In March 2022, international media published the "Xinjiang Police Files". The hacked documents tell the gruesome story of the re-education camps in China's western Xinjiang province. It is the largest leak to date and occurred shortly before the visit of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to the Xinjiang region. We discussed the leaks with Anna Marti, Head of the Global Innovation Hub Taipei, and Vanessa Steinmetz, Project Assistant at the Regional Office Southeast and East Asia.

Vanessa Steinmetz: The material consists of three parts. The first part includes more than 2,800 sad and harrowing pictures of prisoners looking directly into the camera. One picture that has gone viral around the world shows a woman with tears in her eyes. The second part contains documents with information about the prisoners as well as instructions to the camp guards. They suggest that an order to shoot was given in case of a escape attempt. The third part are transcripts of speeches by party functionaries.

Anna Marti: One absurd example is the case of a young man who was illegally exercising in a gym. In Xinjiang, the consequence of such an action is a 10-years prison sentence. It is not about punishing a crime at all. It is about locking people up and re-educating them and making them "good Han Chinese".