Rushan Abbas, a Uyghur human rights advocate and activist, was born in Turkistan. After completing her education, she began campaigning against the Chinese government’s repression of the Uyghur people. In the 1980s she actively participated in student movements and conducted advocacy work to defend the rights of the Uyghur community.

Rushan Abbas has three children and her spouse is Abdulhakim Idris, Executive Director of the Uyghur Research Center.

Rushan Abbas is known for her campaign against the Chinese government’s repressive policies toward the Uyghur people. In the 1980s she participated in student movements in China and engaged in various activities to defend Uyghur rights. Later, after relocating to the United States (USA), she began working to raise global awareness of the persecution faced by Uyghurs on international platforms.

During her time in the United States (duration), she collaborated with various civil society organizations to organize awareness campaigns in defense of Uyghur rights. She is the founder and executive director of the Campaign for Uyghurs. In 2017, through the establishment of the Campaign for Uyghurs, she aimed to defend the human rights and democratic freedoms of the Uyghur people and mobilize the international community to halt the atrocities in East Turkistan.

The event titled "Freedom for Uyghurs" held outside the United Nations building and Rushan Abbas

Rushan Abbas has drawn particular attention for her efforts exposing the Chinese government’s mass detention camps targeting Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. She has demonstrated significant determination in revealing to the world the existence of these camps, which the Chinese government labels as “re-education centers” but which are in fact filled with methods of repression, torture and brain cleansing.

In 2018, the detention of her sister, Gulshan Abbas, by the Chinese government further strengthened Abbas’s activism. This act, widely perceived as retaliation to silence her, attracted the attention of the international community. Rushan Abbas continues to raise her voice through speeches, campaigns and media initiatives to expose the persecution endured by her family and other Uyghurs.

Rushan Abbas utilizes media and the power of art to generate world-scale awareness of China’s human rights violations against the Uyghurs. Her photograph exhibitions in Washington have laid bare the suffering of the Uyghur people. She also delivers speeches at numerous international news channels, human rights organizations and academic platforms to challenge the Chinese government’s repressive policies.

Rushan Abbas and the photo exhibition she held in Washington (AA)

Rushan Abbas collaborates with the U.S. government and international human rights organizations to bring the plight of the Uyghurs to the global agenda. She engages with the Europe Union, the United Nations and various civil society organizations to pursue diplomatic initiatives in defense of Uyghur rights.

To defend Uyghur rights, mobilize Uyghur women and youth into activism and provide support, she works with groups in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and European countries, Australia, Japan and Türkiye.

She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work to protect Uyghur rights.

Rushan Abbas continues her struggle for the freedom of the Uyghur people. Her goal is to end China’s repressive policies and restore the fundamental human rights of the Uyghurs. Working alongside the Uyghur diaspora, she seeks to increase international support and encourage greater sanction against human rights abuses in China.