Scottish Government Requests to Remove Surveillance Equipment Linked to Uighur Oppression

On July 5 local time, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton called on the Scottish government to set a timetable for removing the components from its security system produced by a company linked to the CCP’s Oppression of the Uighurs in China. Before that, 67 Parliament Members had called on the UK government to ban the sale and use of Hikvision and Dahua’s surveillance equipment in the UK.

According to a previous report, the CCP used Hikvision’s facial recognition system to identify and commit genocide against Tibetans and Uighurs. In July 2021, the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee reported the CCP’s criminal atrocities in Xinjiang and pointed out that no companies with ties to human rights breaches should receive the government’s contract, while noting Hikvision as an example of such firms.

The Scottish government has several legacy items manufactured by Hikvision which are being phased out. Currently, many closed-circuit Television (CCTV) cameras within the Police Scottish estate are from Hikvision or contain components from Hikvision. Alex Cole-Hamilton believes that the government should give a clear timetable for removing Hikvision components from Scottish government estates.