Rushan Abbas is a Uyghur American activist and advocate from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. She is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Campaign for Uyghurs. Here is an exciting interview with her by Investigative Journalism Reportika.
Activism Roots:
Could you share what initially motivated you to start your activism work while you were a student at Xinjiang University?
I was born in 1967, a year after Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, a time of chaos when right and wrong were turned upside down and justice was buried deep under darkness. As a young child, I witnessed the persecution of Uyghur intellectuals, nationalists, wealthy individuals, writers, religious figures, and even ordinary teachers. My parents and grandparents were among them; they endured inhumane treatment and were repeatedly taken away to reeducation camps and prisons during my early childhood.
During the brief period in the 1980s after the PRC established diplomatic relations with the US and the West, the CCP showed a brief tolerance for our cultural and historical education. When I attended Xinjiang University in Urumchi, my friends and I organized protests against the oppressive policies targeting Uyghurs, including birth control measures for Uyghur women and nuclear testing in the region, both of which significantly impacted the health of the Uyghur people. My mother, a physician, would always tell me about people dying left and right due to radiation poisoning. I saw the blatant disregard for my people and how we were treated as second-class citizens within our own land. My childhood memories are filled with how my grandpa was in prison, facing brutal physical torture, and how my father and mother were always taken away from home. These experiences motivated me to stand up and fight for justice for the Uyghur community.
Journey to the United States:
How did your move to the United States in 1989 influence your approach to activism and advocacy for Uyghur rights?
After I graduated from the university in Urumchi, I arrived in the U.S. on May 9, 1989. Initially, I was a visiting scholar at the Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Washington State University in Prosser, Washington, then I was accepted into the Plant Pathology Department for a Master’s Degree. Shortly after my arrival, on June 4, 1989, the Tiananmen Square massacre ordered by the CCP took place. I knew I could not return to my homeland.
In the United States, I had the opportunity to study and become well acquainted with the rule of law and the mechanisms in place to hold the CCP accountable. I found something in the United States that was not available back home: freedom and democracy. The ability of a country to calibrate itself if things have gone astray, undeniable progress regarding the rights of previously persecuted groups, and the promise of a better future if we all decide to work towards one.
I co-founded the California-based Tengritagh Overseas Students and Scholars Association, the first Uyghur organization in the United States, established in 1993, serving as its first Vice-President. The charter and regulations we drafted later served as the blueprint for and played an important role in establishing the Uyghur American Association (UAA) in 1998, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy. I served as Vice President of UAA for two terms. In 1998, when the U.S. Congress funded the Uyghur language service at Radio Free Asia based in Washington, D.C., I was the first Uyghur reporter and news anchor broadcasting daily to the Uyghur region.
Here in the United States, I found mechanisms to support the democratic and human rights of my people back home. I have been advocating for the rights and freedoms of my people within the executive branch, the State Department, and Congress. I also had the chance to contribute a Uyghur voice to the media sphere and speak truth to the relentless propaganda from the region.
Founding CFU:
What were the main challenges and milestones you encountered when you founded the Campaign for Uyghurs in 2017?
When we first established CFU in 2017, the word “Uyghur” was incredibly unknown to so many. Resources were scarce. I was still working a full-time job, and advocating full time as well. When traveling for advocacy, we would often rely on staying at the homes of Uyghur community members, some were already acquaintances, some were strangers. All else was either covered out of pocket or with the help of family.
In 2018, we received news that 24 of my husband’s family members were missing and likely detained in camps. On September 5th 2018, I spoke about the growing number of mass detentions, and exposed the CCP’s genocide on a public panel at the Hudson Institute. Six days later, my sister, Gulshan Abbas, was unjustly detained by the regime in retaliation for my exercise of free speech as a U.S. citizen. A year later, I quit my full time job and became a full time activist and Executive Director of CFU.
In April 2019, I was given an opportunity to testify before Congress. Just hours after the testimony, the CFU website fell victim to a massive cyber-attack orchestrated by the Chinese government and was taken down. It was a night of struggle, desperately trying to restore our platform to publicize the crucial testimony and have the Uyghur voice heard by the world. I will never forget those who supported us from the beginning.
