[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7123 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7123

 To condemn gross human rights violations of ethnic Turkic Muslims in 
 Xinjiang, and calling for an end to arbitrary detention, torture, and 
       harassment of these communities inside and outside China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 13, 2018

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. McCaul, Ms. 
   Kaptur, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Sherman, Mrs. Comstock, Mr. Connolly, Mr. 
 Hultgren, and Mr. McGovern) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committees on Intelligence (Permanent Select), and the Judiciary, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To condemn gross human rights violations of ethnic Turkic Muslims in 
 Xinjiang, and calling for an end to arbitrary detention, torture, and 
       harassment of these communities inside and outside China.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to direct United States resources to 
address gross violations of universally recognized human rights, 
including the mass internment of over 1,000,000 Uyghurs and other 
predominately Muslim ethnic minorities in China and the intimidation 
and threats faced by United States citizens and legal permanent 
residents.

SEC. 3. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.

    In this section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
        Armed Services, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the 
        Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee 
        on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
        Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 
        Armed Services, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 
        the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on the 
        Judiciary, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives.

SEC. 4. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) 
        has a long history of repressing approximately 13,000,000 
        Turkic, moderate Sunni Muslims, particularly Uyghurs, in the 
        nominally autonomous Xinjiang region. These actions are 
        violations of international treaties and covenants to which the 
        People's Republic of China is a party, including the Universal 
        Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on 
        Civil and Political Rights.
            (2) In recent decades, central and regional Chinese 
        government policies have systematically discriminated against 
        Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslims in Xinjiang by 
        denying them a range of civil and political rights, including 
        the freedoms of expression, religion, movement, and due 
        process, among others.
            (3) Increased unrest in the Xinjiang region as a result of 
        the central government's severe repression is used in Orwellian 
        fashion by the Government of the People's Republic of China as 
        evidence of ``terrorism'' and ``separatism'' and as an excuse 
        for further disproportionate response.
            (4) In 2014, Chinese authorities launched their latest 
        ``Strike Hard against Violent Extremism'' campaign, in which 
        the pretext of wide-scale, internationally linked threats of 
        terrorism were used to justify pervasive restrictions on, and 
        gross human rights violations of, the ethnic minority 
        communities of Xinjiang.
            (5) Those policies included--
                    (A) pervasive, high-tech surveillance across the 
                region, ranging from the arbitrary collection of 
                biodata, including DNA samples from children, without 
                their knowledge or consent;
                    (B) the use of QR codes outside homes to gather 
                information on how frequently individuals pray;
                    (C) facial and voice recognition software and 
                ``predictive policing'' databases; and
                    (D) countless checkpoints across the region to 
                control movement, all in a context with no enforceable 
                privacy rights.
            (6)(A) The August 2016 transfer of former Tibet Autonomous 
        Region Party Secretary Chen Quanguo to become the Xinjiang 
        Party Secretary prompted an acceleration in the crackdown 
        across the region.
            (B) Local officials in Xinjiang have used chilling 
        political rhetoric to describe the purpose of government policy 
        including ``eradicating tumors'' and ``spray[ing] chemicals'' 
        on crops to kill the ``weeds''.
            (C) Uyghurs are forced to celebrate Chinese cultural 
        traditions, such as Chinese New Year, and unique Uyghur culture 
        is facing eradication due to state control over Uyghur cultural 
        heritage, such as muqam and meshrep, and due to elimination of 
        the Uyghur language as a medium of instruction in Xinjiang 
        schools and universities.
            (7) In 2017, credible investigations found that family 
        members of Uyghurs living outside of China had gone missing, 
        that Chinese authorities were pressuring those outside the 
        country to return, and that individuals were being arbitrarily 
        detained in large numbers.
