Defense Department Still Won’t Comment on Chinese Government Interrogation of Uighurs
CQ Politics notes that a fight is brewing in Congress (finally) over the charge that the Defense Department allowed Chinese government agents to abusively
Jul 31, 2020122.9K Shares1.9M Views
CQ Politics notesthat a fight is brewing in Congress (finally) over the charge that the Defense Department allowed Chinese government agents to abusively interrogate the Uighur detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
When I wrote about this back in May, there were just a few murmurs about the matter in Congress, but there had already been an explicit acknowledgment of the factin a 2008 inspector general report, though the charges had been largely overlooked.
According to a footnote in [that IG report](While the Uighurs were detained at Camp X-Ray, some Chinese officials visited GTMO and were granted access to these detainees for interrogation purposes. The agent stated that he understood that the treatment of the Uighur detainees was either carried out by the Chinese interrogators or was carried out by U.S. military personnel at the behest of the Chinese interrogators. He said he also heard from the Uighur translator that other Uighur detainees experienced this same treatment.):
“„While the Uighurs were detained at Camp X-Ray, some Chinese officials visited GTMO and were granted access to these detainees for interrogation purposes. The agent stated that he understood that the treatment of the Uighur detainees was either carried out by the Chinese interrogators or was carried out by U.S. military personnel at the behest of the Chinese interrogators. He said he also heard from the Uighur translator that other Uighur detainees experienced this same treatment.
“„Three former Uighur detainees submitted testimony through legal counsel on Thursday alleging that all 22 detainees of the Chinese Muslim minority group were interrogated by Chinese government officials during a seven- to 10-day visit in 2002.”
“„The former detainees testified that they were forced to provide their photographs and identities to the Chinese agents under the threat of torture and, under those agents’ orders, were denied food and water and isolated in a frigid room.
Although these charges have been around for more than a year now, CQ speculatesthat lawmakers may finally be paying more attention now that their recent clashes in China with
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Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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