US lawmakers Tom Suozzi and Chris Smith on Thursday (local time) announced the creation of the Congressional Uyghur Caucus that they said would raise awareness of the Chinese Community Party's (CCP) "systemic human rights violations against the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region."
"Put simply, we're talking about the largest coordinated human rights abuse campaign of the 21st century being perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party," said Representative Suozzi. "Not only as Members of Congress, but as human beings we have a responsibility to uphold the values of fundamental human dignity and religious freedom abroad," the lawmaker added.
"The ongoing genocide and mass internment of Uyghurs and other predominantly-Muslim ethnic minorities like the Kazakhs are egregious crimes perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party," said Representative Chris Smith.
Speaking to ANI, Rushan Abbas, executive director for the Campaign for Uyghurs, praised the creation of the caucus.
"The Congressional Uyghur Caucus represents a strong recognition of the brutal Uyghur genocide and bipartisan support from the US lawmakers to stop it. When we made the request to Representative Tom Suozzi to establish the caucus, we knew that we were trying to organize a coalition that will represent Uyghur human rights within the democratic system in the United States and with the leadership of Reps Suozzi and Chris Smith, we have paved the road for that journey," Abbas added.
The activist strongly believes that the newly formed coalition will give new power to voices in Congress who have championed the Uyghur cause. She says it is encouraging to see organising at this level, with real and practical implications for policy moving forward.
This Caucus will allow them to bring in more elected officials who aim to enact policy in support of the Uyghur people. Support within Congress has already helped the Senate pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and now the Caucus will be able to assure its swift passage in the House of Representatives as well.
"The United States cannot be silent as Xi Jinping tortures and seeks to eradicate an entire population. In solidarity with the oppressed, the Uyghur Caucus will call attention to the Communist Chinese government's atrocious human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and work to end one of the world's worst human rights tragedies," Smith added.
United Nations human rights experts believe that "Uyghur Genocide" continues to devastate East Turkistan, while more nations come to the conclusion that the atrocity must be addressed.
Activists are of the opinion that the recent hearing on corporate sponsors for the Olympics is proof that there needs to be even more pressure from governments in the absence of any material effort on the part of corporations to ethically regulate themselves.
( With inputs from ANI )
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