            (8) There is ample credible evidence provided by scholars, 
        human rights organizations, journalists, and think tanks 
        substantiating the establishment by Chinese authorities of 
        ``political reeducation'' camps, for which there is no legal 
        basis.
            (9) Chinese security forces have never been held 
        accountable for credible reports of mass shootings in Alaqagha 
        (2014), Hanerik (2013), and Siriqbuya (2013), as well as the 
        extrajudicial killings of Abdulbasit Ablimit (2013) and Rozi 
        Osman (2014).
            (10) Independent organizations conducted interviews and 
        received testimonies from Kayrat Samarkan and Omir Bekali, 
        along with others who had been detained in such facilities, who 
        described forced political indoctrination, torture, uncertainty 
        as to the length of detention, humiliation, and denial of 
        religious, cultural, and linguistic freedoms, and confirmed 
        that they were told by guards that the only way to secure 
        release was to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty. 
        Uyghurs Muhammed Salih Hajim (2018), Yaqupjan Naman (2018), 
        Abdughappar Abdujappar (2018), Ayhan Memet (2018), Abdulreshit 
        Seley Hajim (2018), Nurimangul Memet (2018), Adalet Teyip 
        (2018), Abdulnehed Mehsum (2017), Hesen Imin (2017), Sawut 
        Raxman (2017), Tursungul (2015), Memet Ibrahim (2015), and 
        Perhat Mollahun (2013) died while in the custody of the Chinese 
        authorities without proper investigation of the circumstances.
            (11) Uyghurs and Kazakhs, who have now obtained permanent 
        residence or citizenship in other countries, attest to 
        receiving threats and harassment from Chinese officials.
            (12) Under pressure from the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China, countries have forcibly returned Uyghurs to 
        China in violation of the non-refoulement principle and their 
        well-founded fear of persecution. States returning Uyghurs 
        include Egypt (2017), the United Arab Emirates (2017), Malaysia 
        (2011, 2013), Thailand (2011, 2015); Laos (2010); Burma (2010); 
        Cambodia (2009); Vietnam (2014); Kazakhstan (1999, 2001, 2003, 
        2006); Uzbekistan (2007), Tajikistan (2011), Pakistan (2003, 
        2009, 2011), Nepal (2002), India (2016).
            (13) Six journalists for Radio Free Asia's Uyghur service 
        have publicly detailed abuses their family members in Xinjiang 
        have endured in response to their work exposing abusive 
        policies across the region.
            (14) Several United States-based companies are conducting 
        business with Xinjiang authorities with unclear due diligence 
        as to how their business operations may create or contribute to 
        human rights violations.
            (15) The Government of the People's Republic of China is 
        increasingly investing in the ``Belt and Road Initiative'' 
        across Xinjiang and throughout Central Asia, extending its 
        influence through organizations such as the Shanghai 
        Cooperation Organization without regard to the political, 
        cultural, or linguistic rights of ethnic minorities.
            (16) The Secretary of State, Congressional-Executive 
        Commission on China, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and 
        individual members of the executive branch and Congress have 
        all expressed growing concern regarding the pervasive human 
        rights abuses across Xinjiang and the ``political reeducation'' 
        camps.
            (17) In August 2018, the United Nations Committee to 
        Eliminate Racial Discrimination challenged the Government of 
        the People's Republic of China over abuses in Xinjiang, 
        including the establishment of mass arbitrary detention camps.
            (18) In September 2018, newly appointed United Nations High 
        Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet noted in her 
        first speech as High Commissioner the ``deeply disturbing 
        allegations of large-scale arbitrary detentions of Uighurs and 
        other Muslim communities, in so-called re-education camps 
        across Xinjiang''.
            (19) Between August and September 2018, Chinese authorities 
        responded to these allegations by either flatly denying them or 
        insisting that the facilities are ``vocational training 
        centers''.
            (20) On September 18, 2018, the Washington Post wrote, ``At 
        stake is not just the welfare of the Uighurs, but also whether 
        the technologies of the 21st century will be employed to 
        smother human freedom.''
            (21) Experts have described the Xinjiang region as ``a 
        police state to rival North Korea, with a formalized racism on 
        the order of South African apartheid'' and the repression in 
        the Xinjiang region as a ``slow motion Tiananmen''.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the President should condemn abuses against Turkic 
        Muslims by Chinese authorities in Xinjiang and call on Chinese 
        President Xi Jinping to recognize the profound abuse and likely 
        lasting damage of China's current policies, and immediately 
        close the ``political reeducation'' camps, lift all 
