The excesses and inhuman treatment of Uygar Muslims living in Xinjiang, China, is not hidden from anyone. Protests have started all over the world regarding these detention camps in Xinjiang. The US “USA” has imposed sanctions against many Chinese officials for the atrocities being committed with other Muslims including Uygar, Kazakh. A Kazakh truck driver named Erbakyat Okarbai, who returned to China after spending two years in these torture camps, has narrated his incident to journalist Jean N. Banin. Erbakyat Okarabai was imprisoned at the Detention Center in Xinjiang from May 2017 to 2019, during which he was subjected to extremely inhuman atrocities by Chinese authorities.
According to Erbakyat Okarabai
I am from Kaaba County in Altay region and my wife is from Tarabagatai. We got married in the year 2009 and after that I moved to Tarabagatai. I had also decided to settle here, due to which I had also bought a house here. In the year 2016, I had also applied for citizenship of Kazakhstan but one day my father’s health suddenly deteriorated due to which I had to return.
One day I got a call that I have to come to the Koktogai police station where my phone was snatched and then I was taken to Tacheng city. We reached New Police Station at midnight where my hands, feet and wrists were tied up and then I was handcuffed. Then after this I was beaten up and dragged from one place to another. After beating, I was taken to a pre-detention trial center.
After being taken there, I was beaten once again. My face was attacked with an iron rod, which made my face soaked in blood and my face was scarred. During this time we were given half cooked powertots along with carrot leaves, potato peels, grass-like food. One day I got so hungry that I started screaming loudly at four o’clock in the morning, after which guards were called and I was beaten with a leather belt. As of 22 November 2017, I spent 98 days there. During this time my weight had come down from 97 kg to 71 kg.
According to Erbakyat Okarabai, classes started ten days after arriving at the rejuvenation camp. During the conversation at night, it was known that people have been brought to these camps for minor reasons, such as some went to Kazakhstan and some used WhatsApp. Some used their IDs to get Chinese SIM cards to Kazakhstan customers. Many of these were also those on which to offer prayers in the mosque and organize marriages in mosques.
In the camp I came to know of a man named Turcin, aged 40, who could not participate in flag hosting during the morning, due to which he was also sent to the camp. He died while living in the camp. The cause of his death was stated to be a heart disease but I was sure that he was beaten to death. The camp also had a TV set on which the propaganda of Xi Jingping was shown.
One day, suddenly me and the other 11 people were left together. We all had to take a pledge on that day that they would not share this experience with anyone. The next day a Han female officer named Wang Yijiang met where there were more Kazakh people. He asked us to thank the Communist Party in return for his release.
After my release, I was not allowed to keep the phone for the first three months. Also my ID card was blacklisted. After working for a few days the local administration got a call and they asked me if I want to go back to Kazakhstan? Then the next morning I was brought to the border of Sultanate and Baqiyat. When we were about to get off the bus to cross the border, the Han authorities once again threatened us not to share the experience of the camp with anyone else.
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When I reached my house, I was surprised to see that my son could not recognize me. He asked my wife which of these uncles came to our house. Then I told him that I am his father. A human rights organization in Almaty is now helping me. The doctors also told me that germs have been found in my blood.
