{"id":24348,"date":"2020-05-28T17:18:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T17:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jww.org\/?p=24348"},"modified":"2020-05-28T17:18:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T17:18:05","slug":"uyghur-act-passes-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/uyghur-act-passes-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Uyghur Act passes Congress: Accountability for China’s atrocities within reach"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 finally passed both chambers of Congress, a momentous win for the persecuted Uyghur ethnic minority group of East Turkestan \u2013 the name preferred by Uyghurs for the region commonly known as Xinjiang, China.  The act condemns \u201cgross human rights violations of ethnic Turkic Muslims in <\/span><\/p>\n

Xinjiang,\u201d and calls for \u201can end to arbitrary detention, torture, and harassment of these communities inside and outside China.\u201d Its passage also marks the first time that a bill has passed the House of Representatives via proxy voting; the tally was<\/span> 413-1<\/span><\/a> in support of this critical effort to hold China accountable for its crimes against humanity.  Jewish World Watch applauds this profound bipartisan victory, with Congress demonstrating near unanimity in an effort to stop China\u2019s indefensible gross human rights violations against its own people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jewish World Watch has ardently <\/span>advocated<\/span><\/a> for passage of this bill since early 2019.  We secured numerous co-sponsorships from Senators and Representatives alike, largely through partnerships with our brothers and sisters in the <\/span>local Uyghur diaspora<\/span><\/a> community of California, as well as through the thousands of letters sent by you \u2013 our devoted supporters.  JWW was one of the <\/span>earliest Jewish organizations<\/span><\/a> to speak out about the Uyghur crisis, <\/span>refusing to stand idly<\/span><\/a> by as China perpetrated the most egregious mass internment of an ethno-religious minority group since World War II.  JWW\u2019s dear friend Gulbahar Mamut<\/span>,<\/b> whose close family members remain trapped in the living nightmare of Xinjiang, spoke to the meaningful connection JWW has built with her community:  \u201cJWW\u2019s help and support played important roles in our fight for justice.  We will remember all you have done for us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Senate passed<\/span><\/a> this newest version of the bill just under two weeks ago, reviving efforts that many thought had reached an impasse after the House and Senate adopted differing<\/span> earlier versions<\/span><\/a> late last year.  Many believed that efforts to reconcile and re-pass the bill would never come to fruition.  Thankfully, members of Congress saw the process through, ensuring that crimes that shock the conscience of humanity would not go unpunished. The urgency with which this critical piece of legislation powered through both chambers of Congress this time around \u2013 particularly in the midst of a global health crisis \u2013 is a true testament to our country\u2019s commitment to calling out and taking action against the world\u2019s most heinous mass atrocity crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Up to three million Uyghurs are currently being arbitrarily detained in concentration-type camps throughout the Xinjiang region of China, with over 10 million more subjected to an extreme surveillance state built on rights deprivation, cultural oppression, and fear.  Uyghurs in the camps reportedly endure a litany of abuses \u2013 ranging from sanctioned mass rape and extrajudicial killings to outright cultural genocide \u2013 leading Jewish World Watch to make the determination that <\/span>crimes against humanity<\/span><\/a> are underway.  Other organizations have joined in this assessment, including the <\/span>United States Holocaust Memorial Museum<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act heads to the President, who is expected to sign the bill, given current tensions with China over the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the recent move by the Executive Branch to <\/span>add 9 additional parties<\/span><\/a> to an Entity List for their involvement in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs. This new crop of Chinese companies and institutions brings the number on the <\/span>Entity List to 33<\/span><\/a> \u2013 all facing export restrictions and other types of sanctions for their complicity in the crimes against humanity still very much underway in East Turkestan.<\/span><\/p>\n

The legislation requires the President to submit a report to Congress within 180 days identifying Chinese officials and any other individuals complicit in orchestrating and carrying out atrocities against the Uyghurs and other ethnic Turkic Muslims inside China.  Those individuals identified in the report would then be subject to Global Magnitsky sanctions, including asset freezes and visa revocations and denials.  The bill also requires the State Department to compile a report on human rights abuses in the region, including estimates on how many people are confined in the camps and the unconscionable conditions they face.<\/span><\/p>\n

We urge President Trump to immediately sign this crucial bill into law and seize this opportunity to send a powerful message to Beijing that its egregious crimes will not go unpunished.  The United States must show abusers worldwide that no nation, no matter how influential or wealthy, is exempt from accountability for their indefensible crimes against mankind.  We must secure this victory for the thousands of Uyghurs living in the United States whose hearts bleed for their disappeared family members and their homeland.  In this way, we will move one step closer to making the rallying cry of \u201cnever again\u201d a reality.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 finally passed both chambers of Congress, a momentous win for the persecuted Uyghur ethnic minority group of East Turkestan \u2013 the name preferred by Uyghurs for the region commonly known as Xinjiang, China.  The act condemns \u201cgross human rights violations of ethnic Turkic Muslims in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556,188],"tags":[177,555,389,143,160,515,531,153],"class_list":["post-24348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conflict-areas","category-news-features","tag-jww","tag-chinca","tag-congress","tag-jewish","tag-jewish-world-watch","tag-rally","tag-uyghur-act","tag-uyghurs","category-556","category-188","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}