        restrictions on internationally guaranteed human rights across 
        the region, and allow for reestablishment of contact between 
        those inside and outside China;
            (2) the United States Government should develop a strategy 
        to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
        Rights and numerous United Nations Special Rapporteurs' urgent 
        calls for immediate and unfettered access to Xinjiang, 
        including the ``political reeducation'' camps;
            (3) the Secretary of State should consider the 
        establishment of a new position within the Department of State, 
        the United States Special Coordinator for Xinjiang, who will 
        coordinate diplomatic, political, public diplomacy, financial 
        assistance, sanctions, counterterrorism, and security resources 
        within the United States Government to respond to the gross 
        violations of universally recognized human rights occurring in 
        the Xinjiang region, including by addressing the mass 
        detentions of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic 
        minorities, the deployment of technologically advanced 
        surveillance and police detection methods, and the 
        counterterrorism and counter-radicalism claims used to justify 
        the policies of the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China in Xinjiang Province;
            (4) if the objectives of the Special Coordinator position 
        described in paragraph (3) are accomplished, the Secretary of 
        State may terminate the position, but must inform the 
        appropriate congressional committees 45 days before the 
        termination;
            (5) the Secretary must consult with the chairman and 
        ranking minority members of the appropriate congressional 
        committees prior to the designation of the Special Coordinator;
            (6) the Secretary of State should consider the 
        applicability of existing authorities, including the Global 
        Magnitsky Act (subtitle F of Public Law 114-328), to impose 
        targeted sanctions on members of the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party, and state 
        security apparatus, including Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen 
        Quanguo and other officials credibly alleged to be responsible 
        for human rights abuses in Xinjiang and elsewhere;
            (7) the Secretary of State should fully implement the 
        provisions of the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom 
        Act (Public Law 114-281) and consider strategically employing 
        sanctions and other tools under the International Religious 
        Freedom Act (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) and to employ measures 
        required as part of the ``Country of Particular Concern'' (CPC) 
        designation for the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China that directly address particularly severe violations of 
        religious freedom;
            (8) the Secretary of Commerce should review and consider 
        the prohibition on the sale or provision of any United States-
        made goods or services to any state agent in Xinjiang, and add 
        the Xinjiang branch of the Chinese Communist Party, the 
        Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, and the Xinjiang Office of the 
        United Front Work Department, among others, to the ``entities'' 
        list administered by the Department of Commerce;
            (9) the Secretary of State should explore appropriate 
        mechanisms to establish a voluntary database to which United 
        States citizens or permanent family members of the Uyghur 
        diaspora can provide details about missing family members, with 
        a view towards pressing for accountability, and take 
        appropriate measures to expedite the asylum claims of Uyghurs, 
        Kazakhs, and other Turkic Muslim minorities;
            (10) United States companies and individuals selling goods 
        or services or otherwise operating in Xinjiang should take 
        steps, including in any public or financial filings, to 
        publicly assert that their commercial activities are not 
        contributing to human rights violations in Xinjiang or 
        elsewhere in China;
            (11) the Federal Bureau of Investigation and appropriate 
        United States law enforcement entities should track and take 
        steps to hold accountable officials from China who harass, 
        threaten, or intimidate United States citizens and legal 
        permanent residents, including Turkic Muslims, Uyghur-
        Americans, Chinese-Americans, and Chinese nationals legally 
        studying or working in the United States;
            (12) the Secretary of State should work with traditional 
        United States allies and partners to take similar steps and 
        coordinate closely on targeted sanctions and visa restrictions; 
        and
            (13) the work of Radio Free Asia's Uyghur language service 
        should be commended for providing a detailed and accurate 
        account of current events facing Uyghurs and other ethnic 
        minorities in China despite efforts by the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China to intimidate their reporting 
        through threats and detention of family members living in 
        China.

