The report highlights China’s systematic repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang and human rights violations

A recent report by Yale University highlights the precarious living conditions of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) under Chinese repression.

The situation of Uighurs in Xinjiang region is continuously getting worse. Beijing has also intensified action against those who raise their voice against human rights violations.

The report stresses that China’s mass incarceration of Uighurs constitutes both a “crime against humanity” and “genocide,” demonstrating an alarming level of criminality.

It details serious inconsistencies and shortcomings in China’s legal system, including excessive penalties, widespread prosecutions, and unusually high imprisonment rates. The analysis shows how China’s authoritarian structure undermines domestic and international legal standards.

The Yale report also details how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has adopted strategies to avoid international scrutiny while continuing to oppress the Uighurs.

It said the level of imprisonment is unprecedented since World War II, reflects the extremes of what scholars describe as “authoritarian legitimacy” and is a matter of grave concern for global humanity.

The report estimates that if mass imprisonment continues, the Uighur population as a whole could face up to 4.4 million years of imprisonment.

Further, the report also states that among the 13,114 cases with prison sentences (excluding 25,155 cases without conviction), the average jail term is around 8.80 years.

Earlier, a February 2022 report by the Xinjiang High People’s Procuratorate showed that 5,40,826 individuals were prosecuted in the region from 2017 to 2021.

However, the actual number of prosecutions will likely be much higher as data for 2022, 2023, and 2024 are missing, as the Xinjiang court has stopped releasing new statistics.

The report also raises concerns about China’s conviction rate for Uighur Muslims, which is over 99.9 percent. Nearly all Uighurs arrested for re-education or marked as suspects are convicted, giving the XUAR one of the highest imprisonment rates in the world, at 2,095 per 100,000 citizens.