China Forces Muslim Prisoners to drink alcohol and eat pork in China’s ‘re-education’ camps

Omir Bekali displays a photo of his parents who he believes have now been interned in China (AP)

A former Chinese Muslim detainee revealed to the media how Chinese authorities forced Muslim prisoners in exile camp to eat unclean food, including pork and alcoholic beverages.

The acknowledgment was delivered by a former prisoner named Omir Bekalic, 42, told an online news website from UK Independent.co.uk, Friday, May 18, 2018. He was a Muslim Kazakhstan arrested by Chinese security agencies when entering the Chinese border from Kazakhstan to visit his parents on March 23, 2017.

After being in his parents' home for two days, he was picked up by five Chinese policemen at Karamay. Subsequently, he was taken to the Baijiantan District Public Security Bureau, Karamay, along with 17 other detainees. "They're placed in a narrow cell."

With his feet and hands chained, Bekalic was questioned about his job, before finally accused of helping Chinese Muslims flee.

While in detention, Bekalic confesses with other prisoners being forced to refuse and hate Islam, including getting harsh punishment. "They are forced to eat pork if they do not meet the police request," wrote the Independent.

They were also forced to criticize yourself and loved ones, and are asked to thank a strong Communist Party.

"When he refused to follow instructions, Bekalic was forced to stand facing the wall for five hours. A week later, he was sent to the isolation cell without food for 24 hours,"

"The incident still haunts me to this day," said Bekalic, who was released after the visit of Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister. "The physical and mental pressure that has to be faced is painful, I tried to commit suicide in the camp"

About 900,000 to one million Chinese Muslims have been detained in the 're-education' camp in the Xinjiang region in Beijing's bid to curb the separatist movement. Detention is intended to change their political mind of the prisoners, remove belief in Islam and reshape their identities.

Officials in Xinjiang refused commented regarding about the camp existence, but some of their statements, as quoted by some media say, ideological change needed to combat separatism and Islamic extremism.

Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang targeted for arrest in recent years, and China considers the region as a threat to peace in a country where the majority are ethnic Han.