Today, @hrw published new research based on a leaked list of over 2,000 detainees from Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang. The "Aksu List" shows how Xinjiang's big data system, Integrated Joint Operations Platform, selected people for detention. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/09/china-big-data-program-targets-xinjiangs-muslims

This research follows 2 other pieces @hrw did on Xinjiang's big data system--one in Feb 2018 based on documentary research; another in May 2019 based on reverse engineering of the IJOP mobile phone app. https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/05/01/chinas-algorithms-repression/reverse-engineering-xinjiang-police-mass

All 3 investigations advance our understanding of this draconian system, which is connected to various sensory systems around Xinjiang, & which is programmed to flag lawful behaviors as "suspicious."

What’s new in the Aksu list? Previous @hrw research on IJOP were based on analyzing govt directives + app, but we had no access to the actual data. The Aksu List is the data we’ve been waiting for—it explains how, for each person, the system caught and detained them.

People are detained for nothing more than having prayed in 1985 or worn a veil in 2013. We conclude that the IJOP is "really just a pseudo-scientific fig leaf for the Chinese government to justify vast repression of Turkic Muslims." https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/09/china-big-data-program-targets-xinjiangs-muslims

As usual the authentication process was arduous. When I first received it from @SeytoffAlim, I thought there was no way we could authenticate it. We sought out family members, dug into Chinese official databases of ID card numbers, searched for wechat accounts...

To illustrate just one challenge: There were phone numbers on the Aksu List, but we couldn't call them because even just one call from abroad would get people into trouble. There were a couple foreign numbers on the Aksu List though, and we called...

and it turned out that this one foreign number belongs to a detainee's sister. The Xinjiang authorities had detained this woman because her sister had called several times from a foreign country.

When we attempted to find families of those whose names are listed, a man told us what's happened to his family, illustrating the brutal breath of Xinjiang's crackdown: brother (20 years in prison), sister (forced labor), sister-in-law (died in camp), nephew (disappeared).

“The Chinese government owes answers to the families of those on the list: why were they detained, and where are they now?” https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/09/china-big-data-program-targets-xinjiangs-muslims

I want to thank @AbduwelA for his help. @dtbyler & @shahitbiz's Gene Bunin for reviewing the list's authenticity. Of course RFA's @SeytoffAlim for kindly passing on the info, the anonymous source & the families who spoke to us.

Finally I thank colleagues at @hrw's new Digital Investigation Lab. They geolocated the content we got from the same source and found that it had come from a large complex, one previously identified as a political education camp by @ASPI_ICPC https://xjdp.aspi.org.au/explainers/exploring-xinjiangs-detention-facilities/

Finally, a really *big* shout-out to the crowd-funded @shahitbiz and I hope you'll spread the word & donate to their invaluable work documenting --& giving dignity to-- each human being caught in this senseless repression in Xinjiang. https://shahit.biz/eng/ 

And I thank @badiucao for his *excellent* illustration. I hope you'll consider commissioning his artwork in the future. He's super easy to work with: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/09/china-big-data-program-targets-xinjiangs-muslims