Rushan Abbas

Rushan Abbas is a leading Uyghur-American human rights advocate and the Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs, a twice Nobel Peace Prize–nominated organization. She also serves as Chairwoman of the Executive Committee at the World Uyghur Congress. Abbas is the author of Unbroken: One Uyghur’s Fight for Freedom. The book recounts her decades-long fight against the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign of genocide, and her personal journey from student dissident to global advocate. Abbas began her activism in the 1980s as a co-organizer of the pro-democracy student protests at Xinjiang University. After coming to the United States in 1989, she co-established the first Uyghur association in the country and later became the first Uyghur reporter for Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Service.

In 2018, after her sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, was abducted by the CCP, she left her successful global business career to focus full-time on advocacy. Since then, Rushan has become one of the most recognized voices speaking out against China’s repression of the Uyghurs, testifying before the U.S. Congress, briefing international lawmakers, and addressing audiences at Holocaust museums, universities, and interfaith institutions. Her honors include the 2019 Freedom Fighter Award and the 2024 Huntington Her Hero Lifetime Achievement Award.