish its report on Xinjiang 5 years into the crackdown, on the last day and the last hour(s) of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights @mbachelet's tenure. Let's review what's been happening in Xinjiang...1/13🧵

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1564926354524672008

Since mid-2017, Uyghurs via Radio Free Asia were the first to report on the mass detentions of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the region. @hrw rang the alarm in Sept 2017: hrw.org/news/2017/09/1… 2/13

#HongKong authorities should drop the politically motivated charges + release 47 prominent elected legislators and activists charged under the abusive National Security Law, Human Rights Watch @hrw said today. hrw.org/news/2022/08/2… What's v alarming in the latest news about #HongKong's largest national security case is the fact that 5 of the 47 legislators + activists charged have been named "major organizers," which suggests possible harsh sentences, up to *life in prison.*

Today I published a piece on US-China tech competition. I describe the emergence of a China technosphere, where the values of Beijing’s brand of authoritarianism permeate, a kind of techno-authoritarianism that combines social control & efficiency. foreignaffairs.com/articles/china… 1/12 US govt & companies have portrayed themselves as trustworthy alternatives to China-based tech, but their own track record inspires little confidence. To much of the world, the US-China tech competition isn’t good vs evil, but evil vs evil. hrw.org/news/2019/09/1… 2/12

Given Xinjiang denialism, here's a compilation of my original research at @hrw. They contain 1st-hand info; allegations triangulated w multiple sources (witnesses+official docs):
Nov 2016: XJ recalled passports, effectively bars Muslims from escape hrw.org/news/2016/11/2… 1/9 After @RFA_UyghurNews + @nvanderklippe, @hrw reported about the camps as early as Sept 2017: hrw.org/news/2017/09/1… 2/9

While Chinese govt's use of political education camps has led to outrage, the imprisonment of Xinjiang’s Muslims has attracted far less attention. Why? Because processing people thru the "criminal justice system" appears legit. 1/8 hrw.org/news/2021/02/2… Well, how legit? We scoured available verdicts, indictments, official communications, leaked documents; we analyzed nearly 60 cases of imprisonment of Xinjiang's Muslims. As sadly expected, people are imprisoned not for real crimes... 2/8

Today, @hrw published new research based on a leaked list of over 2,000 detainees from Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang. The "Aksu List" shows how Xinjiang's big data system, Integrated Joint Operations Platform, selected people for detention. hrw.org/news/2020/12/0… This research follows 2 other pieces @hrw did on Xinjiang's big data system--one in Feb 2018 based on documentary research; another in May 2019 based on reverse engineering of the IJOP mobile phone app. hrw.org/report/2019/05…

Urgent: A Uyghur religious scholar Hemdullah Abduweli , who’s been legally residing in Turkey but travelling in Saudi Arabia, was arrested by the Saudis yesterday (21/11), reportedly at the behest of the Chinese government & fearing deportation. 1/4

https://twitter.com/AbduwelA/status/1330281878994214916

Saudi state security police arrested Hemdullah Abduweli near al-Kaaba in Mecca together with one helper, Nurmemet Rozi, also a Uyghur. The duo are held in Buraiman Prison inside Jeddah City. Activists say 5 other Uyghurs had previously been deported to China from Saudi 2/4

Folks in the west, it's scary to see the epidemic coming & your politicians aren't prepared, but pls refrain from concluding that govts like China are doing a better job because they are authoritarian. 1/5 This is the first pandemic on social media. In democracies you're seeing people venting their frustrations, voicing diverse opinions (flu vs not flu), you're seeing politicians fail and fumble in real time. It's messy, but that's how democracy works. 2/5

THREAD: How did we find the policing app at the heart of Xinjiang's mass surveillance? It was an accident. Let me tell you. See also: hrw.org/news/2019/05/0… 2 years ago, we started getting reports about Xinjiang's political education camps. In one interview with a Xinjiang resident, my colleague @SophieHRW had the genius to asked this simple, but essential Q: How do the police know who to put in camps?