Uyghurs: China’s Concentration Camps in a Mute World

China has perfected the art of persecution over decades of Human Rights abuses and forced assimilation. Currently, far West China’s “Uyghur people”, a minority Muslim group, face a high-tech police state, cultural genocide, and mass detainment in modern concentration camps. It’s no longer about the freedom of religion, it’s about survival for the Uyghurs today.

Rushan Abbas started her activism work while she was a student, participating in the pro-democracy demonstrations at Xinjiang University in 1985 and 1988. Since her arrival in the United States in 1989, Ms. Abbas has been an ardent campaigner for the human rights of the Uyghur people and has worked closely with members of Congress since the 1990s. Ms. Abbas was a co-founder of the California-based Uyghur Overseas Student and Scholars Association in 1993, the first such Uyghur association in the United States, and served as that organization’s first Vice-President. The charter co-drafted by Ms. Abbas later served as the blueprint and played an important role in the establishment of the Uyghur American Association (UAA) in 1998. Ms. Abbas was subsequently elected Vice President of UAA for two terms. When Radio Free Asia launched Uyghur service in 1998, Ms. Abbas was the first Uyghur reporter broadcasting daily to the Uyghur region.

Ms. Abbas has also provided linguist and translator services for several federal agencies including the Department of Defense, and President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush. From 2002 to 2003, she served at L-3, as a consultant at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Ms. Abbas frequently briefs US lawmakers and officials on the human rights situation in East Turkistan. She regularly appears on media outlets to advocate for the Uyghur cause.