PART III: Interview: ‘We tell them that they would be banned from seeing their family again.’
October 29, 2018An officer at a police station in Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi) prefecture recently told RFA’s Uyghur Service about the conditions at a camp where he worked as a guard for 10 months.
RFA: How many beds are there in each dormitory?
Officer: There are 10.
RFA: Are they bunkbeds?
Officer: Yes.
RFA: Are there any special rules for when the detainees sleep?
Officer: I don’t know.
RFA: What time do they have to go to sleep?
Officer: We order them to go to sleep at 10 pm.
RFA: If they do not sleep, do you punish them?
Officer: Yes, we order them to stand.
RFA: How do you check if they are sleeping or not?
Officer: There are cameras fixed above the door at approximately two metres high. They point across the room towards the window, so we can monitor the movement of people.
RFA: You mentioned that you order the detainees to carry out self-surveillance, how does that work?
Officer: Two people in the room stand and watch and every hour or every hour and a half. [When their watch ends, they] change with two others.
RFA: When sleeping, if someone talks in their sleep or suddenly sits up or unknowingly moves their arms, what will happen?
Officer: The people watching will tell us what happened.
RFA: Do the watchers have to record what they say in their sleep?
Officer: Yes, if someone speaks in their sleep, we must be informed immediately.
RFA: Do they write down what they have heard?
Officer: Yes, if the words are clear, they tell us exactly what was said. Also if they hear any mumblings which were not clear they inform us.
RFA: Do you know of any incidents where someone admitted something, or revealed another person’s wrongdoing in their sleep?
Officer: Yes, such incidents occurred while I was working there.