Uyghur American Association Board approves decision to officially separate from Uyghur Human Rights Project

For immediate release
August 19, 2015 10:40am EST
Contact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 478 1920

At the August 16, 2015 board meeting of the Uyghur American Association (UAA), the Board of Directors voted to separate UAA from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP). Both groups will continue to play distinct roles in promoting rights of the Uyghur people. UAA will continue to focus on human rights advocacy as well as community activities for members of the Uyghur American community, and UHRP will continue to serve primarily as a human rights research and documentation group.

“The UAA board’s decision to separate UAA and UHRP is a positive development for the Uyghur American community and aims to benefit the human rights defense of the Uyghur people,” said UAA President Alim Seytoff in a statement from Washington, DC. “By allowing each group to focus on its primary mission, we intend to strengthen the Uyghur human rights movement both in this country and across the globe.”

The Uyghur American Association was founded in 1998 by Uyghur students and scholars living overseas in the United States. UAA initiated the Uyghur Human Rights Project in 2004, with support from the National Endowment for Democracy. Since that time, UHRP has produced dozens of in depth reports on human rights issues affecting the Uyghur people, and hundreds of press releases in response to breaking news affecting the Uyghur people, in addition to blogs and video reports. In 2013, UHRP launched a Chinese language website to expand the group’s outreach and employ UHRP’s research to directly counteract Chinese government propaganda.

UHRP will continue to produce vital research and documentation on Uyghur human rights issues as an independent organization. For more on UHRP’s work, visit the website: www.uhrp.org