SEC. 6. NATIONAL SECURITY REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence, in 
coordination with the Secretary of State, shall provide to the 
appropriate congressional committees a classified and unclassified 
report to assess regional security threats posed by the crackdown 
across Xinjiang and the frequency with which Central and Southeast 
Asian governments are forcibly returning Turkic Muslim refugees and 
asylum seekers.
    (b) Annex.--The report required under subsection (a) shall include 
an annex with a list of all Chinese companies involved in the 
construction or operation of the ``political education'' camps, or the 
provision or operation of surveillance technology or operations, across 
Xinjiang.

SEC. 7. REPORT ON STOPPING INTIMIDATION OF CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS OF 
              THE UNITED STATES.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in consultation 
with the Secretary of State, shall provide a report to the appropriate 
congressional committees that outline efforts to provide information to 
and protect United States citizens and residents, including ethnic 
Uyghurs and Chinese nationals legally studying or working temporarily 
in the United States who have experienced harassment as described under 
section 5(9).

SEC. 8. REPORT ON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY.

    Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the CEO of the United States Agency for Global Media shall submit 
to the appropriate congressional committees a report that--
            (1) describes the current status and reach of United States 
        broadcasting to the Xinjiang region and Uyghur speaking 
        communities globally, barriers to the free flow of news and 
        information to these communities, and, if appropriate, detailed 
        technical and fiscal requirements necessary to increase 
        broadcasting and other media to these communities globally;
            (2) describes efforts to intimidate Radio Free Asia and 
        Voice of America reporters reporting on human rights issues in 
        the People's Republic of China; and
            (3) in consultation with the Global Engagement Center at 
        the Department of State, describes and assesses disinformation 
        and propaganda by the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China or other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization 
        targeting Uyghur communities globally and efforts to downplay 
        gross violations of universally recognized human rights 
        occurring in the Xinjiang region.

SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State, 
after consulting relevant civil society organizations, shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees and make available on the 
website of Department of State an interagency report that includes--
            (1) an assessment of the number of individuals detained in 
        political ``reeducation camps'' and conditions in the camps for 
        detainees in the Xinjiang region, including whether detainees 
        endure torture, forced renunciation of faith, or other 
        mistreatment;
            (2) a description, as possible, of the methods used by 
        People's Republic of China authorities to ``reeducate'' Uyghur 
        detainees as well as the People's Republic of China agencies in 
        charge of reeducation;
            (3) an assessment of the number of individuals being 
        arbitrarily detained, including in pretrial detention centers 
        and prisons;
            (4) an assessment of the level of access People's Republic 
        of China authorities grant to diplomats, journalists, and 
        others to the Xinjiang region and a description of measures 
        used to impede efforts to monitor human rights conditions in 
        the Xinjiang region;
            (5) an assessment of the repressive surveillance, 
        detection, and control methods used by People's Republic of 
        China authorities in the Xinjiang region, and a list of 
        individuals who hold senior leadership positions and are 
        responsible for ``high-tech'' policing, mass incarceration, and 
        reeducation efforts targeting Uyghur and other predominately 
        Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region; and
            (6) a description of United States diplomatic efforts to 
        address the gross violations of universally recognized rights 
        in the Xinjiang region, including in multilateral institutions 
        and through bilateral relations with the People's Republic of 
        China, the nations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation 
        (OIC), and other countries.
    (b) Termination.--The Secretary of State may terminate the report 
required under subsection (a) if the Secretary determines that the 
gross violations of universally recognized human rights and mass 
detention of Uyghurs and other predominately Muslim ethnic minorities 
has ended in the Xinjiang region.
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