For any of these activities, Uighurs have to first report to the group head. Once he investigates the activity and approves it, his signed approval must be taken to the village head, village Communist Party branch secretary, and police in the village for their approval.

Without the these approvals, any activity in a Uighur’s home is considered an illegal gathering and will be punished.

Visitors must submit their names and addresses for pre-approval to the group head and village chief. Once permission is granted the family holding the activity can’t alter its scope or the number of people attending. Usually the group head will attend the event to supervise it. Village heads, local police and the military can enter the premises, take an inventory of the number present and check ID cards.

It’s forbidden to bypass the group head and go straight to the village head, village Communist Party branch secretary or local police for these approvals.

It’s the same with going to the township government compound. First you must secure the approval and signature of the group head. Then you go to the village head, village Communist Party branch secretary, and local police for permission. After you have all these signatures you can go to the government compound. The compound has special police guards at its gate and garrisoned armed police inside. Without the approval signatures, local police won’t let you in the compound.

If any Uighur tries to forcibly enter the township government compound, it is considered a serious crime. At minimum they’ll be arrested and imprisoned. At worst the armed police are permitted to shoot to kill.

Uighur peasants are not allowed to lock their doors at night. This includes the compound gate, house doors and room doors. All must remain unlocked to enable government inspectors to enter unimpeded. If anyone locks a door, it will indicate that there is a problem and that something is being concealed. Inspectors can have police or soldiers forcibly enter and the consequences of that are the Uighurs’ own responsibility.

Night inspections are not announced and don’t have a set time. Inspectors are usually the group head, the village chief or the village Communist Party branch secretary, and local police with two to three auxiliary police. When inspectors arrive, the whole family must congregate in one room to be interrogated, including adults and children. The inspectors can rummage through chests and cupboards and search anything.

Every village has a blacklist. The majority of those on the blacklist are Uighurs who are observant Muslims. What constitutes being an observant Muslim is praying five times a day, reading the Koran and knowing the basic tenets of Islam.

The families under suspicion are inspected every day at different times. These houses can be searched at any time with no prior approval. Usually, these houses are searched in the wee hours and the searches are like a home invasion.

When inspecting Uighur peasants’ houses, if the village head, soldiers or police see any literature written in the Uighur language they confiscate it, regardless of whether its content, or whether it’s a legal or illegal publication.

This young person told me that only a small minority of books discovered in Uighur peasants’ houses related to Islam. Most are works of Uighur literature and history, and many are works of literature translated from Chinese, are approved by the Communist Party and bought in state-run Xinhua bookstores.

But the village head, soldiers, and police don’t listen to Uighur peasants’ explanations. If they see a book in the Uighur language they confiscate it. If the Uighurs try to resist, it just causes trouble and they’ll be taken to the village police station, so most of the Uighur peasants remain silent and let their books be confiscated.

If any Uighur complains about or opposes this inhumane, racist, discriminatory treatment, they will face all kinds of trouble, from arrest and imprisonment to shooting or disappearance. So instead they just keep their resentment to themselves and remain silent.