CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2026
Contact: contact@campaignforuyghurs.org
https://campaignforuyghurs.org/
Campaign for Uyghurs’ Rushan Abbas Selected to Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s International Advisory Board
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) Founder and Executive Director Rushan Abbas has been selected to the International Advisory Board of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), a leading institution dedicated to documenting the crimes of communist regimes and honoring their victims worldwide. In addition to these positions, Ms. Abbas serves as Chairperson of the Executive Committee at the World Uyghur Congress, Advisory Board Chair of the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation, and a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force on Human Trafficking.
“I am honored to join the VOC’s International Advisory Board,” said Rushan Abbas. “VOC ensures the communist regime’s crimes are exposed and the voices of those silenced by tyranny are heard. Their mission to commemorate the more than 100 million people killed by communism around the world and to pursue the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes is one of the most essential human rights undertakings of our era. From Dr. Adrian Zenz’s groundbreaking research to the foundation’s documentation of CCP atrocities, VOC is an indispensable partner in our pursuit of justice. I look forward to continuing this important work together and ensuring that Uyghur voices remain at the center of global human rights discussions.”
“I am honored to announce Rushan Abbas as a new member of the International Advisory Council at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation,” remarked Dr. Eric Patterson, President and CEO of VOC. “Abbas brings a wealth of leadership, vision, and experience in the fight against the Chinese Communist Party, and is an unrelenting advocate for the plight of her Uyghur community, culture, and homeland. I am excited to work with Rushan Abbas to strengthen VOC’s mission so that we may one day live in a world free from the false hope and horrendous crimes of communism.”
VOC is among the most consistent and credible voices in exposing the CCP’s genocide against the Uyghur people. As VOC’s Director of China Studies, Dr. Adrian Zenz has conducted groundbreaking research on Uyghur forced labor and mass detention, informing institutional policy decisions worldwide. Most recently, VOC presented the eyewitness testimony of former police officer Zhang Yabo, who worked in the Uyghur region, further confirming that detention and forced labor in the Uyghur region continue to this day.
Rushan Abbas has paid a profound personal price for her activism with the imprisonment of her sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, by the Chinese regime in September 2018. Through her relentless advocacy, Rushan puts a face and a story to the Uyghur genocide, proving that the truth cannot be silenced by transnational repression.
CFU and VOC share a common mission of ensuring that the CCP’s crimes against the Uyghur people are documented, exposed, and never forgotten. Rushan Abbas’s appointment further strengthens that partnership and advances the cause of justice for the millions of Uyghurs who continue to suffer under the CCP’s ongoing genocide.
