China’s Phone Search Program: An Alarming Threat to Uyghur Rights.

China‘s Xinjiang region has again come under scrutiny as Human Rights Watch warns that police there are relying on a ‘master list’ of 50,000 multimedia files that they deem ‘violent and terrorist’ to flag Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim residents for interrogation. Human Rights Watch’s forensic investigation into the metadata of this list reveals that the Chinese police have conducted nearly 11 million searches of a total of 1.2 million mobile phones in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital city of 3.5 million residents, over nine months in 2017 and 2018, using Xinjiang’s automated police mass surveillance systems, which enable this phone search. China‘s government has previously come under scrutiny for its approach to countering acts it calls “terrorism” and “extremism”. China’s counterterrorism law defines those terms in an overly broad and vague manner that facilitates prosecutions, deprivation of liberty, and other restrictions for acts that do not intend to cause death or serious physical harm for political, religious, or ideological aims.

## The Abuse of Power

This latest report by Human Rights Watch reveals yet another abuse of power by Chinese officials. Using mass surveillance technology, Chinese authorities are targeting minority groups in Xinjiang, citing concerns over terrorism and extremism. The use of surveillance devices such as facial recognition cameras allows the government to control and monitor every aspect of the citizens’ lives, including how they practice their religion, communicate with each other, where they travel and whom they socialise with. Over the past five years, this specious campaign against the Uyghur and other minority Muslims has escalated in the name of global security, with tech companies providing Chinese authorities with the tools needed for mass surveillance programmes.

The abuse of surveillance technology raises questions around the ethics that shroud the applications of these technologies, and who can be held accountable when such technologies are used in ways that infringe on human rights. How can surveillance companies ensure that they are not complicit in the persecution of minority groups? Do they need to conduct thorough assessments of their equipment and the ways it can be used? Assumptions cannot be made that tech companies are aware of what their equipment will be used for by government or law enforcement agencies, but taking more responsibility in terms of accountability frameworks could be a further step to protecting privacy and human rights.

## Violation of Rights

The possession of material deemed extremist is a severe threat to freedom of belief, privacy, and expression. The mere criminalisation of possessing such material, even when individuals have no intention of using it to cause harm to others, undermines human rights, namely the right to freedom of expression and thought. Moreover, the mass collection of biometric data from Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, using such technologies as artificial intelligence, policing apps, and big-data systems, amounts to no less than grave rights violation.

International law obligates governments to define criminal offences precisely and to honour their commitments to guarantee the rights to freedom of expression and thought. These rights are guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China has signed but not ratified. This violation by Chinese authorities is further proof of their disregard for international law and their neglect of those rights defined under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

## Urgent Action is Needed

The United Nations Human Rights Council should urgently establish an independent, international investigation into grave rights violations in Xinjiang by the Chinese government against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims. The UN has a responsibility to act urgently and not to shy away from taking the necessary steps to protect human rights, despite China‘s growing economic clout and increasing diplomatic force. The Chinese government must halt its use of surveillance technology to oppress minority groups and violate basic human rights. Any technology companies involved in this mass surveillance industry must take accountability for their technology, making sure it is not used to infringe on human rights, violating privacy and security.

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