This year, I attended the State of the Union address for the third year, as a guest of Congressman Chris Smith. When I introduced myself as a Uyghur American, people didn’t respond with “What’s a Uyghur?” or “Where is East Turkistan?” they responded by saying “I am deeply sorry for what is happening to your people.” We now stand in rooms filled with Uyghur youth at our advocacy training workshops to provide young aspiring activists with the resources and support they need to thrive. To ensure that they do not experience the same types of struggles that we did as early activists.
Key Initiatives:
Could you elaborate on the “One Voice One Step” movement and other key campaigns led by CFU? What impact have they had so far?
By April 2017, the situation had deteriorated drastically, while the international community, media, and governments remained largely silent. Atrocities were occurring and were largely unnoticed by the world. In January 2018, after discussing with some close allies, we conceived the idea of organizing a global protest that would involve all Uyghur organizations and activists abroad by having Uyghur women in diaspora to be in charge to elaborate such a movement. We believed that women leading these protests could draw international media attention and that they could play a pivotal role in mobilizing all Uyghurs in the diaspora. We reached out to Uyghur women globally and formed a small advisory group to plan the event. This initiative evolved into a WhatsApp group named “One Voice One Step” (OVOS), which became a flagship initiative of our organization, the Campaign for Uyghurs.
With the support of the Uyghur Academy, and my brother Dr. Rishat Abbas—President of the Uyghur Academy and senior adviser to the World Uyghur Congress, and co-founder of both the Uyghur American Association and the Uyghur Human Rights Project, and support of many others—we sought to raise awareness.
OVOS carried a clear and powerful message: “Uniting our voices and taking a step together with all Uyghur organizations and activists abroad against the atrocities unfolding in our homeland to hold the CCP accountable for its crimes against Uyghurs.” As a result, on March 15, 2018, coinciding with the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York, we organized a demonstration in front of the UN headquarters, followed by a protest at the Chinese Mission to the UN. Solidarity protests were held worldwide on that same day, spanning 22 hours in 18 cities across 14 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Japan, and the UK. With this movement, Beijing’s mass detention and other genocidal crimes were reported on more than 100 media outlets globally in around 30 different languages.
This was a significant moment for the Uyghur diaspora as they united to advocate for their missing family members. I had been told by many that this was the day they woke up and realized their strength and ability to advocate for their family members back home. The happenings in my homeland had escalated too far, and it was time for all of us in the diaspora to strengthen and organize our advocacy.
In early 2020, I led CFU in the authorship of the groundbreaking “China’s Genocide in East Turkistan” report, which for the first time detailed the magnitude of the atrocities committed by the PRC and demonstrated how the Uyghur crisis fulfilled the genocide criteria established by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. In 2021, CFU requested and coordinated the formation of the United States Congressional Uyghur Caucus, which was relaunched in 2024 through our request and coordination. We were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 and the World Democracy Tribute in 2021. Secretary Blinken mentioned CFU and UHRP for their significant contributions during his remarks on the release of the 2022 International Religious Freedom Report. We were also mentioned by Secretary Blinkin in his speech this year in regards to the IRF report.
Through advocacy programs and screenings of the documentary film “In Search of My Sister,” where my sister’s story, the story of the genocide and countless other Uyghurs are told in depth, CFU has educated government officials in 34 countries about the reality of the Uyghur genocide. Chinese State media responded to the documentary with propaganda attacking the film as well as me and CFU as an organization. We see these attempts to undermine our work as an impact that our efforts to raise awareness are threatening to the CCP maintaining its false narrative.
CFU’s UPR report was noted five times in the Stakeholder Summary of China’s Universal Periodic Review, being the only reference to the word “Genocide.” The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders recently emphasized the case of my sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas. CFU recently held a UN Side event in Geneva drawing attention to the systematic Islamaphobia of the CCP.
