China establishes center to eliminate extremists
Xinjiang amends law to allow authorities to educate and reform people affected by extremism at vocational training centers.
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Chinese police patrol in front of the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang in March 2017. Photo:Reuters. |
The revised law passed on October 9 calls on local governments to tackle terrorism by establishing “vocational training centers” to “educate and change those affected by extremism.”
The centers teach Mandarin, legal concepts, vocational training and thinking education, according to a statement on the website of the government of the Xinjiang region in western China, where more than half of the population is Muslim Uighurs.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination accused Beijing on August 10 of detaining about a million Uighurs in Xinjiang province. On August 31, it warned of China's "political re-education" camps for Uighur Muslims and called for their immediate release.
Chinese officials deny the existence of re-education centers, saying some citizens are sent to vocational training centers for minor criminal offenses.
Beijing has said Xinjiang faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists, who have fueled tensions between the Uighur Muslim minority and China's majority Han Chinese.
However, the UN said that China has an "overly broad definition of terrorism and an ambiguous view of extremism, as well as an unclear definition of separatism in Chinese law". This could be used as a reason to target ethnic and religious minorities even if they are only exercising their rights peacefully.