WHO WE ARE
ABOUT US
Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization founded in 2017 in reaction to the ongoing genocide of the Uyghur people being perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party in East Turkistan (now known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China). Our mission is to counter the Uyghur genocide by exposing the Chinese Communist Party, activating global grassroots organizations and civil societies, building solidarity with other persecuted communities, and enabling the Uyghur diaspora to construct productive campaigns to raise awareness and impact policy. CFU is also one of the founding members of the Uyghur Wellness Initiative (UWI), dedicated to creating a secure space for Uyghurs to unite during this time of crisis and prioritize our well-being—as individuals, families, and a community. In recognition of our efforts, Campaign for Uyghurs was awarded the World Democracy Courage Tribute in July 2021 and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.
OUR HISTORY
In 2017, Rushan Abbas co-founded the Campaign for Uyghurs to advocate and promote human rights and democratic freedoms for Uyghurs, and mobilize the international community to act to stop the human rights atrocity in East Turkistan. Abbas launched multiple campaigns, including the One Voice One Step movement, a demonstration on March 15th, 2018, in 14 countries and 18 cities on the same day, and the Free Gulshan Abbas, reaching an international profile for her sister as well as missing Uyghurs.
Ms. Abbas works with groups in the United States, Canada, The UK, and other parts of Europe, Australia, Japan, and Turkey to highlight the Uyghur cause and in support of empowering Uyghur women and youth for activism.
In September 2018, Campaign for Uyghurs founder Rushan Abbas spoke at a panel hosted by the Hudson Institute about the mass detention of Uyghurs in East Turkistan. Six days after the event, Abbas’s sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, was taken from her home in Urumchi as retaliation for Abbas speaking out. Since then, she has become a full-time activist, and Campaign for Uyghurs has worked tirelessly to to raise awareness of the Uyghur genocide and mobilize action. CFU was instrumental in advocating for and the passage of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. CFU was also the founder of the Uyghur Caucus in the US Congress to further Uyghur issues.
In July 2020, CFU published the report “Genocide in East Turkistan” which laid out the ways that the actions of the Chinese regime met every condition of genocide laid out in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. Abbas first raised the case of Uyghurs as undergoing active genocide in May of 2019 while delivering speeches at the events hosted by the U.S. Embassies in Prague and Vienna and remained a vocal advocate for declaring the CCP’s crimes as such since then. In July 2021, Campaign For Uyghurs was awarded the World Democracy Courage Tribute.
In February 2022, Campaign for Uyghurs was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for activism and advocacy done to promote the Uyghur cause for freedom. Campaign for Uyghurs was nominated by US House of Representatives members Tom Suozzi and Chris Smith, who co-chair the Uyghur Caucus.
We aim to create a world where every person feels the responsibility to counter genocide.
What is happening to Uyghur people does not and will not exist in a vacuum. Due to their control of the media apparatus, and economic influence, The Chinese Communist Party is a threat to the freedom and democracy of the entire free world. The same surveillance systems used against Uyghurs ar enow being exported to other authoritarian countries with the purpose of monitoring and controlling their citizens. The foundations of a free world, where dissent and democracy can flourish, are at risk. Uyghurs are a victim of the rising tide of authoritarianism and the unwillingness to combat it.
Our vision is to foster and activate a world community and keep the free world that the generations before us worked so hard to create. Standing up against the CCP and their crimes is about saving the future of the free and democratic world.
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mr. Wu'er Kaixi
Honorary Chairman
Ms. Rushan Abbas
Founder and Executive Director
Mr. Dilmurat Sulayman
Deputy Director
Mr. Kamalturk Yalkun
General Secretary
Ms. Mukerrem Kurban
Women's Outreach & Training Director
Ms. Reyhangul Mahmut
Director of Japan Outreach
Dr. Maya Mitalipova
Director of Central Asia Outreach
Ms. Mehliya Cetinkaya
Student Liaison For Canada
Ms. Dilnur Kroren
Student Liaison For Turkey
Ms. Dilare Helil
Student Liaison For USA
Ms. Asiye Ablet
Chairman of OVOS Women’s Committee
CFU STAFF
Mr. Joe Lubas
Program Coordinator
Ms. Sabrina Sohail
Director of Advocacy and Communications
Ms. Muyesser Osman
Program Manager
Mr. Jacob Roupe
Program Manager
Ms. Saniya Talat
Outreach Coordinator
Mr. Mehmet Hafiz
Turkey Representative