By Avi Asher-Schapiro, Thomson Reuters Foundation
6 Min Read
(Adds Huawei comment in paras 22-24)
BERLIN, Jan 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Chinese technology giants have registered patents for tools that can detect, track and monitor Uighurs in a move human rights groups fear could entrench oppression of the Muslim minority.
The series of patents, filed as far back as 2017, were unearthed by IPVM, a video surveillance research firm.
In a report published on Tuesday, IPVM reveals a cluster of patents for systems that could be used to analyse images for the presence of Uighurs, and hook into ongoing surveillance camera and facial recognition networks.
Chinese Tech Giants Patent Tools to Detect, Track, Monitor Uighurs
United Nations officials have said China is transforming the Xinjiang region, where many Uighurs live, into a âmassive internment campâ.
An ethnic Uighur demonstrator wears a mask as she attends a protest against China in front of the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, October 1, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Huseyin Aldemir
World14/Jan/2021
Berlin: Chinese technology giants have registered patents for tools that can detect, track and monitor Uighurs in a move human rights groups fear could entrench oppression of the Muslim minority.
The series of patents, filed as far back as 2017, were unearthed by IPVM, a video surveillance research firm.
United Nations officials have said China is transforming the Xinjiang region, where many Uighurs live, into a “massive internment camp”, with the patented tracing tech seen by rights groups as key to the crackdown.
The last time Jevlan Shirmemmet went home to Xinjiang in China from Istanbul, where he was studying law, was four years ago. His mother, Suriye Tursun, a civil servant, cooked him a lamb and carrot