Shortly after the UN broke the news of the concentration camps, Sigal Samuel of The Atlantic fleshed out the hell unfolding in the camps. She reported that inmates were "forced to renounce Islam, criticize their own Islamic beliefs and those of fellow inmates, and recite Communist Party propaganda songs for hours each day." Male inmates were compelled to shave their beards, which signify piety for Muslims, and others were force-fed pork and alcohol, which Muslims are categorically forbidden from consuming. These force feedings were also done during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, to shame Uyghurs and to strip them of the dignity that their faith gave them.

QUESTION: The systemically religious nature of the abuse suggests deliberate targeting of faith identity as a weapon of state control.

Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamopho…, loc. 558