The United States on Friday banned investment in a Chinese face-recognition agency accused of spying on Muslim Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang. Washington Post.

Washington announced these sanctions, which will be used within the framework of the Magnitsky Act, and are aimed at curbing corruption and human rights abuses on International Human Rights Day.

The U.S. Treasury said in a statement that the current president of the autonomous region of northwest China, Erkin Dunias, and his leadership “have detained more than a million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, mostly Muslims, in Xinjiang.” Pioneer Sharad Zakir.

Washington has imposed sanctions on the two for human rights abuses, as well as “SenseTime”, a company that designs face and photo authentication applications, specifically used to monitor crowds and verify identities.

The Chinese company, according to the Treasury Department, “revealed the ability to identify Uyghurs with beards, sunglasses and masks” at the police surveillance service in Xinjiang.

The company has been listed mainly on the US block list since 2019.

And the vast Xinjiang region, which has long seen attacks, has been tightly controlled by Beijing for years.

Human rights groups say more than a million Uyghurs are being held in political rehabilitation centers.

But Beijing rejects this figure and talks about vocational training centers aimed at keeping “trainees” out of extremism.