CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 25th, 9:00 AM EST
Contact: contact@campaignforuyghurs.org
Campaign for Uyghurs www.campaignforuyghurs.org
Washington, DC –In the 2026 State of the Union Address, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) invited Ziba Murat, daughter of Dr. Gulshan Abbas, as his guest, bringing national attention to the case of Dr. Abbas and the ongoing persecution of the Uyghur people. Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) extends its sincere appreciation for this powerful gesture of solidarity.
In September 2018, Dr. Gulshan Abbas was forcibly disappeared by Chinese authorities, just days after her sister, CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas, spoke out against the Chinese Communist Party’s oppression of Uyghurs at a public panel at the Hudson Institute. Her family had no knowledge of Dr. Abbas’ whereabouts until December 2020, when authorities admitted that Dr. Abbas had been secretly sentenced on sham charges. Now entering her eighth year of unjust imprisonment, concerns grow about her health, as she suffers from serious medical conditions. Denied access to proper medical care and contact with her family, Gulshan’s imprisonment is both an act of transnational repression and a violation of international law.
“In 2018, Dr. Gulshan Abbas was forcibly detained and arrested by the Chinese Communist Party in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region days after her family member spoke out about the CCP’s heinous treatment of Uyghur Muslims,” Speaker Johnson said in a statement first provided to The Hill. “As we continue to shine an international light upon China’s human rights abuses and call for the release of all those unjustly detained, it is my honor to invite Dr. Abbas’ daughter – Ziba Murat – as my guest at President Trump’s State of the Union Address.”
“It was a profound honor to attend the State of the Union as Speaker Johnson’s guest. I am deeply grateful for his leadership in bringing the plight of the Uyghur people to the spotlight,” said Ziba Murat. “My hope is that this visibility translates into urgent diplomatic action, bringing us one step closer to my mother’s freedom and reuniting our family,” she added.
CFU expresses its appreciation to Speaker Johnson for standing with the Uyghur people by bringing Dr. Gulshan Abbas’s case to national attention. CFU reaffirms its commitment to advocating for the immediate release of Dr. Gulshan Abbas and all Uyghurs unjustly detained, as well as to advancing accountability against those responsible for the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity targeting the Uyghur people.
