the window and the door. Their job was watching us. At night we had to sleep with head facing the camera and face uncovered. And, if not, they woke us and put us in the right position.382 Even when not on duty, it was difficult to sleep because of regular noise from the loudspeaker in the cell and because the lights in most cells were always on.383 Saken told Amnesty he never got more than a few hours’ sleep at night during the year he spent in a camp:
Normally, we slept from 10pm to 5am. And we are on watch for two hours a night… And cadres and police came into our cells [late at night a couple of times a week] and ordered us to write confessions… And the light was on 24/7. It was a strong light and it disturbed our sleep. We never got enough sleep… They claimed it was [a school]… but how can you learn anything if they don’t let you sleep?384
4.3 ‘EDUCATION’ IN INTERNMENT CAMPS At some point after arriving in camp, nearly all detainees were subjected to highly regimented classes, either in person, via video lectures, or both. The classes were mostly about Chinese language, history, law, and “ideology”. Some involved memorizing and reciting red songs. The typical schedule included three or four hours of class after breakfast. Then detainees had lunch and a short “rest”, which often involved sitting still on a stool or with their heads still on their desks.385 After lunch there was another three or four hours of classes and then dinner, followed by a few hours to sit or kneel on a stool and silently “review” the day’s material or to watch more “educational” videos.386 At nearly all times during classes, detainees were required to look straight ahead and not to speak with their classmates. Classes were usually held in classrooms outside the cells. Inmates from two or more cells were regularly brought together in one larger class with approximately 50 people. Former detainees also reported having classes in their cell. Detainees often had to line up or sit and wait for hours in the morning because of the logistical constraints of transferring thousands of people from cells to classrooms, especially when they had to walk through narrow fenced enclosures – in essence cages – to get from the building where their cells were to the building where the classrooms were.387 Aibek told Amnesty he spent a large portion of the day waiting to be escorted to class: “After classes started, we got moving at 6am. It took two to three hours to send all inmates to class. The class was 1km away. The cage line, beginning from the dorm [and leading] to the class, was really narrow and we could only walk single file. It took two to three hours for everyone to get there.”388 While walking to the classroom – or anywhere else in the camp – detainees had to walk between yellow lines painted on the ground of the facility.389 Anyone who stepped on or over the lines risked physical punishment. Meryemgül, who said she had been sent to a camp because she refused to work for the government, told Amnesty she remembered a staff member speaking about the two yellow lines on the floor of the camp. The guard reportedly said, “‘You people went outside of the path. Here you will learn to go inside the path.’”390 382 Amnesty International interview. 383 Amnesty International interview. 384 Amnesty International interview. 385 Amnesty International interviews. 386 Amnesty International interviews. 387 Amnesty International interviews. 388 Amnesty International interview. 389 Amnesty International interviews. 390 Amnesty International interview.
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“LIKE WE WERE ENEMIES IN A WAR” CHINA’S MASS INTERNMENT, TORTURE AND PERSECUTION OF MUSLIMS IN XINJIANG Amnesty International
