Chinese ex-detective exposes 'psychopathic' abuses against Uyghurs

A Chinese ex-detective turned whistleblower has made new accusations about the extent to which Chinese government forces in  the mainly Xinjiang region have brutalised the mainly Muslim Uyghur population.

In a three-hour-long interview with CNN, the former detective, who referred to himself as Jiang, described tactics used by the Chinese government against Uyghurs in distressing detail.

He said that government forces would shackle Uyghurs to chairs to immobilise them, beat them severely, and commit gang rapes.

Jiang added that was initially eager to be deployed to Xinjiang "to help defeat a terror threat" he was told could threaten his country. He was also keen for a promotion after more than 10 years of police work.

He said his boss had asked him to take the post, telling him that "separatist forces want to split the motherland. We must kill them all."

However, while in Xinjiang, Jiang saw Chinese forces commit disturbing abuses.

"I was surprised when I went for the first time," Jiang said. "There were security checks everywhere. Many restaurants and places are closed. Society was very intense."

He added that officers would be given lists of names of Uyghur Muslims to arrest as part of orders to meet official quotas.

"It's all planned, and it has a system," Jiang said. "Everyone needs to hit a target."

If a detainee resisted arrest, officers would "hold the gun against his head and say do not move. If you move, you will be killed," adding that officers would also raid people's houses and download the data from their computers and phones.

Every new Uighur detainee was beaten when they were being interrogated, even children as young as 14.

"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."

He added that sexual violence was also heavily used by some prison officers, who he described as "psychopaths."

"If you want people to confess, you use the electric baton with two sharp tips on top," Jiang said. "We would tie two electrical wires on the tips and set the wires on their genitals while the person is tied up."

He added that officers forced some inmates to rape new prisoners.

Rights groups say more than one million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking people have been incarcerated in internment camps across Xinjiang, with residents forced to give up religious practice and traditional activities.

Recent reports and satellite imagery also suggest that around 16,000 mosques have  been systematically destroyed or damaged in the Xinjiang region by Chinese authorities.

Uyghurs have also been subjected to forced labour.