US condemns reports of rape in Chinese Uighur camps

The United States has responded in alleged reports of systematic rape inside the Uighur detention camps demanding  "serious consequences" against the offenders and sponsors of such viscous activities. 
 
The US state department said that it was "deeply disturbed" by the "atrocities", reports BBC. 
 
The statements arrived after a BBC report was published including interviews with former detainees and a guard.
 
The report detailed allegations of mass rape, sexual abuse and torture.
 
"We are deeply disturbed by reports, including first-hand testimony, of systematic rape and sexual abuse against women in internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang," a state department spokesperson said.
 
"These atrocities shock the conscience and must be met with serious consequences."

Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne also commented on the report, saying the United Nations should be given "immediate" access to the region.
 
"We consider transparency to be of utmost importance and continue to urge China to allow international observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, to be given immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang at the earliest opportunity," she said.
 
Human rights groups say the Chinese government has gradually stripped away the religious and other freedoms of the Uighurs, culminating in an oppressive system of mass surveillance, detention, indoctrination, and even forced sterilisation.
 
China has consistently denied allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and said the camps were not detention camps, but "vocational educational and training centres".
 
On Wednesday, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin accused the BBC of making a "false report" that was "wholly without factual basis".