Through CFU, we have developed Uyghur Advocacy Training workshops for youth and women in the diaspora, equipping them with the skills needed to effectively engage in democratic processes to champion the rights of Uyghurs. Held 11 times in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Turkey, and the UK, these workshops globally advance Uyghur advocacy by educating, empowering, and connecting Uyghurs to drive peaceful, grassroots change.
Legislative Impact:
How did CFU contribute to the passage of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act? What do these legislative successes mean for the Uyghur cause?
My testimonies, combined with the collaborative efforts of coalitions CFU helped establish—including the End Uyghur Forced Labor Coalition—played an instrumental role in the passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act. Through CFU, we seized every opportunity to advocate for these two pieces of legislation. I even managed to convince a Congressman, whom I randomly sat next to at an airport while traveling for advocacy programs, to support the Policy Act. We spent countless days advocating on the Hill with representatives, meticulously tracking the support and raising awareness to the realities of what is going on on the ground in East Turkistan. Below are a couple of the testimonies given:
- 2020 Written Testimony on House Ways & Means Committee hearing “Enforcing the Ban on Imports Produced by Forced Labor in Xinjiang”
- Campaign for Uyghurs Founder Rushan Abbas Testifies before Senate Foreign Relations Committee
- GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS, FORCED LABOR, AND THE XINJIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION | Congress.gov
Ongoing Challenges:
What are the current biggest challenges facing Uyghur activists, and how is CFU addressing them?
Transnational Repression is a huge issue that Uyghur activists abroad face. CFU leadership, myself and our board members are the subject of constant attacks online. There are memes and video content created and spread aimed to discredit me, and to spread mistrust and hatred. Countless fake accounts have been made which disseminate disinformation and false narratives from my perspective. There is no protection or response from social media companies. Often they take down my content, as it has been flagged systematically by CCP state sponsored bot accounts. Our website was also hacked last year, and our domain was redirected to a CCP web domain. Here is one of the most recent testimonies on Transnational Repression, which also highlights the TNR faced at the UN in Geneva.
Uyghur activists also face increased surveillance and repression by the Chinese government, which makes secure communication difficult and risky. Online attacks are constant, ranging from defamation and harassment to life threats. The CCP orchestrates coordinated bot accounts and trolls that have developed personas on twitter to attack activists and the work we do. Whenever there is a significant development or impact, these attacks escalate, often accompanied by hacking and phishing attempts. After the UFLPA was passed, we saw thousands of bot accounts created overnight to spread propaganda videos of “happy Uyghur workers.” Shortly after our successful side event at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 56th session, there was a sudden surge of accounts on X impersonating me and spreading disinformation. We address this by consistently providing updated information on what is happening in the region, fighting this massive disinformation war with truth.
Almost all of us have family back home who have become hostages to the CCP. Many families of activists have been detained in retaliation, such as my sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas. My sister worked in a government-run hospital as a medical doctor. Neither she nor my aunt fits any of the usual criteria for so-called “vocational training centers,” i.e., the internment camps. Therefore, I could firmly say that the only reason for their abduction is “guilt by association”: they became victims of CCP reprisal for my activism in the United States. Uyghur activists face a difficult choice every day, to remain silent to potentially protect our family or speak out to end this atrocity once and for all. Many have no decided not to speak out about the genocide and atrocities, in order to stay safe, and potentially protect their families.
Even in democratic countries, we cannot escape the oppression of the CCP. Recently, during Xi’s visit to France, concentration camp survivor and activist Gulbahar Jelilova’s home was targeted by eight unidentified men. Fortunately, she wasn’t home at the time. Can you imagine what could have happened? Intimidation, possibly abduction, or even worse.
Uyghurs in the diaspora also often fear deportation back to China. Just yesterday, I learned the dire situation of an Uyghur brother in Austria. He is facing deportation to China, where the genocide is ongoing, while he is waiting to be eligible to apply for refugee status. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Uyghurs have faced such a fate in Austria.
The spread of disinformation and propaganda is an attempt to undermine our credibility, while the lack of a strong international response leaves us with limited support. Furthermore, the extensive censorship within China restricts access to accurate information about the situation in the Uyghur region. The constant stress, fear for personal safety, and the emotional burden of their work also take a toll on the mental health of Uyghur activists.
Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) addresses these challenges by raising global awareness through advocacy, public speaking, and media engagement. We advocate for policies to hold the CCP accountable for the atrocities in the region and to support Uyghurs in the diaspora, protecting them from transnational repression, assisting with the asylum process, and ensuring they receive the resources they need. The Transnational Repression Act, is one that we are currently working to pass with the collaboration of other Uyghur groups. We also work to prevent the deportation of Uyghurs by verifying their status as individuals facing active genocide, in the United States and around the world.
Through the Uyghur Wellness Initiative, we support mental health and wellness initiatives to help build resilience in the diaspora. To counteract disinformation, CFU collaborates with researchers and journalists to ensure accurate information is disseminated at the highest levels of government. We build coalitions with other human rights organizations and diaspora communities to strengthen the global movement against Uyghur repression, engaging with governments, civil society, and international accountability infrastructures such as the United Nations.
Survey Insight:
In our recent survey conducted among Chinese students studying in the USA, 78% of respondents reported feeling more personally free in the USA, yet a significant majority of 76% expressed a desire to return to China and work with the Chinese Communist Party. How do you interpret this dichotomy, and do you believe these students can be sensitized to the Uyghur cause and broader human rights issues?
These students are navigating between two vastly different socio-political environments. Their desire to return to China and work with the CCP could be influenced by many factors, an integral one being whether their family members are still in China, the career opportunities and security that they would have with their new education, and the influence of state narratives that they have been exposed to throughout their entire lives.
Dynamics within the homeland tend to replicate in diaspora communities with some nuances. Within China, we are still very separated from Han Chinese in the region, both geographically and through propaganda. Within the United States, while we have built a large network of solidarity and joint action with dissidents, there is still much to do in terms of building cultural understanding, solidarity, and friendship.
As for sensitizing these students and other Uyghurs in general to the Uyghur cause and broader human rights issues, I firmly believe it is possible, but it requires a nuanced and empathetic approach. Providing accurate, well-researched information about the Uyghur situation and broader human rights issues is crucial. Creating safe spaces for open dialogue where students can express their views and concerns is vital.
It is also possible to educate about the Uyghur genocide and the general repressive tactics of the CCP through the context of Chinese culture, religion, and history, showing that this regime is deviating from traditional Chinese values. Recognizing and respecting their cultural background while gently challenging state-driven narratives may help create a safe environment to address the reality.
Chinese Public Awareness:
In our recent survey, 17% of Chinese students highlighted the discontent among ethnic minority groups, including Uyghurs and Tibetans, pointing to issues of cultural suppression, human rights abuses, and ethnic discrimination. Do you believe there is a growing awareness and understanding among the Chinese population about the concerns surrounding the Uyghurs? What more can be done to increase this awareness within China?
I do believe there is a slowly growing awareness and understanding among the Chinese population regarding the concerns surrounding the Uyghurs. One example was the tragic Urumchi fire that we witnessed a couple of years back. According to the New York Times, the fire started on the 15th floor of an apartment building and spread quickly to the upper floors. According to locals, the firefighters arrived at the building two hours after the fire started to extinguish the flames, despite their close proximity. Residents of the building had been unable to escape as doors, including emergency exit were welded shut as part of the extreme COVID restrictions. Qemernisahan Abdurahman and her children Nehdiye and Imran were among those who were burnt alive.
Widespread protests erupted across China and within Urumchi against the draconian Zero Covid policies and in support of the victims, who were Uyghur. Chinese residents took to the streets chanting ”we are human beings” and ”stop the lockdown”. The protests have spread worldwide with Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Chinese alike holding candlelight vigils, protesting in front of Chinese embassies as well as public squares.
This was a time when Chinese citizens stood up because the deaths of Uyghurs resonated with the severe restrictions affecting them. This was the time humanity defeated Chinese propaganda.
