London and Washington expressed their outrage on Thursday (February 4th) after the broadcast of a BBC investigation into acts of torture and sexual violence against women from the Uyghur Muslim minority in Chinese camps.
Read also: Washington considers that China is committing a "genocide" against Uyghur Muslims
In a lengthy investigation based on testimony, the BBC on Wednesday reported allegations of systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture, including rape with electrified batons, on women detained in Xinjiang, western region. from China where Uyghurs are the main ethnic group.
The women were victims of gang rape and forced sterilization, witnesses say.
UK Foreign Secretary Nigel Adams said the BBC report revealed "
clearly heinous acts
".
"
The evidence of the scale and gravity of these violations is now far-reaching, it paints a truly atrocious picture
," Adams told the British Parliament.
"
These atrocities strike the conscience and must have serious consequences,
" said a spokesperson for the United States Department of State, reiterating the view of the old and the new United States administration that China is in the process of perpetrate "
genocide
" against the Uyghurs.
"
We will look at all the appropriate tools to hold those responsible to account and deter future abuse,
" the spokesperson said.
The investigation also sparked outrage among Australian politicians and prompted further calls for China to allow UN inspectors to visit Xinjiang.
According to experts, more than a million Uyghurs are or have been detained in political re-education camps in Xinjiang.
This vast semi-desert region, bordering in particular with Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been placed under close police surveillance since a series of deadly attacks committed in China and attributed to Uyghur separatists and Islamists.
Beijing rejects the term "
camps
" and asserts that they are vocational training centers, intended to provide employment to the population and therefore to distance them from religious extremism.
