Campaign for Uyghurs with Rushan Abbas
Campaign for Uyghurs with Rushan Abbas
At this Hinckley Forum, come hear from Rushan Abbas, founder of Campaign for Uyghurs,
a U.S.-based nonprofit that advocates and promotes human rights and democratic freedoms
for Uyghurs, and mobilizes the international community to act to stop the human rights
atrocity in East Turkistan. Ms. Abbas works with groups in the United States, Canada,
The UK, and other parts of Europe, Australia, Japan, and Turkey to highlight the Uyghur
cause and in support of empowering Uyghur women and youth for activism. In February
2022, Campaign For Uyghurs was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for activism and
advocacy done to promote the Uyghur cause for freedom.
September 20, 2023 - Lunchtime Event
12:00PM - 1:00PM
Hinckley Institute of Politics,
260 South Central Campus Drive,
Room 2018,
Salt Lake City, UT, 84112
September 20, 2023 - Evening Event Event
7:00PM - 8:30PM
Hinckley Institute of Politics,
260 South Central Campus Drive,
Room 2018,
Salt Lake City, UT, 84112
About Rushan Abbas
Rushan Abbas started her activism work while she was a student, organizing and leading
in the pro-democracy demonstrations at Xinjiang University in 1985 and 1988. Since
her arrival in the United States in 1989, Ms. Abbas has been an ardent campaigner
for the human rights of the Uyghur people.
She has worked closely with members of Congress since the 1990s. Ms. Abbas was a co-founder of the California-based Uyghur Overseas Student and Scholars Association in 1993, the first such Uyghur association in the United States, and served as that organization’s first Vice-President. The charter co-drafted by Ms. Abbas later served as the blueprint and played an important role in the establishment of the Uyghur American Association (UAA) in 1998. Ms. Abbas was subsequently elected Vice President of UAA for two terms. When Radio Free Asia launched its Uyghur service in 1998, Ms. Abbas was the first Uyghur reporter broadcasting daily to the Uyghur region.
From 2002 till 2013, Ms. Abbas translated for the 22 Uyghurs who were being held in Guantanamo and worked closely with the US Department of Defense, Department of Justice, State Department, and US administration with their efforts on resettlement of 22 Uyghurs from Guantanamo Bay to Albania, Sweden, Bermuda, Palau, Switzerland, El-Salvador, and Slovenia.