Interacting with the Chinese diaspora and community overseas is an extremely important opportunity we have to increase awareness within China. Currently, the censorship and surveillance on internet usage in China is at an all time high, and proactive efforts to bypass the Firewall are not within the scope of our organization. CFU does continue to ensure our communications and content online are accessible to Chinese readers by translating our work into Chinese on both Twitter and our website. We have a significant number of readers within China who may use a VPN to access our information. Or perhaps it is the Chinese Government who is keeping an eye on our work. Either way, we remain committed to making critical information accessible to people within China, should they seek it out.
Future Goals:
What are your future goals for CFU and the broader movement for Uyghur rights? How can the international community further support these efforts?
Right now, Uyghurs within the region are facing a fight for survival. In a matter of 50 years, if the current repressive policies continue, there will be no more Uyghurs. Families are already broken up, with parents in detention or shipped across China to partake in forced labor schemes. Children are treated as orphans, and sent to state run boarding schools to be indoctrinated. Women are being sterilized and are facing forced abortions. Uyghurs are a source for the Chinese Government’s forced organ harvesting industry.
At some level, the current sanctions are working—they do cause inconveniences for top Chinese officials by limiting their ability to travel, access foreign financial systems, and interact with international institutions. However, the people who are responsible for carrying out these atrocities are at lower level positions in the region. The cost needs to be imposed on them as well to see a shift. Regional and local officials, security forces, police, and military personnel involved in surveillance, forced abortions, forced sterilizations, and detentions—all those complicit in the daily atrocities against Uyghurs—need to be targeted. Global Magnitiski Sanctions must be implemented against Xi Jinping and other master minds behind this full fledged active genocide.
We must keep up the pressure on China. Global momentum is building, and it must be sustained through coordinated efforts.
The United States needs to strengthen its presence in the United Nations to counter China’s influence and garner support from countries currently aligning with China. In August 2022, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, released a report detailing China’s egregious crimes against the Uyghurs, including mass arbitrary detention, suppression of cultural and religious practices, torture, sexual violence, forced labor, and forced suppression of birth rates. In October 2022, the UN held a vote to decide whether to discuss the Michelle Bachelat report. The motion was rejected, largely because many Muslim-majority states either abstained or voted with China. We missed a crucial opportunity, and must continue towards strengthening our presence at the UN. The passage of the Uyghur Policy Act, would address this issue.
Providing safety for Uyghur refugees worldwide should also be a priority. If we cannot help Uyghurs directly who are facing genocide in our homeland, we should do all that is possible to ensure Uyghurs in the diaspora are safe. The resilience and advocacy of the Uyghur diaspora are crucial in maintaining pressure on the CCP. Our efforts to document abuses, raise awareness, and seek international accountability must be supported. Expanding asylum and refugee resettlement programs for Uyghurs is vital.
Supporting the passage of H.R. 8124, Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act of 2024, introduced by Uyghur Caucus Co-Chairs Chris Smith and Tom Suozzi, is a large priority. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate as well. This act builds on the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 and calls for continued sanctions, barring entry into the US for those who are connected to crimes of systematic rape, coercive abortion, forced sterilization, and human trafficking for organ harvesting. The bill contains the strengthened sanctions we need.
UGASA also mandates a plan to disrupt forced organ harvesting in China, aims to provide essential medical and psychological care to survivors, builds cultural preservation efforts, counters Chinese propaganda denying genocide, and would prohibit federal agencies from doing business with entities involved in forced labor.
Supporting Uyghur organizations, such as Campaign for Uyghurs, is crucial. We urge everyone to consider contributing in any way possible—whether through monetary donations, advice, expertise, or providing platforms for us to raise awareness about the genocide and what can be done to stop it.
The Uyghur genocide and the state of international affairs has awakened many to the realities of genocide, global power dynamics and economic dependencies. It has also exposed the flaws in our global accountability system.
So if not now, when? When will we ensure that no country, no matter how much political and economic power they hold, can evade accountability? This is an opportunity to change the course of humanity, and put mechanisms in place to prevent a future illiberal world. We must take this opportunity.
Quick Links
Campaign For Uyghurs : Link
Rushan Abbas : Wikipedia Link
