Fact Check: No, this video doesn’t show Chinese soldier beating Uyghur Muslim man for possessing Quran

AFWA’s investigation found that the video is actually from 2017 and shows an Indonesian soldier assaulting a suspected thief. 

By Shinu Maggie Suresh: China’s alleged mistreatment of Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority from the northwestern region of Xinjiang, has been internationally reported for years now. The United States has gone so far as to call it genocide and later, the United Nations noted that China’s policies “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”

China, on the other hand, has denied all allegations of human rights abuses, insisting that the crackdown in Xinjiang was necessary to prevent terrorism and root out Islamist extremism, adding that camps were an effective tool for re-educating inmates in its fight against terrorism.

Now, a video purportedly showing a Chinese soldier beating an Uyghur man for possessing a copy of the Quran has been shared widely. The horrific video shows two men in military uniforms and a third man clad only in underwear in a room. One of the military men mercilessly whipped the mostly-naked man, who let out bloodcurdling screams all throughout.

Those sharing the video claimed, “This is a Chinese officer beating a Muslim Uyghur for having a copy of the Quran in his house! Everyone send this out so the world knows what is happening in East Turkistan.”

AFWA’s investigation found that the video is actually from 2017 and shows an Indonesian soldier assaulting a suspected thief.

AFWA PROBE

Using relevant keywords and a reverse image search, we found that the video was quite viral in Indonesia in May 2017. According to a May 2017 report published in Tribun Jateng, the incident occurred at the Depok Baru Station in Jakarta on May 13, 2017.

Reportedly, the man being whipped was a suspected pickpocket. After the video went viral, the officer seen whipping the man was dismissed. A report published on May 24, 2017, in Tribune Medan also said the same. This proved that the video was neither from China nor recent.

In fact, it’s been previously debunked. On January 3, 2019, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lijian Zhao wrote on Twitter, “Fake news! Not Chinese language!! Not even Chinese police uniform!!! This is sheer propaganda against China, trying to sabotage relations between China & muslim countryies. There’s no ‘East Turkistan’ in China. Only terrorists & their sympathizers call Xinjiang ‘East Turkistan’.”