(COLUMBUS, OH, 6/13/19) The Columbus Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) today launched a petition urging Ohioans to call on their representatives in Congress to support the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 and to pressure China to close its concentration camps where up to 3 million Uyghur Muslims are being held arbitrarily.
TAKE ACTION HERE!
Action Alert Message Being Sent to Congress:
“Dear [Member of Congress],
I urge you to stand against the mass persecution and internment of Uyghur Muslims in China by supporting H.R. 649 and S. 178, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019.
The Chinese government which has oppressed the Uyghur people for decades, has now built hundreds of concentration camps in Xinjiang.
Chinese officials are separating families and forcing millions of innocents, whose only crime is that they are Muslim, to renounce their faith and are subjecting them to extreme surveillance and torture.
The United States of America must act now and work to end this human rights travesty.
In the past, we proclaimed “never again.” As your constituent, I ask that your office support the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 to deliver justice to the Uyghur people.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]”
Detainees are separated from their families, forced to eat pork, drink alcohol, and tortured until they renounce their faith.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “most people in the camps have never been charged with crimes and have no legal avenues to challenge their detentions. The detainees seem to have been targeted for a variety of reasons including… sending texts containing Quranic verses. Often, their only crime is being Muslim, human rights groups say, adding that many Uighurs have been labeled as extremists simply for practicing their religion.”
SEE: China Continues to Abduct Uighur Muslims, Sending Them to Internment Camps
CNN captures rare images China doesn’t want you to see
https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/05/07/china-xinjiang-muslims-matt-rivers-pkg-cnni-vpx.cnn
This action urges members of Congress to act in support of the human rights of Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic minorities in China by supporting H.R. 649 and S. 178, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019.
SEE: H.R.649 – Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/649
These measures call for:
1) the dismantling of concentration camps in China,
2) the U.S. State Department to place economic and diplomatic sanctions on China through the Global Magnitsky Act,
3) expediting asylum requests of Uyghur and other ethnic minorities who suffer persecution,
4) holding U.S. companies publicly accountable to relay human rights data and use of forced labor if doing business in the region, and
5) the assignment of a special counsel to China’s Xinjiang region that would document the plight of the Uyghur Muslim and other Turkic minorities and report those findings back to Congress.
They also address the intimidation and threats faced by United States citizens and legal permanent residents of Uyghur descent targeted by the Chinese regime.
“The mass persecution, surveillance, and internment of Uyghurs in China is an unspeakable tragedy,” said CAIR-Columbus Executive Director Romin Iqbal. “We must show our elected officials that such evil acts cannot not be tolerated. We must do what we can to help deliver justice for the Uyghur people.”
TAKE ACTION HERE!
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.