CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 4:00 pm ET
Sabrina Sohail: sabrina@campaignforuyghurs.org
(650) 703-4523
www.campaignforuyghurs.org
Washington, D.C. – Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU), in collaboration with the Uyghur Academy (UA), the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the Uyghur Transitional Justice Database (UTJD), and the Center for Uyghur Studies (CUS) held an event yesterday at the Capitol Hill titled “Preservation of Language and Uyghur Genocide Visualized in 3D.”
The event highlighted the Uyghur diaspora’s efforts to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) cultural genocide with new Uyghur language textbooks and showcased the UTJD’s 3D visualization project revealing the CCP’s forced labor and concentration camps. The gathering also coincided with the two-year anniversary of the release of the Xinjiang Police Files, a trove of leaked evidence exposing the nature and scale of the CCP’s genocidal campaign of mass internment against the Uyghurs and other Turkic communities in East Turkistan.
The event featured the launch of new Uyghur language textbooks, essential in ensuring the continuation of the Uyghur language and culture, developed by Uyghur Academy and USIP. During the event, Rep. Tom Suozzi, Co-Chair of the Congressional Uyghur Caucus, stressed the importance of bringing the Uyghur plight into the mainstream media and underscored his support for the Uyghur people. “I encourage you to keep on fighting, to keep on pushing, to keep on doing the work that you’re doing, and keep on doing forward-thinking things such as working on textbooks to preserve language, culture, and history,” Suozzi said.
Rep. Young Kim, who also offered introductory remarks at the event, drew attention to the fact that the gathering took place at the Capitol Hill, saying, “Doing this event here tells the world that you are serious.” Rep. Kim highlighted the atrocities perpetrated against Uyghurs, including the attack on the Uyghur language, and reiterated her strong support for the Uyghur Policy Act of 2023 in response to the ongoing atrocities: “I’m not going to give up until we see this bill through the final stage and signed into law.”
Other speakers at the event included Dr. Rishat Abbas, President of UA; Allison Peters, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State; Anjali Kaur, Deputy Assistant Administrator at the United States Agency International Development’s Bureau for Asia; Scott Worden, USIP’s Director of Afghanistan and Central Asia Programs; Dr. Sophie Richardson, expert on human rights issues in China at the Wilson Center; Abdulhamit Karahan, Founder of UA; Dean Baxendale, CEO of Optimum Publishing International and the China Democracy Fund; and Dr. Adrian Zenz Director of China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
Piero Tozzi, Staff Director at the Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC), participated in a live demonstration of UTJD’s VR technology depicting the concentration camps, providing the audience with a harrowing immersive experience. Following the demonstration, attendees heard from Tursunay Ziyawudun, a concentration camp survivor. A panel discussion then took place featuring Piero Tozzi, Dr. Gulnar Eziz from the Uyghur Academy, Adiljan Abdurihim from UTJD, and Dr. Rian Thum from the University of Manchester.
Rushan Abbas, Founder and Executive Director of CFU, expressed her thoughts after seeing the 3D modeling video: “We applaud the incredible work of the Uyghur Transitional Justice Database. Seeing those walls, the medical equipment, those prison bars… that is the reality of the Uyghur people every day. I can’t help but wonder, did my sister, Gulshan, see those walls?” Abbas also praised the work of the Uyghur Academy and said the creation and publication of the Uyghur language textbooks will allow the Uyghur culture and language to continue to evolve and strengthen through the Uyghur Genocide.
CFU commends the outstanding work of the Uyghur Academy and USIP in developing new Uyghur language textbooks, as well as the incredible efforts of the UTJD in creating technology that vividly illustrates the realities on the ground. We strongly urge the Senate to pass the Uyghur Policy Act and the House to pass the Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act without delay.
