CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31st, 2026
Contact: contact@campaignforuyghurs.org
CFU Marks the Fourth Anniversary of the United Nations OHCHR Assessment on Uyghurs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) marks the fourth anniversary of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (OHCHR) assessment documenting widespread human rights violations against Uyghurs in the Uyghur region. Released on August 31, 2022, the assessment concluded that the arbitrary and discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups, alongside other abuses, may amount to international crimes, in particular “crimes against humanity.”
The assessment documented widespread detention, torture, ill-treatment, sexual and gender based violence, forced sterilization and coercive birth control policies, restrictions on religion and movement, family separation and taking children to state run orphanages, mass surveillance, and concerns surrounding forced labor. OHCHR has called on the Chinese government to release all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty, clarify the whereabouts of those whose families remained without information, and investigate allegations of human rights violations.
Four years later, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has failed to meaningfully implement these changes or provide accountability for the abuses documented by the UN. Hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs remain imprisoned, while forced labor, mass surveillance, restrictions on religious and cultural life, family separation, and transnational repression continue. Beijing has instead sought to manufacture a false image of normalcy in East Turkistan while maintaining many of the policies identified in the 2022 assessment.
CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas said: “Four years ago, the United Nations provided the international community with documented evidence that the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghurs may amount to crimes against humanity. Yet four years later, there has been no real change, no accountability, no answers as Uyghur families continue to suffer. My sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, remains unjustly imprisoned, along with countless other Uyghurs whose families have been denied freedom, answers, and justice by this government. The international community cannot allow this assessment to be just another analysis to be forgotten. We need action.”
The failure to adequately follow up on the assessment is particularly concerning as the UN itself continues to acknowledge the harm done by these policies. Campaign for Uyghurs calls on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to publicly and consistently follow up on the 2022 assessment and press Beijing to implement its recommendations.
Governments must take coordinated action at the UN Human Rights Council, strengthen forced labor import restrictions, impose targeted sanctions, protect Uyghurs abroad who face transnational repression, and continue pressing for the release of arbitrarily detained Uyghurs including Dr. Gulshan Abbas. The international community must turn the findings of the OHCHR assessment into sustained action, accountability, and justice for the Uyghur people.