Xinjiang Police Files

The Xinjiang Police Files are a cache of internal documents, spreadsheets, and photographs obtained from police computer servers in Xinjiang, China, and published in May 2022 by researcher Adrian Zenz through the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. The materials were shared with a consortium of international media outlets including the BBC, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, El País, USA Today, and the Japanese broadcaster NHK, which published coordinated reports on 24 May 2022.

The files reportedly cover the years 2018 and earlier and originate from police bureaus in Konasheher (Shufu) and Tekes counties. They include:

• Thousands of mugshots of Uyghur detainees, with subjects ranging from teenagers to elderly women
• Internal police protocols describing shoot-to-kill orders for detainees attempting to escape
• Speeches attributed to senior officials, including then–Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi and former Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, discussing detention quotas and security policy
• Spreadsheets listing detainees alongside reasons for internment, often citing religious practice or family ties abroad

The release coincided with a visit to China by then–UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, prompting calls for her to address the material directly. Beijing dismissed the files as fabrications and part of an "anti-China" smear campaign, while several Western governments cited them in renewed condemnations of Xinjiang policy.

The files added documentary weight to earlier reporting on the Xinjiang internment camp system, complementing the 2019 China Cables and Xinjiang Papers leaks. They have been referenced in sanctions debates, in parliamentary inquiries in the United Kingdom and European Union, and in ongoing scholarly assessments of whether conditions in the region meet thresholds for crimes against humanity or genocide — a designation already made by the US State Department in January 2021 and by several national legislatures.

Authentication efforts by the media partners involved metadata analysis, cross-referencing with public records, and interviews with former detainees who identified themselves or relatives in the photographs.