The University of Cambridge has been named as one of 12 UK universities that has been involved in teaching security courses to students in countries where torture is widespread.

According to a report by Freedom from Torture (FFT), the University has provided programmes to police colleges in Hong Kong and India.

The University provided postgraduate education for Hong Kong Police College (HKPC), which was at the same time allegedly involved in teaching cooperation and exchange with the People’s Public Security University of China (PPSUC).

The PPSUC is responsible for training and supplying police for Xinjiang, where human rights violations including torture have allegedly been carried out on a scale amounting to crimes against humanity.

A series of police files obtained by the BBC in 2022 revealed details of China’s use of “re-education camps,” detaining what human rights groups believe to be more than one million Uyghurs against their will. The files described the routine use of armed officers and the existence of a shoot-to-kill policy if someone was to escape.

China has also been accused of persecuting Muslim religious figures and forbidding religious practices in the territory, in addition to destroying mosques and tombs.

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