Staff
Executive Director
Omer Kanat
Before his work as a human rights advocate, he worked for two decades as a broadcast journalist. From 1999 to 2009 Mr. Kanat was Senior Editor at Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Service, where he covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, edited Uyghur-language news, conducted exclusive interviews with prominent figures in Inner Asia, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and reported on breaking news around the world. Prior to his work at Radio Free Asia, he was Senior Editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service.
Office Phone: +1.202.478.1901
Cell Phone: +1.202.790.1795
Twitter: @OmerKanat1
Senior Researcher
Ben Carrdus
Outreach Specialist
Tashken Davlet
Mr. Tashken Davlet is the Outreach Specialist at the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP). He serves as an editor and manager for the Chinese-language UHRP website, writes commentary for the UHRP “Insights” series, supports UHRP events, and conducts outreach and advocacy in the Chinese-speaking world. His past work experience mostly covers the fields of media and nonprofit organizations, with skills in journalism, program producing, multimedia editing, event planning, and translation. He is proficient in Mandarin and also speaks Taiwanese Hokkien. He has a Bachelor's degree from National Tsing Hua University (國立清華大學), majoring in Sociology and minoring in Philosophy.
Director of Global Advocacy
Louisa Greve
Email: lgreve@uhrp.org
Cell Phone: +1.571.882.4825
Twitter: @LouisaCGreve
Program Manager
Babur Ilchi
Twitter: @BaburIlchi
Associate Director for Research & Advocacy
Peter Irwin
Peter regularly offers commentary to leading media outlets on UHRP research, and has written original pieces for The Guardian, The Independent, Hong Kong Free Press and The Diplomat. Mr. Irwin is an MSc graduate of Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and former Program Manager and Spokesperson for the World Uyghur Congress.
Editor / Website Manager
Haibib Kerim
Haibib Kerim is an editor/website manager at the Uyghur Human Rights Project. He generally works on maintaining and improving the Uyghur Human Rights Project website as well as writing editorials on the Uyghur Human Rights Project blog.
Chinese Outreach Coordinator
Zubayra Shamseden
Ms. Shamseden was a 2016-2018 Fellow at the Center for Women, Faith & Leadership (CWFL) of the Institute for Global Engagement's (IGE). She has a bachelor’s degree in Library and Information Science from East China Normal University (华东师范大学), in Shanghai; a certification in Chinese from the Industrial University of Xinjiang; a diploma in Russian language and literature from the State University of Eastern Kazakhstan (Восточно-Казахстанский Государственный Университет); and a graduate diploma in Information Studies and a master’s degree in International Studies, both from the University of South Australia, where she focused on the modern history of Uyghur human rights. She is fluent in English, Uyghur, Chinese, Uzbek and Russian, and has a working knowledge of Turkish.
Twitter: @UHRP_Chinese
Government Relations Manager
Julie Millsap
Julie Millsap is the Government Relations Manager at the Uyghur Human Rights Project. She leads government advocacy and congressional outreach strategy. She frequently collaborates with organizations to push forward government outreach initiatives and expand the reach of policy recommendations affiliated with UHRP’s research. She has also arranged congressional hearings, drafted congressional testimonies and briefings, and written speeches for many of the leading Uyghurs advocates and activists.
Julie amplifies the visibility and credibility of research conducted at the Uyghur Human Rights Project through proactive government engagement and relationship building. She frequently briefs congressional offices, various U.S. government agencies, and foreign government officials and parliamentarians on the issue of Uyghur genocide and ongoing efforts towards accountability.
Julie has testified for the Uyghur Tribunal as well as for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Issues that she tracks include trends regarding transnational repression, education policies of the P.R.C., and the intersection between human rights and national security interests. Her perspectives and comments have been featured on CNN, BBC, The New Yorker, Radio Free Asia, American Foreign Policy Council, AP News, and many other outlets. She resides in the Washington D.C. area with her two children.
Twitter: @JulieM615
Director of Research
Henryk Szadziewski
Email: hszad@uhrp.org
Twitter: @henrykszad
Consultant
Erin Rosenberg
Current Interns & Volunteers
Aséna Tahir Izgil, UHRP intern
Edina Erkin, Research and Advocacy Associate
Zacarias Negron, Government Relations and Research Intern
View our application process for interns and volunteers here.
FEATURED VIDEO
Atrocities Against Women in East Turkistan: Uyghur Women and Religious Persecution
Watch UHRP's event marking International Women’s Day with a discussion highlighting ongoing atrocities against Uyghur and other Turkic women in East Turkistan.
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