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Xinjiang Victims Database

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The Xinjiang Victims Database
FormationSeptember 2018
FounderGene Bunin
TypeDatabase
PurposeDatabase of Xinjiang camp detainees
Websitehttps://shahit.biz/eng/

The Xinjiang Victims Database is a database which attempts to record all currently known individuals who are detained in Xinjiang internment camps in China.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The database has documented over 16,000 victims.[7] It was founded by Gene Bunin,[8][9][10] who started the database in September 2018.[11][12]

The database contains the names and biographical details of people who are thought to be detained in the camps. Many of the profiles also contain personal testimonies by the families and friends of the detainees.[11][13]

Origin

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Gene Bunin is a Russian-American linguistic researcher, who lived in Xinjiang until 2018, when Chinese police forced him to leave. He created the database to “have one place" to store detailed information of people interred in prison camps or disappeared after only "limited attempts" had been made to identify detainees.[13]

Image sourcing controversy

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In January 2023, following a database's post on Twitter regarding the addition of a large number of police officers to its "Accountability" section, internet users noted that images of two of the Xinjiang police officers were those of Hong Kong actors Andy Lau Tak-wah and Chow Yun-fat. Soon after it drew attention on social media, the Xinjiang Victims Database added a clarification[14] stating that the data were sourced from a file cache of an Urumqi database previously written about in The Intercept, with the police officers occasionally using avatars that were not photos of themselves, including that of Andy Lau, which had not been noticed by the database staff. The photos assigned to police officer profiles also contained a cartoon portrait of police officer Jin Xiaowei, believed to be his likeness,[15] which was also criticized in Chinese media.[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "China: Baseless Imprisonments Surge in Xinjiang". Human Rights Watch. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Uyghur Student Confirmed Jailed After Forced Return From Egypt". Radio Free Asia. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  3. ^ Pitel, Laura; Shepherd, Christian; Seddon, Max (2020-12-26). "Xinjiang campaigner says China pressure led him to flee Kazakhstan". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  4. ^ Goff, Peter (20 June 2020). "China's 'cultural genocide': Uighur repression continues". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  5. ^ Mauk, Ben. "Inside Xinjiang's Prison State". The New Yorker. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Xinjiang Documentation Project". Xinjiang Documentation Project. University of British Columbia. Retrieved 8 May 2021. Xinjiang Documentation Project, a joint effort between the Institute for Asian Research in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia and the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Department at Simon Fraser University,
  7. ^ Vasanthakumar, Ashwini (2021-11-04). The Ethics of Exile: A Political Theory of Diaspora (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 40. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198828938.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-882893-8.
  8. ^ Standish, Reid (2019-09-03). "'Our Government Doesn't Want to Spoil Relations with China'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  9. ^ "China hounds Xinjiang data collectors | Eurasianet". eurasianet.org.
  10. ^ "Xinjiang victims database curator barred from entering Uzbekistan, twice | Eurasianet". eurasianet.org.
  11. ^ a b Ramzy, Austin (February 17, 2019). "'Show Me That My Father Is Alive.' China Faces Torrent of Online Pleas" – via NYTimes.com.
  12. ^ "Список Бунина и Культурная революция 2.0. Как русский ученый из США собирает базу данных о жертвах китайских репрессий в Синьцзяне" [Bunin's List and Cultural Revolution 2.0. How a Russian scientist from the United States collects a database of victims of Chinese repression in Xinjiang]. Медиазона Центральная Азия (Mediazone Central Asia).
  13. ^ a b VanderKlippe, Nathan (November 1, 2018). "Documenting the disappeared: Relatives, friends build database of missing Uyghurs" – via The Globe and Mail.
  14. ^ "A quick thread to give a step-by-step explanation of how Andy Lau's photo..." Twitter. 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  15. ^ "Accountability: Jin Xiaowei". Xinjiang Victims Database. 2023-01-06. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  16. ^ "Infernal blunder: Hong Kong film stars branded as Xinjiang 'crackdown' cops". South China Morning Post. 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
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