A Test Case for US Resolve: Securing the Release of Uyghur Doctor Gulshan Abbas

Her detention has direct implications for her American relatives. Not only is she a peaceful, 64-year-old doctor with no history of political activism, but Dr. Abbas also has 24 American citizen family members, including her brother and sister, as well as her two daughters and a number of grandchildren. Many of them have directly advocated at the highest levels of the US government to secure the release of their mother, sister, and grandmother. What started as an act of transnational repression against adult American citizens is now impacting innocent American children, including Dr. Abbas’s grandchildren who have never been able to hug their grandmother. The US has a history of prioritizing American citizens in its advocacy, and in this case, she has dozens of American citizen family members who are demonstrably harmed by her ongoing detention.

Her detention has implications for free speech in the United States. The timing of Dr. Abbas’s arrest and initial detention clearly demonstrates that the Chinese government was retaliating against her sister’s outspokenness on the plight of the Uyghur people. This is one of the clearest-cut cases of transnational repression—where the CCP commits crimes against individuals who speak out against the party beyond the country’s borders. Rushan Abbas, like any American, has the right to freedom of speech; her remarks should never have led to her sister’s detention and sentencing. A strong US stance in support of Dr. Abbas would signal American commitment to defending free speech.

Her detention has implications for US efforts to counter forced labor across China. Abbas has been detained since 2018, first in a political “reeducation” camp and later in a prison adjacent to a factory where, given the CCP’s long history of “reeducation” through forced labor, she likely was subjected to this practice. Marco Rubio, while serving in the Senate, was the lead sponsor of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The administration continues to view forced labor as an issue of concern, as demonstrated by its recent imposition of Section 301 tariffs, which it implemented, in part, on forced labor grounds.^[9]

Her detention has implications for US efforts to advance religious freedom. Dr. Abbas is a Uyghur Muslim. The CCP has wrongfully labeled Uyghurs a threat on the basis of their faith and used that as justification for its ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity. Dr. Abbas is one of the 1.8 million Uyghurs who have been detained inside China’s vast system of political reeducation camps, a clear example of the price Uyghurs pay for the ongoing atrocity crimes the CCP continues to carry out.^[10] During the previous Trump administration, the US became the first country to formally issue a determination that Uyghurs face genocide and crimes against humanity, and now the president has the opportunity to act on that determination by securing Dr. Abbas’s freedom.^[11]

Press for Dr. Abbas’s release. Before Xi’s White House visit, President Trump should demand that China release Dr. Abbas and ensure she is reunited with her American family members. Because of her myriad health problems, the Chinese government could easily release her on humanitarian grounds, and the fact that she has already served nearly half her sentence should also work in her favor.

Condition future diplomatic engagement with China on the release of political prisoners. Visiting the White House is a privilege for foreign leaders, and such an honor should come with a high price. Xi’s visit to Washington could always be called off. The return of Pastor Jin was a step in the right direction, and the CCP has the opportunity to continue that trajectory by releasing other high-priority political prisoners like Dr. Abbas.

Establish an Office of Political Prisoner Advocacy (OPPA) and appoint a special envoy. The office should coordinate and manage US efforts to secure the release of political prisoners around the world, with a focus on prisoners relevant to US national security. Congress should require the OPPA to release an annual report that identifies key political prisoners and states what the office, civil society, and Congress have done, or can do, to secure their release. A special envoy of ambassadorial rank, confirmed by the Senate, would lead the OPPA and serve as a liaison between the executive branch, Congress, and civil society.^[16] This would centralize processes for securing the release of political prisoners, updating families on what the government has done to advocate on their family member’s behalf, and coordinating government and civil society responses to extrajudicial imprisonment. To streamline the process, the envoy should coordinate with other key parts of the State Department tasked with advocacy for political prisoners. The special envoy should also work with the Treasury Department and entities like the National Security Council to identify individuals who could be sanctioned for facilitating arbitrary detentions.

Create a designation of arbitrarily detained for political prisoners. The United States has a robust apparatus for obtaining the release of hostages, especially when the State Department officially labels them as wrongfully detained. This term usually only applies to hostages and not political prisoners. For political prisoners, the department generally uses the informal term arbitrarily detained. The special envoy and the OPPA should have the power to officially label political prisoners “arbitrarily detained,” publish a list of such prisoners in the OPPA’s annual report, and exercise authorities similar to those of the hostage release apparatus to obtain the freedom of these prisoners.

Advocate for the release of all political prisoners in China, particularly those with US citizen family members and those relevant to US national security. In every meeting with Chinese officials, US diplomats should demand the immediate release of political prisoners,^[17] including Uyghurs Ilham Tohti, Rahile Dawut, and Ekpar Asat; Tibetans like the eleventh Panchen Lama, Go Sherab Gyatso, and Konchok Nyima; Hong Kong residents like Jimmy Lai, Gwyneth Ho, and Joshua Wong; persecuted Christians like the eight pastors and associates of Zion Church who remain behind bars, Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu from Light of Zion Church, as well as Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church; and human rights defenders like Gao Zhisheng, Yu Wenshang, and Ding Jiaxi.

Sanction individuals and entities involved in violating religious freedom and taking political prisoners unless progress is made in securing the prisoners’ release. The Treasury Department should issue specific tranches of sanctions at key diplomatic moments to promote the release of political prisoners across China. It should make full use of Global Magnitsky authorities and other mechanisms, on both human rights and national security grounds. The State Department should also make full use of its new authorities under Section 212(a)(3)(C) to restrict the visas of individuals responsible for wrongful and abusive or unjust detentions of American citizens and foreign nationals.