Save Uyghur Press Release On USCIRF Report on China

For immediate release

Contact: Aydin Anwar

Justice For All, Save Uyghur Project 

aydin@justiceforall.org

(Washington DC, April 28, 2020) Justice For All welcomes the recommendations made on China in the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Annual Report with Recommendations for U.S. Policy of 2020.

Justice For All applauds that China has been recognized as a country of particular concern,  where still millions of Uyghurs and other Turkic people languish in camps and prisons, religious practice is completely forbidden, and the world’s largest surveillance state persists under the Communist Chinese Party.

Commissioner Johnnie Moore, of USCIRF, said in a statement, “There is no question that China is the world’s foremost violator of human rights and religious freedom. It cannot be compared to any other country in the world not only because of its inexcusable actions, but because of the way it aids and abets similar actions by other countries all around the world.”

This is an important step to curb the rising tide of China’s genocidal policies.

Among the recommendations made are:

•  Redesignate China as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA);
• Impose targeted sanctions on Chinese government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom—particularly Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo and former Political and Legal Affairs Commission Chief Zhu Hailun— by freezing those individuals’ assets and/ or barring their entry into the United States under human rights related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations;
• Publicly express concerns about Beijing hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and state that U.S. government officials will not attend the games if the Chinese government’s crackdown on religious freedom continues; and
• Continue and intensify efforts to counter Chinese government influence operations in the United States that are designed to suppress information about or advocacy in response to violations of religious freedom in China.
• The U.S. Congress should:
  • Support the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019 (H.R.4331/S.2539) and other legislation designed to promote religious freedom in China; and
  • Support the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (H.R.6210/S.3471), which would prohibit the importation to the United States of textiles, cotton, and other goods from Xinjiang.

Find full report here.

“An a Uyghur-American, with extended relatives missing in East Turkestan’s massive internment and surveillance system, I am glad to see USCIRF’s recommendations to hold China accountable for their genocidal crimes and to call on US Congress to support vital legislations that could lift some of the oppression. We’ve been waiting too long for China to face consequences for their fascist policies, so I hope these actions are taken swiftly and seriously,” said Aydin Anwar, a Uyghur American leader of the Save Uyghur campaign. 

Save Uyghur welcome the recommendations of the USCIRF. It is time for the world to pressure China to ensure basic freedoms and sovereignty for the people of East Turkestan and Tibet. It is also time for the United States to again lead the world in taking a public stance against human rights violations, and championing human rights globally.

Justice for All is a U.S.-based human rights NGO with Consultative Status at the UN. The organization advocates for the global strengthening of human rights.