SUOZZI RELAUNCHES CONGRESSIONAL UYGHUR CAUCUS

Washington, DC - Today, Representatives Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) announced the relaunch of the bipartisan Congressional Uyghur Caucus to raise awareness of the Chinese Community Party’s (CCP) “systemic human rights violations against the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and to support legislation aimed at addressing the largest coordinated human rights abuse campaign of the 21st century.” At the announcement, Suozzi and Smith, who Co-Chair the Caucus, were joined by Rushan Abbas, the Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit Campaign for Uyghurs.

The Chinese Communist Party is believed to have detained up to 2 million Uyghurs and other Muslims in internment camps in Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan or Uyghurestan, in the far northwestern part of the People’s Republic of China. 

“What’s happening to Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang should shock everyone’s conscience. As Co-Chair of the bipartisan Congressional Uyghur Caucus, I will continue to stand up, call out, and push back against the Chinese Communist Party for its oppression and persecution of Uyghur Muslims,” said Suozzi. “The CCP is brutally and systemically trying to destroy the Uyghur people with mass internment camps, forced labor, sexual abuse, and forced sterilization. We cannot shy away from this. We must shine a light on these atrocities.”

Suozzi met last week with Rushan Abbas, the Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit Campaign for Uyghurs, to discuss the need to re-energize the Caucus considering continuing abuses against Uyghur Muslims in China.

The original Caucus was founded in 2021, by Suozzi and Smith “to unite U.S. Congress Members committed to advocating for the human rights of the Uyghur people.”

“Every day reveals new horrors unfolding for Uyghurs in East Turkistan. This genocide demands a response that matches its depravity, and the Caucus shows promise of tangible policy actions to confront the horror. The leadership of Representatives Suozzi and Smith and their tireless advocacy for Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, and Southern Mongolians is a testament to their integrity and moral compass. We could not be more grateful,” said Rushan Abbas. 

Throughout his years in Congress, Suozzi has been a consistent opponent of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of the Muslim Uyghur minority in China.

As a former member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Suozzi used his position to “hold the Chinese Government accountable for its repression and active disregard for international law.”

In September 2020, Suozzi cosponsored the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which prohibits imports from China’s (Uyghur) Region (XUAR) unless Customs and Border Protection determines with “clear and convincing” evidence that forced labor was not used at any stage of its production.

“The United States must stand up for its values and make it clear that we will not be complicit in the internment and forced labor of Uyghur Muslims,” he said in Congress.

The proposal was eventually signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 23, 2021. Beginning on June 21, 2022, any company that imports goods from the Xinjiang region needs to certify that those goods were not produced using forced labor to avoid penalties.

“While the CCP claims that these prisons are for ‘reeducation’ or ‘poverty alleviation,’ clear evidence, as confirmed by the United Nations in 2022, shows that the program is a program to erase the Uyghur people and culture through forced labor, sexual abuse, forced sterilization, and attacks on religious beliefs,” explained Suozzi.

###