Uyghur camp survivor and UHRP board chair to give Congressional testimony

House Foreign Affairs Committee UHRP_2021-05-05

May 5, 2021, 12:55 EDT
Media Advisory
For Immediate Release
Contact: Louisa Greve +1.571.882.4825, Omer Kanat +1 (202) 790-1795

On Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 12:30 pm EDT, the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) will hold a virtual hearing entitled “The Atrocities Against Uyghurs and Other Minorities in Xinjiang.” HFAC Chairman Gregory W. Meeks has announced the hearing here. The hearing may be viewed here.

Witnesses will be available for interviews following the hearing. Please contact Louisa Greve at +1.571.882.4825 (mobile, WhatsApp, Signal) or lgreve@uhrp.org.

Concentration camp survivor Tursunay Ziyawudun, one of the few Uyghur camp survivors who has been able to reach safety in the United States, will testify before a governmental body for the first time. Her account of her experience shocked the world when it was reported by the BBC, including physical and psychological torture, sexual assault, forcible injection of unknown drugs, and other mistreatment. The testimony of Tursunay and other women who have spoken out provoked an angry and misogynistic smear campaign by the Chinese government.

Also testifying will be UHRP Board Chair Nury Turkel. Mr. Turkel was appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in May 2020. He has testified before policymakers around the world, including at Congressional briefings on Forced Labor, Mass Internment, and Social Control in Xinjiang, China’s Repression and Internment of Uyghurs, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. He was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2020. Professor Jim Millward will also testify. 

The US Congress is currently considering legislation which will continue to shape a response to the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in East Turkistan, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (S.65/H.R.1155), a bill to designate Uyghurs Priority 2 refugees (S.1080/H.R.1630) and resolutions condemning the PRC government’s treatment of the Uyghurs and other ethnic groups, and calling for U.S. leadership in multilateral action to end the abuses and crimes (H.Res.317 and S.Res.131).