Religious freedom is a core American value and a
universal human right . It’s also a vital foreign policy priority, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said June 2. “When the fundamental right of each person to practice their faith or to choose not to observe a faith is respected, people can make their fullest contributions to their ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 6 June, 2022 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Burma, China, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Secretary Blinken, Uyghurs
When Gulbahar Haitiwaji returned to Xinjiang, China, in November 2016 after a decade in France, she stepped into a nightmare. She had been summoned back by her employer, purportedly to complete her retirement paperwork. Instead, local authorities arrested Haitiwaji and sent her to an internment camp. Her story is not unique — since 2017, the ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 22 February, 2022 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, civic equality, female leaders, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
By
Leigh Hartman What if your culture was banned by your government? Or your child was taken from you and raised speaking another language? Was your wife or daughter sterilized without her consent? Wouldn’t you want the world to know? On October 21, the United States, France, Luxembourg, and Belgium joined 39 other countries in calling for ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 14 December, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, international cooperation, United Nations, Uyghurs
Adalet Sabit’s daughter has never met her father. The government of the People’s Republic of China confiscated her husband’s passport and refused to let him leave Xinjiang, where Uyghurs live in a state of constant surveillance. Sabit says her video calls to her husband are denied and she doesn’t know if the pictures she sends ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 14 July, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
The United States is committed to defending religious freedom around the world, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said. “Religious freedom, like every human right, is universal,” Blinken said May 12, announcing the release of the State Department’s
2020 Report on International Religious Freedom . “All people, everywhere, are entitled to it no matter where they live, what they believe, ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 17 May, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Secretary Blinken, Uyghurs
For Uyghurs, using their native language can mean a death sentence. People’s Republic of China authorities are sentencing Uyghur Muslim educators who publish textbooks in their native language to life in prison and even death. A PRC court on April 6 announced the
death sentence against Sattar Sawut , former director general of the education department in Xinjiang, for publishing ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 4 May, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
The United States and international partners are imposing sanctions against senior People’s Republic of China officials for serious human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang. On March 22, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the Global Magnitsky sanctions issued in concert with Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union against top officials with two ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 1 April, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: Sanctions, Secretary Blinken, Uyghurs
The United States is working with international partners to defend human rights worldwide as authoritarian regimes step up repression amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Standing for people’s freedom and dignity honors America’s most sacred values,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said March 30, announcing the release of the
2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices . “At our best, we stand for ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 1 April, 2021 | Topics: Health Issues, History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Secretary Blinken, Uyghurs
The People’s Republic of China is stepping up baseless prosecutions of Uyghur and other Muslim minorities, sentencing innocent people to years in prison, a new report says. In a February 24 report, Human Rights Watch says that the PRC’s judicial system in Xinjiang has sentenced 250,000 Uyghur and other ethnic minorities to prison, and that ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 15 March, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using big data and surveillance to target Uyghurs for detention based on behaviors that are allowed under the laws of the People’s Republic of China, such as studying the Quran or calling family abroad. Human Rights Watch says in a new report that the CCP uses its
Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP) to scan ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 5 January, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of religion, technology, Uyghurs
The People’s Republic of China is expanding its use of forced labor, increasing the risk that countries may unknowingly import products made by people forced or otherwise coerced to work. Upwards of 100,000 Uyghurs and members of other ethnic minority groups may be working in forced conditions in China, according to the U.S. Department of ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 22 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, labor rights, Trade, Uyghurs
U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is rallying world leaders to stand strong against religious persecution wherever it occurs. From November 16 to 17, the government of Poland hosted the third Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief. In
Pompeo’s opening remarks for the event, held virtually this year, the secretary urged the representatives of more ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 23 November, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Georgia, Secretary Pompeo, Uyghurs
The United States has issued new guidance to help companies ensure their security technologies are not co-opted by repressive regimes and used to violate or abuse human rights. The
new guidance provides companies with precautions to consider before selling certain technologies and offers recommendations to mitigate the risk of human rights violations or abuses when sales go ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 26 October, 2020 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: China, Iran, technology, Trade, Uyghurs
The U.S. government is taking steps to address forced labor camps in China’s Xinjiang region. The Chinese Communist Party is repressing millions of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities there, using “re-education” camps, forced sterilization, and destruction of religious sites. The U.S. is blocking the import of goods made with forced labor, sanctioning Chinese ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 10 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Trade, Uyghurs
By
Leigh Hartman – Jul 27, 2020 The U.S. has imposed sanctions against senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials responsible for “horrific and systematic abuses” against members of Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.
The July 9 sanctions , issued by the U.S. departments of Treasury and State, target Chen Quanguo, the party’s secretary in Xinjiang, who oversees
internment camps where more than 1 ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 27 July, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News from Washington | Tags: China, freedom of religion, Sanctions, Secretary Pompeo, Uyghurs
U.S. warns of business risks from China’s abuses (July 20) The PRC's human rights abuses in Xinjiang put businesses at risk of exposing their supply chains to forced labor and other abuses. Businesses must do their due diligence to avoid reputational, economic, and legal risks. Don’t be complicit. — Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo)
July 1, 2020 The United ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 20 July, 2020 | Topics: Economic Issues, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, labor rights, Trade, Uyghurs
Report: CCP conducts mass sterilization of minority women (July 6) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is conducting a campaign of mass sterilization of women as part of its repression of Uyghur and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, a new report says. Using Chinese government documents and interviews with survivors, the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 6 July, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News, News from Washington | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs