UHRP Welcomes Introduction of Bipartisan Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act (UGASA)

UGASA PR

August 5, 2025, 11:00 a.m. EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact: Omer Kanat +1 (202) 790-1795, Peter Irwin +1 (646) 906-7722

On August 1, 2025, UHRP co-hosted a press conference to welcome the introduction of the Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act of 2025 (UGASA), along with the Uyghur American Association, Campaign for Uyghurs, Uyghur Academy, and the Center for Uyghur Studies.

The Uyghur groups thanked the sponsors, Senator Dan Sullivan, CECC Chair and Representative Chris Smith, CECC Co-chair and Co-Chair of the Congressional Uyghur Caucus, and the co-sponsors: Representative Tom Suozzi, Co-Chair of Congressional Uyghur Caucus, and Senator Jeff Merkley, CECC Commissioner. Representative John Moolenaar, the Chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP, is also an original co-sponsor.

“Uyghurs are now suffering under the 9th year of the ongoing CCP genocide,” said Omer Kanat, UHRP executive director. “Uyghurs in our homeland, and the diaspora around the world, are counting on the U.S. to lead the response. That is why we are urging the Congress to swiftly pass this bill.” 

UHRP thanks the sponsors and co-sponsors for their forceful remarks in announcing introduction of the bill July 31.

The bipartisan, bicameral bill expands Global Magnitsky Sanctions under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–145), to include atrocities committed inside and outside China, and adding new sanctionable offenses, including systematic abuses such as rape, coercive abortion, forced sterilization, involuntary contraceptive implantation, human trafficking for organ removal, forced separation of children from parents, and forced deportation or refoulement. It also sets in place U.S. policies to:

  • Impose a mandatory visa ban for forced sterilization and forced abortion
  • Determine sanctions eligibility of key tech companies such as Dahua, Hikvision, and ByteDance
  • Support preserving at-risk cultural, religious, and linguistic Uyghur heritage
  • Counter CCP genocide denial propaganda
  • Create a strategy to end forced organ harvesting in China
  • Implement at diplomatic strategy for release of U.S. citizens’ family members unjustly detained in China
  • Bar federal procurement contracts with entities tied to Uyghur forced labor

Representatives of the five Uyghur groups, and representatives of several bill sponsors, spoke at the August 1 press conference, including Piero Tozzi, senior staff to Rep. Chris Smith and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), and Tejkaran Bains, senior staff to Rep. Tom Suozzi, co-chair of the Congressional Uyghur Congress. 

UHRP urges the House and the Senate to pass this critical bill.

Read more:

UHRP U.S. Legislation Tracker, a guide to 19 bills endorsed by UHRP in the 119th Congress 

Uyghur Organizations Applaud Uyghur Caucus Co-chair Introduction of UGASA in the 118th Congress, April 25, 2024