CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 22th, 2026
Contact: contact@campaignforuyghurs.org
https://campaignforuyghurs.org/
Washington, DC – Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) welcomes the resolution led by Congressmen John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) on Monday, September 21, marking the eighth anniversary of the wrongful imprisonment of Dr. Gulshan Abbas and calling on the Trump administration to prioritize Dr. Abbas’s immediate and unconditional release.
“Gulshan Abbas should be immediately released by the CCP and reunited with her family. Her story symbolizes the CCP’s callous practice of using family members to intimidate and harass dissidents around the world who speak out against CCP oppression,” said Representatives John Moolenaar, Chairman of the Select Committee on China, and Tom Suozzi, a member of the Committee, in a statement. They called on the Trump Administration to continue pressing for Dr. Abbas’s release in its engagements with Chinese officials and reaffirmed their support for Uyghurs in their pursuit of human rights and dignity.
Dr. Gulshan Abbas is a retired medical doctor forcibly disappeared in September 2018, a few days after her sister, Rushan Abbas, spoke publicly about the CCP’s mass detention and persecution of Uyghurs at a panel hosted by the Hudson Institute. September 10, 2026, marked eight years since her enforced disappearance. Dr. Gulshan Abbas is currently imprisoned under a 20-year sentence imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a secret trial.
Her plight has brought together policymakers, human rights advocates, faith communities, and people around the world who believe that those who are persecuted must not be forgotten. On September 16, 2026, Dr. Gulshan Abbas’s daughter, Ziba Murat, launched Gulshan’s Light Foundation, missioned to keep Dr. Abbas’s voice alive, inspire action, and continue the fight for the day she is reunited with her loved ones.
“We sincerely appreciate Representatives Moolenaar and Suozzi for being devoted advocates for my sister’s case. Gulshan has spent eight long years in prison for a crime she did not commit. It is long past time for her to be released and reunited with her two daughters and four grandchildren here in the United States. We hope this resolution will help ensure that her case is raised directly with Xi Jinping and that the United States continues to press for her immediate release,” noted CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas.
CFU calls on the Administration to prioritize human rights and raise the cases of Uyghurs and other individuals who have been unjustly detained during Chinese Leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States this week. CFU will continue to advocate for Dr. Abbas and the countless Uyghurs who remain imprisoned or wrongfully detained amidst the CCP’s ongoing Uyghur genocide.
Dr. Abbas’s case will also be highlighted at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) hearing, The Faces of Repression: Prisoners, Families, and Communities Targeted by the CCP, scheduled for today, September 22, at 2:30 pm ET. The hearing will focus on individuals imprisoned and persecuted by the Chinese government, the families and religious communities working for their freedom, and the retaliation faced by those who speak out on their behalf. CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas will testify alongside Zion Church Pastor Ezra Jin, Falun Gong spokesperson Erping Zhang, Nelson Wells Sr., father of detained American citizen Nelson Wells Jr., and Tim Hunt, brother of detained American citizen Dawn Michelle Hunt. The hearing will be livestreamed on the CECC’s YouTube Channel.