Jewish World Watch (JWW) is proud to report two major accomplishments in our advocacy work related to the Uyghur (or Uighur) human rights crisis, which we have deemed a cultural genocide and potential mass atrocity situation. In the late evening of September 11, the United States Senate passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (S. 178), a vital piece of legislation to promote greater understanding of and accountability for the Chinese government’s multidimensional and escalating persecution of the Uyghurs. This comes on the heels of JWW’s first rally to raise awareness of the plight of the Uyghurs, which took place at the Federal Building on Sunday, Sept. 8.
Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act
The Senate’s unanimous approval of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act marks the first passage of any legislation by any nation in response to the human rights abuses being perpetrated by Beijing against ethnic Uyghurs in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), called East Turkestan by the Uyghurs. JWW welcomes this important milestone in raising awareness of the potential atrocities and showing the Chinese government there will be consequences for its widespread and systematic human rights abuses and probable crimes against humanity.
If also passed by the House and signed into law by the President, the bipartisan Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act would appoint a special State Department coordinator on the XUAR and require regular reports on the region’s internment camps, surveillance network, and security threats posed by the ongoing crackdown on the Uyghur people.
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The Act’s passage in the Senate marks an important step in countering the Chinese government’s multi-tiered persecution of the Uyghurs. Its vicious policy of cultural genocide — and perhaps, much worse — includes the mass internment of over one million Uyghurs and other predominantly Turkic Muslims in concentration camps and the creation of an Orwellian-surveillance state in Xinjiang, rooted in fear and subjugation. Consistent reports of much more egregious crimes continue to emerge, though they cannot be substantiated because the region has been under total government lockdown for the past two years. Potential atrocities currently underway include extrajudicial killings, sanctioned mass rape, forced labor, torture, organ harvesting, forced separation and indoctrination of children, and efforts to dilute the Uyghur gene pool through rape and forced marriages.
The Senate’s passage of this crucial piece of legislation sends a strong message that Congress will not turn a blind eye as millions of Uyghurs are unjustly imprisoned, subjected to a mass surveillance state built on rights deprivation, forced into labor camps, and potentially much worse. The key elements of the legislation, include:
- A report by the Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with the State Department, regarding the regional security threat posed by the crackdown and the frequency with which Central Asian countries are forcibly returning Turkic Muslim refugees and asylum seekers. The report will also detail the transfer and development of technology facilitating surveillance and mass internment and include a list of Chinese companies involved in the construction and operation of the camps.
- An FBI report on efforts to provide information to and protect U.S. citizens and Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) (including Uyghurs) from Chinese government harassment and intimidation on American soil.
- The establishment of a new position at the State Department of the Special Coordinator for Xinjiang.
- The application of Global Magnitsky and related sanctions against the architects of the Uyghur cultural genocide.
The legislation also urges high-level US engagement on the issue, the full implementation of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, a review of Commerce Department export controls and end-user restrictions, and the establishment of a voluntary database whereby US citizens and LPRs can provide information regarding missing/detained family members with a view toward pressing for accountability.
As the first piece of legislation passed by any nation in response to the ongoing cultural genocide of the Uyghur minority population of China, this hopefully marks the beginning of more robust condemnation, both domestically and internationally, of the atrocities underway. JWW salutes the efforts of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who have been staunch advocates for US leadership in responding to the Chinese government’s severe human rights abuses.
From left: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)
However, the passage of the Senate bill is just the beginning. The legislation must next make its way through the House and be signed into law in order for this comprehensive approach to pushing back against Beijing can actually take effect. Thankfully, there is already a House companion bill in existence (H.R. 649), which has already garnered an impressive 100 cosponsors! There is also another related bill, the UIGHUR Act (H.R. 1025), introduced by local Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA-30), which includes even more robust accountability measures such as targeted sanctions, sourcing restrictions, and export controls related to the surveillance technology being wielded by Beijing.
China’s immediate response to the Senate move demonstrates that our efforts are already having an impact. According to Radio Free Asia, on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing that China “firmly opposed” the passage of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act. She continued, “We urge the U.S. side to respect facts, return to reason, discard the Cold-War mentality, stop taking Xinjiang-related issues as a pretext to interfere in China’s domestic affairs, and stop pushing the bill to become law so as to prevent damages to the overall relationship between China and the U.S.”
More than ever, we call on you to reach out to your local members of Congress to ensure that the House companion bill (H.R. 649) is passed. Passage of the second bill (H.R. 1025), spearheaded by Rep. Sherman, will build momentum even more, sending a strong message to the Chinese government and other nations around the world that the United States will not tolerate such widespread, systematic abuses of human dignity that truly shock the conscience. We must remain vigilant in our refusal to stand idly by in the face of the brainwashing, cultural cleansing, and mass internment so reminiscent of the Holocaust.
As Dolkun Isa, president of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, put it, “at a time when the Uyghur people of East Turkestan are enduring crimes against humanity by the Chinese government, it is imperative for the world’s greatest democracy to take the lead and defend their legitimate rights through legislation. This piece of legislation, once passed, will ensure the continued existence of the Uyghur people and their civilization.”
There is a real opportunity here for the United States to take a leadership role on a foreign policy situation that has far-reaching implications. Let us not forget that the technologies China is piloting against the Uyghurs threaten our freedoms, too.
JWW Rally for the Uyghurs
Jewish World Watch Director of Advocacy and Grantmaking Ann Strimov Durbin gives an impassioned speech at the Rally for the Uyghurs. Photo by Jeff Hensiek
This week’s legislative victory comes on the heels of JWW’s first rally on behalf of the Uyghurs, which successfully took place at the Federal Building on Sunday, September 8. Almost 100 activists came out to stand in solidarity with the Uyghurs of China, including many Uyghur diaspora members from all over the Los Angeles area. Our friends from the Uyghur diaspora have been instrumental in gaining co-sponsors for the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in both the House and Senate. At least one representative from the diaspora community has attended every single in-district meeting JWW has organized with local elected officials this Fall, and their efforts have clearly made an impact.
At the rally, we held signs and shouted with all our might to condemn the cultural genocide being perpetrated by the Chinese government on multiple fronts. If the reports on mounting abuses are true, the rights-effacing policies and tactics being employed by Beijing are only increasing in degree and scope. The people of Xinjiang live in a state of constant and all-encompassing terror. And, our local brothers and sisters from the Uyghur diaspora are far from spared. Unable to reach even their closest of kin for years and subject to intimidation on U.S. soil, the diaspora community needs our support and Washington’s protection.
As a Jewish Journal article this week about the rally noted, we gathered to raise awareness of probable atrocities occurring a world away. We also were there to publicly display that we stand in solidarity with local communities directly impacted by human rights abuses. Mass atrocities and genocide reverberate throughout the whole world; their effects cannot be contained. That’s the essential work of Jewish World Watch: to ring the alarm, educate, and provides vital support whenever a situation rises to the level of a mass atrocity or genocide anywhere in the world.
Our successful Uyghur rally is just the first of JWW’s efforts this fall and into the new year to raise awareness and express solidarity with communities impacted by mass atrocities around the world, whether current victims, survivors, or diaspora members. Please click here for a schedule of upcoming events, and join us in standing up against atrocities and working tirelessly to prevent them from occurring.