Human Rights Groups Urge U.S. Soccer to End Volkswagen Partnership

A coalition of 86 human rights and religious freedom leaders and organizations is asking the US Soccer Federation to end its partnership with Volkswagen, given Volkswagen’s inaction in the face of ongoing atrocity crimes. Sign this petition to add your voice.

June 3, 2021

Ms. Cindy Parlow Cone
President, Board of Directors
United States Soccer Federation
1801 S Prairie Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616

Mr. Will Wilson
Chief Executive Officer
United States Soccer Federation
1801 S Prairie Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616

Dear Ms. Parlow Cone and Mr. Wilson:

We write to you as a coalition of concerned organizations and individuals who are scholars, NGO leaders, human rights advocates, religious freedom activists, and practitioners, concerned with your partnership with Volkswagen. We urge you to remove Volkswagen as a presenting sponsor.

Volkswagen continues to operate a plant in Xinjiang, the Uyghur Region, where the government is conducting ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide. Volkswagen has failed to address, in a transparent and credible way, its acquiescence in the implementation of these atrocity crimes, including state-imposed forced labor, forced population transfer, mass detention, religious persecution, forced sterilization and forced abortion, and similar crimes against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim peoples in the Xinjiang region of China.

By remaining partnered with Volkswagen, U.S. Soccer is taking the position that it accepts inaction in the face of ongoing atrocity crimes. As you know, earlier this year, the U.S. Government and the Canadian and Dutch parliaments, determined that these crimes constitute crime against humanity and genocide. As U.S. Soccer views the sport of soccer as a “powerful vehicle for social change,” as stated in the Federation’s mission, the partnership between U.S. Soccer and Volkswagen hinders social change and is a disservice to underserved communities.

The American Alliance for Automotive Corporate Social Responsibility (AAACSR) recently released a report that highlighted these atrocities, which we attached a copy for your review.

Given Volkswagen’s history of deep complicity in the crimes of the Holocaust, its continued refusal to answer urgent questions about its partnership with the Xinjiang government is unacceptable.

By removing Volkswagen as a presenting partner, you will send a direct message to its leadership that silence puts it off-limits.

We (the signed below) would like to request a meeting with you to further discuss your partnership with Volkswagen.

Sincerely,

Organizations

21Wilberforce
American Alliance for Automotive Corporate Social Responsibility
American Muslim Bar Association
Arise Foundation
Azzad Asset Management
Australian East Turkistan Association
Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association
Belgium Uyghur Association
Bitter Winter, a daily magazine on religious liberty and human rights
Boat People SOS
Boston Uyghur Association
Campaign For Uyghurs
Casa de Esperanza
China Aid Association
Christian Coalition for Uyghur Freedom
Church of Scientology National Affairs Office
Citizen Power Initiatives for China
Coalition to Abolish Modern-day Slavery in Asia
Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam
Conscience Coalition
Dutch Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation
East Turkistan Association of Canada
East Turkistan Education and Solidarity Association
East Turkistan Human Rights Observatory Center
East Turkistan Foundation
East Turkistan Republican Party
East Turkistan Union in Europe
European Federation for Freedom of Belief
Figure 8 Investment Strategies
Friends of Angola
International Christian Concern
International Coalition To End Transplant Abuse In China
International Society for Peace and Justice
Isa Yusuf Alptekin Foundation
Japan Uyghur Association
Jewish World Watch
Jubilee Campaign USA
Junior Sacerdotal Council of Caodai
Justice For All – Save Uighur Campaign
Justice For Uyghurs
Katartismos Global
Love Your Neighbor Community (LYNC)
Minaret Foundation
No Business With Genocide
Norwegian Uyghur Committee
Nozugum Foundation
Peace Catalyst International
René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights
Religious Freedom Institute
Silk Road Peace Project
Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
Society for Threatened Peoples Switzerland
South Asia Minorities Alliance Foundation
Sweden Uyghur Education Union
Switzerland Uyghur Association
UK Uighur Association
Uyghur American Association
Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Center
Uyghur Human Rights Project
Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
Uyghur Transitional Justice Database
United Macedonian Diaspora
Vietnam Coalition Against Torture (VN-CAT)
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
Victoria Uyghur Association
World Uyghur Congress