CHINA: ‘My Sister Has Been in a Chinese Prison for Eight Years Because I Exercised My Freedom of Speech’

by CIVICUSMonday, October 19, 2026Inter Press Service CIVICUS discusses the persecution of Uyghurs and activism in exile with Rushan Abbas, an Uyghur American activist, founder and executive director of Campaign for Uyghurs and chair of the Executive Committee of the World Uyghur Congress. Rushan AbbasOn 31 August, the World Uyghur Congress urged the United Nations (UN) and states to step up pressure on China over its treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. Its call came two months after a new ‘Ethnic Unity Law’ took effect as part of a broader push to impose a single national identity. The date also marked four years since a landmark UN report found that abuses in the region may constitute crimes against humanity. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch estimate that over a million people have been detained in harsh conditions in ‘re-education’ camps since 2017.Why did you leave Xinjiang?I was born in Ürümchi, Xinjiang’s regional capital, during the Cultural Revolution. I started my activism as a student at Xinjiang University, where I co-organised pro-democracy protests in 1985 and 1988. In 1985, we mobilised over 20,000 students from seven universities, institutes and ...