Kazakhstan. I had to write:] I was in Kazakhstan. I got infected by ‘ideas’. Now I will do better and get rid of ideas… And [we also had to write] we had mistakenly chosen the religion of Islam. We will not choose this religion again… And there was also a list of ‘misdoings’ of Muslim believers against China. For example, praying before bed. So, you would have to write that you were sorry for this and that you would not do it again. Anara told Amnesty International she was required to do a self-assessment once a week. “It was the same every week, except that you must acknowledge some progress, like learning Chinese,” she said.432
THE RIGHT TO HEALTH AND THE QUESTION OF CONSENT The right to health as recognized in Article 12 of the ICESCR further includes the freedom to control one’s health and body and the right to be free from torture, non-consensual medical treatment, and experimentation.433 All people, including persons in detention, have the right to exercise informed consent to all medical procedures and treatments. The authorities must ensure that such people can effectively exercise their right to health, and that the healthcare provided for them complies with medical ethics, including principles of confidentiality, autonomy, and informed consent. The authorities must never require health professionals in places of detention to act in any way contrary to their professional judgment or medical ethics.434 Informed consent requires a voluntary and sufficiently informed decision and includes the right to refuse treatment”.435 Involuntary hospitalization is a form of deprivation of liberty and can constitute arbitrary detention.436 Article 7 of the ICCPR adds that the absolute prohibition of torture or other ill-treatment includes the principle that “no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.”437 Abusive practices in healthcare settings, such as forced sterilization or forced abortion, can likewise constitute ill-treatment or torture,438 as does deliberately depriving someone of medical attention.439 The Special Rapporteur on Torture has recognized “that medical treatments of an intrusive and irreversible nature, when lacking a therapeutic purpose, may constitute torture or ill-treatment when enforced or administered without the free and informed consent of the person concerned”, in particular when such treatments are performed on patients from marginalized groups or are discriminatory in character.440 The states’ obligation to prevent torture and other ill-treatment applies not only to public officials, but also to doctors and other healthcare professionals, including those working in state or private hospitals and detention centres.441
4.4 HEALTHCARE WITHOUT CONSENT All former detainees were subjected to health-related procedures without their consent. This occurred both during their pre-detention health check and during their time in the camp. Nearly every former detainee reported being given injections and having their blood drawn.442 Almost none were told what the injections or blood samples were for, even after they asked. “They injected me with a liquid, to clean inside my artery. They didn’t have my consent. They said that if I didn’t [allow 432 Amnesty International interview. 433 CESR General Comment 14, §8. 434 See also the Istanbul Protocol: “Doctors have a duty to monitor and speak out when services in which they are involved are unethical, abusive, inadequate or pose a potential threat to patients’ health.”; Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol), HR/P/PT/8/Rev.1, para. 67. 435 SR right to health, report on mental health A/HRC/35/21 (2017), para 63; Annual report of the Special Rapporteur on torture, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013) §28. 436 HRC General Comment 35, §§5, 19. 437 See also Article 15(1) of the Convention on Persons with Disabilities; Article 6 of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights; CESR General Comment 25 (2020), which also emphasizes the protection against discrimination as an immediate obligation. 438 HRC General Comment 28, §11. 439 See also CESCR, General Comment No. 14, The right to the highest attainable standard of health (article 12), UN Doc. E/C.12/2000/4 (2000), para 34: “States should also refrain… from limiting access to health services as a punitive measure”. 440 Annual report of the Special Rapporteur on torture, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013) §3. 441 Annual report of the Special Rapporteur on torture, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53 (2013) §24. 442 Amnesty International interviews.
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“LIKE WE WERE ENEMIES IN A WAR” CHINA’S MASS INTERNMENT, TORTURE AND PERSECUTION OF MUSLIMS IN XINJIANG Amnesty International
