WHO WE ARE

Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2017 in response to the ongoing genocide of the Uyghur people by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Uyghur region (commonly known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China). Our mission is to counter this genocide by exposing the CCP’s atrocities, mobilizing global grassroots movements, building solidarity with other persecuted communities, and empowering the Uyghur diaspora to lead effective awareness campaigns that drive democratic change. CFU is also a founding member of the Uyghur Wellness Initiative (UWI), which creates a safe space for Uyghurs to come together during this crisis, fostering individual, family, and community well-being. Our efforts have been internationally recognized: CFU was awarded the World Democracy Courage Tribute in July 2021 and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in both 2022 and 2025.

In 2017, Rushan Abbas co-founded the Campaign for Uyghurs to advocate and promote human rights and democratic freedoms for Uyghurs, and mobilize the international community to act to stop the human rights atrocity in East Turkistan. Abbas launched multiple campaigns, including the One Voice One Step movement, a demonstration on March 15th, 2018, in 14 countries and 18 cities on the same day, and the Free Gulshan Abbas, reaching an international profile for her sister as well as missing Uyghurs.

In July 2020, CFU published the report “Genocide in East Turkistan” which laid out the ways that the actions of the Chinese regime met every condition of genocide laid out in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. Abbas first raised the case of Uyghurs as undergoing active genocide in May of 2019 while delivering speeches at the events hosted by the U.S. Embassies in Prague and Vienna and remained a vocal advocate for declaring the CCP’s crimes as such since then. In July 2021, Campaign For Uyghurs was awarded the World Democracy Courage Tribute. 

In February 2022, Campaign for Uyghurs was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for activism and advocacy done to promote the Uyghur cause for freedom. Campaign for Uyghurs was nominated by US House of Representatives members Tom Suozzi and Chris Smith, who co-chair the Uyghur Caucus. 

In February 2025, CFU was again nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Representatives John Moolenaar, Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ranking Member of the same committee, in recognition of our continued efforts to advocate for justice and human rights for the Uyghur people.