The XUAR is the only region of China where political prisoners are known to have been executed in recent years. Since January 1997, Amnesty International has recorded 210 death sentences and 190 executions, mostly of Uighurs convicted of subversive or terrorist activities after unfair and often summary trials. The ratio of death sentences to the population is several times higher in the XUAR than elsewhere in China. The report also documents the cases of about 200 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, arrested during the 1990s and believed to be still detained or imprisoned. Thousands have been arbitrarily detained in recent years and many are believed to remain imprisoned.
Arbitrary arrests continue.
Torture of political prisoners in the XUAR is reported to be systematic. Some have been tortured with particularly cruel methods which, to Amnesty International's knowledge, are not being used elsewhere in China. This includes the insertion of horse hair into the penis, or a special wire with small spikes which fold flat when inserted but extend when it is pulled out. According to former political prisoners, such methods of sexual torture have been used in the region for many years. In the XUAR, as elsewhere in China, political trials are a mere formality as the verdict is usually pre-determined by the political authorities.