Sec. 3. Sense of Congress
471 words·~2 min read·
/bill/119/hr/2635/eh/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the Sense of Congress that— the Government of the People’s Republic of China should immediately open the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
(XUAR)to regular, transparent, and unmanipulated visits by members of the press, international organizations including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, academic and human rights research institutions, as well as foreign delegations including from the United States Congress; the Government of the People’s Republic of China should 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; the Government of the People’s Republic of China should cease all government-sponsored crackdowns, imprisonments, and detentions of people throughout the XUAR aimed at repressing their ethnic, cultural, political, or religious identities; the Government of the People’s Republic of China should 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; it is commendable for countries to provide shelter and hospitality to Uyghurs and other minority group members in exile, as Turkey, Albania, and Germany have done; urges all countries, especially fellow democracies and those with sizeable Muslim populations, to condemn and address the plight of Uyghurs and other minority communities in the XUAR; the Government of the People’s Republic of China should immediately and unconditionally release 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— 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 ; Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a retired medical doctor and Uyghur, 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 Kamile Wayit, a university student and Uyghur, who was wrongfully detained on December 12, 2022, after returning to the XUAR while on break from studying during the winter holiday; the Government of the People’s Republic of China 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 the Department of State should continue to facilitate the unhindered dissemination of information to the international community on issues regarding the human rights, religious freedom, and transnational repression of Uyghurs and members of other minority groups in the XUAR.