[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1542 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 496
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1542
To support the human rights of Uyghurs and members of other minority
groups residing primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, to
safeguard their distinct identity, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 30, 2025
Mr. Curtis (for himself, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Warnock) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Foreign Relations
July 27, 2026
Reported by Mr. Risch, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support the human rights of Uyghurs and members of other minority
groups residing primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, to
safeguard their distinct identity, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``Uyghur Policy Act of
2025''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> Congress finds the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) The People's Republic of China (referred to in
this Act as the ``PRC'') continues to repress the distinct
Islamic, Turkic identity of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic
and religious minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region (referred to in this Act as the ``XUAR'') in
northwestern China and other areas in which they have
habitually residided.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic
minorities historically making up the majority of the XUAR
population have maintained a distinct religious and cultural
identity throughout their history.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Human rights, including the freedom of
religion or belief, and respect for the Uyghurs' unique Muslim
identity are legitimate interests of the international
community.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) The PRC--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) has ratified the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, done
at New York December 16, 1966, and is thereby bound by
its provisions; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) has also signed the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done at New
York December 19, 1966.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) An official campaign to encourage Han Chinese
migration into the XUAR has placed immense pressure on Uyghurs
and other ethnic and religious minority groups who seek to
preserve their unique ethnic, cultural, religious, and
linguistic traditions.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) PRC authorities have supported an influx of
Han Chinese economic immigrants into the XUAR, implemented
discrimination against Uyghurs and other minorities in hiring
practices, and provided unequal access to healthcare
services.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) PRC authorities have manipulated the strategic
objectives of the international war on terror to mask their
increasing cultural and religious oppression of the Muslim
population residing in the XUAR.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (8) In 2014, following unrest in the XUAR, Chinese
authorities launched the ``Strike Hard Against Violent
Extremism'' campaign, in which dubious allegations of
widespread extremist activity were used as justification for
gross human rights violations committed against Uyghurs and
members of other minority communities in the XUAR.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (9) PRC authorities have made use of the legal
system as a tool of repression, including for the imposition of
arbitrary detentions and torture against members of the Uyghur
community and other minority populations.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (10) Uyghurs and Kazakhs who have secured
citizenship or permanent residency outside of the PRC have
attested to repeated threats, harassment, and surveillance by
PRC officials.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (11) Reporting from international news
organizations has found that during the past decade, family
members of Uyghurs and other minority groups living outside of
the PRC have gone missing or been detained to force Uyghur
expatriates to return to the PRC or silence their
dissent.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (12) In 2017, Radio Free Asia's Uyghur Service was
the first media organization to report on the PRC's vast, mass
arbitrary-detention program in the XUAR.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (13) Credible evidence from human rights
organizations, think tanks, and journalists confirms that more
than 1,000,000 Uyghurs and members of other ethnic minority
groups have been imprisoned in extrajudicial ``political
reeducation'' centers.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (14) Independent accounts from former detainees of
``political reeducation'' centers describe inhumane conditions
and treatment including forced political indoctrination,
torture, beatings, rape, forced sterilization, and food
deprivation.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (15) Former detainees also confirmed that they
were told by guards that the only way to secure release was to
demonstrate sufficient political loyalty to the Government of
the PRC.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (16) Popular discourse surrounding the ongoing
atrocities in the XUAR and advocacy efforts to assist Uyghurs
remains muted in most Muslim majority nations around the
world.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (17) Former Secretaries of State Antony Blinken
and Michael Pompeo and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have all
confirmed that the Government of the PRC has committed genocide
and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other ethnic
and religious minorities in the XUAR.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (18) Government bodies of multiple countries have
also declared that atrocities by the Government of the PRC
against such populations in the XUAR constitute genocide,
including the Parliament of the United Kingdom, of Belgium, of
Czechia, of Lithuania, of the Netherlands, and of
Canada.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> It is the sense of Congress that--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) the Government of the PRC should immediately
open the XUAR to regular, transparent, and unmanipulated visits
by--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) members of the press;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) international organizations, including
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) academic and human rights research
institutions; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) foreign delegations, including
delegations from the Congress of the United
States;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) the Government of the PRC should--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) recognize, and take tangible steps to
protect and preserve, the distinct ethnic, cultural,
religious, and linguistic identity of Uyghurs and
members of other ethnic and religious minority groups
in the XUAR;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) cease all government-sponsored
crackdowns, imprisonments, and detentions of people
throughout the XUAR aimed at repressing their ethnic,
cultural, political, or religious identities;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) cease all government-sponsored
transnational repression of Uyghurs, including the
detainment, harassment, intimidation, and surveillance
of the family members of exiled Uyghurs and Uyghur
activists;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) it is commendable that countries, including
Turkey, Albania, and Germany, have provided shelter and
hospitality to Uyghurs and other minority group members in
exile from the PRC;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) urges all countries, especially fellow
democracies and countries with sizeable Muslim populations, to
condemn and address the plight of Uyghurs and other minority
communities in the XUAR;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) the Government of the PRC should immediately
grant unconditional releases to all prisoners that have been
detained for their ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic
identities, for expressing their political or religious beliefs
in the XUAR, or for being related to members of the Uyghur
diaspora or activist community, including--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) Ekper Asat, who participated in the
