Washington, D.C. — November 26, 2024 For Immediate Release Contact: Hena Zuberi hena@justiceforall.org (202) 922-5878…
Save Uyghur Thanks U.S. Senate Passing of Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020
Congratulations to all those who have been advocating for our Uyghur brothers and sisters. Thank you for every call made, email and letter sent, and meetings that you conducted. This is a glimmer of hope and a testament to prayers and advocacy.
The Save Uyghur campaign of Justice For All welcomes Senate passage today of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 by unanimous consent. The act will then go to the House of Representatives before being sent to President Trump to sign. We urge the House of Representative to take swift action in order for us to see effects readily.
The Senate unanimously approved a previous version of the bill in September 2019, and the US House of Representatives voted 407 to 1 in favor of similar legislation in December 2019. The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 includes legislation that aims to sanction Chinese government officials for their crimes against humanity and creates a mandate for reports on human rights abuses in East Turkistan.
“The world has said ‘never again’, which means ‘never again’. China is running the largest concentration camp system since the Nazis. This is another time to step forward, and we are grateful that the Senate has taken the first step towards this,” said Imam Malik Mujahid, President of Justice For All.
The passing of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act is one of the first major steps forward in addressing the human rights of Uyghur and other Turkic people. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, introduced by Representative McGovern in the House and Senator Rubio in the Senate, is an important next step. China’s massive forced labor transfer program threatens to taint the supply chains of the U.S. and other nations whose laws forbid the importation of products made with forced labor. The Save Uyghur campaign encourages Members of the U.S. Congress to co-sponsor the bill, and the elected representatives of other nations to consider a strong policy response to these grave human rights violations.