China denies internment of a million mostly Muslim Uighur minorities
Geneva — China on Monday vehemently denied allegations that one million members of its mostly Muslim Uighur minority are being held in internment camps, insisting all ethnic groups in the country are treated equally. A Chinese official told a UN human rights committee in Geneva that tough security measures in the far-western Xinjiang region were necessary to combat extremism and terrorism, but that they did not target any specific ethnic group or restrict religious freedoms. "Xinjiang citizens, including the Uighurs, enjoy equal freedom and rights," Ma Youqing, the director of China’s united front work department, told the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. During the first day of China’s review before the Geneva-based committee on Friday, one of the 18 committee members, Gay McDougall, voiced deep concern at "numerous and credible reports" that China had turned the region into "something that resembles a massive internment camp". Re-education camps She cited...
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