Civil rights group calls on international community, including Muslim-majority nations, to speak out
(WASHINGTON, DC – 3/9/2021) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today responded to an independent report detailing China’s ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims by calling on Congress to quickly pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (H.Res.129/S.65).
CAIR Action Alert: Ask Congress to Pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
https://secure.everyaction.com/WK86a1pJu0m3ihUpJIs1ew2
According to CNN, an independent report produced by 50 global experts in human rights working with the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy has concluded that China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims has “violated every single provision in the United Nations’ Genocide Convention,” and “bears state responsibility for an ongoing genocide against the Uyghur in breach of the (UN) Genocide Convention.”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/09/asia/china-uyghurs-xinjiang-genocide-report-intl-hnk/index.html
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“This independent, expert report confirms what the world already knows: China is actively using kidnapping, torture, rape, forced sterilization, and other forms of violence to perpetrate a genocide against Uyghur Muslims inspired by Islamophobia.
“Here at home, Congress must immediately hold corporations that continue to do business with China — especially in the Xinjiang region — accountable for supporting and enabling a genocide. Overseas, every nation must speak out strongly against these crimes. That is especially true for Muslim-majority nations.”
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is a bipartisan bill that would prohibit the importation of goods made with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic ethnic minorities.
The Act would create a “rebuttable presumption” that any goods made in the Xinjiang are made with forced labor and prohibited from entering the United States unless “clear and convincing” evidence is shown to the contrary. The full text of the bill is available here.
BACKGROUND
According to human rights monitors, there are at least 1.8 million and as many as 3 million Uyghurs and other ethnic Turkic minorities that are being detained in concentration and forced labor camps. In these facilities, they are forced to renounce their faith, stripped of their human rights, and face torture and other abuses. Through mass detention, forced labor, and forced sterilization, the Chinese government is destroying the Uyghurs’ ethnic and religious identities.
CAIR has been dedicated in its efforts to mobilize the international community and denounce the atrocious actions of the Chinese government. In December, CAIR joined the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), Free Uyghur Now, and other global allies in a virtual press conference calling on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to join the international community in standing with Uyghur Muslims.
Domestically, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has remained steadfast in its campaigns on behalf of Uyghur Muslims. CAIR has welcomed the endeavors of the US government to ban Chinese slave labor cotton imports and continues to support Congress’ forced labor legislation.
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.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com