Department of State's International Visitors Leadership
Program in 2016, was incarcerated after returning to
the XUAR, and is now serving a 15-year prison sentence
on charges of ``inciting ethnic hatred and ethnic
discrimination'';</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a Uyghur retired
medical doctor who was wrongfully detained in the XUAR
on September 11, 2018, and unjustly sentenced to 20
years in prison in retaliation for her sister's
advocacy for Uyghur human rights issues; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) Kamile Wayit, a Uyghur university
student who was wrongfully detained on December 12,
2022, after returning to the XUAR during the winter
holiday while on break from studying;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) the Government of the PRC should facilitate
access for international humanitarian organizations, including
the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies, to the ``political reeducation'' centers in the XUAR
to ensure prisoners are not being mistreated and are receiving
necessary medical care; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) the Department of State should continue to
facilitate the unhindered dissemination to the international
community of information regarding the human rights, religious
freedom, and transnational repression of Uyghurs and members of
other minority groups in the XUAR.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 4. UNITED STATES STRENGTHENING OF COORDINATION ON UYGHUR
ISSUES.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) In General.--The Secretary of State, as appropriate,
shall--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) prioritize policies, programs, and projects to
support the Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious
minority groups in the XUAR;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) vigorously promote the policies of--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) protecting the distinct ethnic,
religious, cultural, and linguistic identities of the
Uyghurs and other minority groups; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) improving the protection of human
rights in the XUAR;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) direct the Department of State to maintain
close contact with Uyghur religious, cultural, and political
leaders, including seeking regular travel to the XUAR and to
Uyghur populations in Central Asia, Turkey, Albania, Germany,
and other parts of Europe;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) lead coordination efforts for the release of
political prisoners in the XUAR who are being detained for
exercising their human rights or being relatives of exiled
Uyghurs;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) consult with Congress regarding policies
relevant to the XUAR and the Uyghurs;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) coordinate with relevant Federal agencies to
administer aid to Uyghur rights advocates;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) strive to establish contacts with foreign
ministries of other countries, especially in Europe, Central
Asia, and members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,
to pursue a policy of promoting greater respect for human
rights and religious freedom for Uyghurs and other ethnic and
religious minority groups in the XUAR;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (8) utilize Strategic Dialogue with the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to address Uyghur rights
and work with its individual member states to develop and
implement joint initiatives and programs aimed at promoting
awareness of Uyghur rights and supporting Uyghur victims of
detainment, harassment, and transnational repression;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (9) support independent media authorized under
section 309 of the United States International Broadcasting Act
of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6208), including Radio Free Asia, which
conduct reporting and investigative journalism focused on the
XUAR, including in local languages, to ensure the reporting of
future PRC human rights abuses;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (10) work with international partners to raise
awareness concerning acts of transnational repression against
Uyghur Americans or Uyghurs who are living in exile in the
United States and develop and implement strategies to prevent
and respond to such transnational repression;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (11) establish a reporting mechanism for
individuals to report incidents of transnational repression
against Uyghurs and other minority groups with ties to the
XUAR; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (12) submit to Congress an annual report,
including a classified annex, if necessary, that--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) describes actions taken by the United
States to address and prevent transnational repression
against Uyghurs in the United States; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) includes recommendations for further
legislative or policy measures in support of the human
rights of Uyghurs and other minority groups from the
XUAR.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Support.--The Secretary of State shall ensure the
Department of State has adequate resources, staff, and administrative
support to carry out this section.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Sunset.--The requirements under this section shall
cease to have any force or effect beginning on the date that is 5 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES TO CONDUCT PUBLIC
DIPLOMACY IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD ON THE UYGHUR
SITUATION.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) In General.--Of the amounts appropriated for the
Office of the United States Speaker Program of the Bureau of
Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State for each of
the fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027, $250,000 shall be made available
to support human rights advocates working on behalf of the Uyghurs and
members of other ethnic and religious minority groups from the XUAR
that are being persecuted in the PRC.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Identification of Speakers.--The Assistant Secretary
of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, in consultation with
representatives of the global Uyghur community, shall identify human
rights advocates who may be invited to speak at global public diplomacy
forums, particularly events at which representatives from Organisation
of Islamic Cooperation countries and other Muslim-majority countries
are present, regarding issues regarding the human rights and religious
freedom of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority
groups who have been persecuted by the PRC.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 6. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.</DELETED>
<DELETED> No additional funds are authorized to carry out the
requirements under this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out
using amounts otherwise authorized for similar purposes.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 7. ACCESS TO DETENTION FACILITIES AND PRISONS AND THE
RELEASE OF PRISONERS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Strategy on Political Reeducation and Detention
Facilities.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of
other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall develop a
strategy for cooperating with like-minded partners to pressure the
Government of the PRC--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) to close all detention facilities and
``political reeducation'' camps housing Uyghurs and members of
other ethnic minority groups in the XUAR;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) to allow unhindered access to detention
facilities and ``political reeducation'' camps in the XUAR by
independent media, researchers, international organizations and
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights for a comprehensive assessment of the human rights
situation; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) to protect human rights and preserve the
distinct religious and cultural identity of the Uyghurs and the
other religious and ethnic minority communities in the
XUAR.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Report on Strategy and Implementation.--Not later than
1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
State shall submit to the Committee on For