CHINA'S SURVEILLANCE OF UYGHURS DISTURBING: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

In many cases, Uyghur Muslims are flagged as supporters of violent extremism for simply practising Islam.

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) forensic investigation has revealed that Chinese authorities have monitored the phones of the Uyghur for the presence of 50,000 specific multimedia files that were used to flag ideas that China views as extremism. The mere possession of the Quran, for instance, is reason enough to trigger a police interrogation.

The HRW report found more than 1,000 unique files on about 1,400 individual phones that matched those on a police master list. Analysis of these files has revealed that 57 per cent appeared to be common Islamic religious materials, including readings of every surah (chapter) of the Quran.

Chinese security services have a long list of what it terms “violent and terrorist” content- including violent audio, video, and images produced by armed groups such as ISIS.