The family of a Uighur model have released text messages and footage they claim were sent by the man from inside China's covert detention system.
In his texts, 31-year-old former model Merdan Ghappar documented accounts of detainees being tortured and screaming at a police jail in China's far-western Xinjiang region, BBC News reports.
One message reportedly revealed that detainees, held in a small room, were forced to wear a "four-piece suit" consisting of a head sack, leg shackles, handcuffs and an iron chain connecting the cuffs to the shackles.
A four-minute, 38-second video supplied to the BBC shows Ghappar handcuffed by his wrist to a metal bed frame in a small room, in what he described as an "epidemic control centre".
Ghappar's family have heard nothing from the 31-year-old since the material was sent to them five months ago. His relatives reportedly made the decision to share the messages and footage as a last hope to highlight his case and the plight of the Uighurs, despite the risks.
Credible estimates suggest more than one million Uighurs and other minorities have been forced into a network of camps over the past few years, labelled as voluntary re-education schools for anti-extremism training by Chinese officials.
Recent reports into the network indicate thousands of children have been separated from their parents, and women have been forcibly subjected to birth control.
Allegations of torture and abuse have continued to emerge, with Ghappar's documentation providing evidence that the camps remain operational and Uighurs are still being detained without charge.
Shortly after being released from a stint in prison for selling cannabis, the former model for Chinese retailer Taobao was sent back to his hometown Kucha in Xinjiang to complete a routine registration procedure in January, according to the BBC.
More than a month after being returned to Xinjiang, Ghappar's family received messages via the Chinese social media app, WeChat, detailing horrific accounts from inside a detention facility.
"One time I heard a man screaming from morning until evening," Ghappar wrote.
He also recounted four men being beaten so badly that the "skin on their buttocks split open" and they were unable to sit, and being threatened with death for complaining over the tightness of his cuffs.
Ghappar also detailed the squalid conditions, including being covered in lice and sharing eating utensils with other inmates.
After showing symptoms of illness, Ghappar was moved to a different centre where he had his own room. This was where he was able to use his phone to document his experiences under a more relaxed regime, the outlet reports, as it appears the device went unnoticed among his personal belongings.
Although the BBC notes it's impossible to independently verify the authenticity of the messages, an expert said the footage appears to be genuine due to audible propaganda messages in the background.
Uighurs have long faced discrimination and suspicion from society and Chinese officials due to their Turkic language, Islamic faith and ethnic ties to the cultures of central Asia.
The region of Xinjiang was rocked with terror attacks for much of the last decade as some Uighurs pushed for independence.
