Chinese Cop Confirms Torture Of Uyghur Prisoners

Hundreds of police officers armed with rifles went house to house in Uyghur communities in the far western region of China, pulling people from their homes, handcuffing and hooding them, and threatening to shoot them if they resisted, a former Chinese police detective tells CNN.

Photo Insert: A large billboard in Kashgar (Xinjiang, China) with a message written in both Uyghur and Chinese roughly translated as "General Secretary Xi Jinping's heart is connected with those of the people of all of Xinjiang's nationalities."

"We took (them) all forcibly overnight," he said. "If there were hundreds of people in one county in this area, then you had to arrest these hundreds of people."

The ex-detective turned whistleblower asked to be identified only as Jiang, to protect his family members who remain in China, Rebecca Wright, Ivan Watson, Zahid Mahmood, and Tom Booth reported for CNN.

In a three-hour interview with CNN, conducted in Europe where he is now in exile, Jiang revealed rare details on what he described as a systematic campaign of torture against ethnic Uyghurs in the region's detention camp system, claims China has denied for years.

"Kick them, beat them (until they're) bruised and swollen," Jiang said, recalling how he and his colleagues used to interrogate detainees in police detention centers. "Until they kneel on the floor crying."

During his time in Xinjiang, Jiang said every new detainee was beaten during the interrogation process -- including men, women, and children as young as 14. "Everyone uses different methods. Some even use a wrecking bar or iron chains with locks."

The methods included shackling people to a metal or wooden "tiger chair" -- chairs designed to immobilize suspects -- hanging people from the ceiling, sexual violence, electrocutions, and waterboarding. Inmates were often forced to stay awake for days, and denied food and water, he said.

“Everyone uses different methods. Some even use a wrecking bar or iron chains with locks," Jiang said. "Police would step on the suspect's face and tell him to confess."

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