Rushan Abbas: Profiles in Freedom

Rushan Abbas is Founder and Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs, a non-profit dedicated to countering the Uyghur genocide. She joined VOC’s President Emeritus, Amb. Andrew Bremberg, to speak about her life and work, fighting against the persecution of her sister and all Uyghurs.

Rushan’s childhood was overshadowed by the threat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its persecution of the Uyghur people who are an ethnic and Muslim minority group from Xinjiang, China. As a young girl, she experienced terror and abuse inflicted upon her family and neighbors by Beijing’s brutal policies. Rushan became politically active at a young age, organizing and leading the pro-democracy demonstrations at Xinjiang University in 1985 and 1988. After moving to the United States and working for more than 20 years in global business development, international relations, and government affairs, Rushan Abbas became a full-time activist for the Uyghur people.

In 2017, Rushan Abbas founded Campaign for Uyghurs to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for Uyghurs, and to mobilize the international community to stop the human rights atrocities in Xinjiang. Today, Rushan briefs US lawmakers and officials on the Uyghurs’ human rights situation and testifies at the United States Senate and Congress on the Chinese regime’s crimes against humanity. She regularly appears on media outlets and travels around the world to advocate for the Uyghur cause.

Bear witness to Rushan Abbas’ striking testimony about living under the regime of the Chinese Communist Party, and her ongoing fight for the freedom of all Uyghurs.