[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3744 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.3744
One Hundred Sixteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty
An Act
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Uyghur Human
Rights Policy Act of 2020''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Statement of purpose.
Sec. 3. Findings.
Sec. 4. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 5. Updating statement of United States policy toward the People's
Republic of China.
Sec. 6. Imposition of sanctions.
Sec. 7. Report on human rights abuses in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region.
Sec. 8. Report on protecting citizens and residents of the United States
from intimidation and coercion.
Sec. 9. Report on security and economic implications of repression in
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by the Government of the
People's Republic of China.
Sec. 10. Classified report.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to direct United States resources to
address human rights violations and abuses, including gross violations
of human rights, by the Government of the People's Republic of China
through the mass surveillance and internment of over 1,000,000 Uyghurs,
ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Government of the People's Republic of China has a long
history of repressing Turkic Muslims and other Muslim minority
groups, particularly Uyghurs, in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
In recent decades, central and regional Chinese government policies
have systematically discriminated against these minority groups by
denying them a range of civil and political rights, including the
freedom of expression, religion, and movement, and the right to a
fair trial.
(2) In May 2014, the Government of the People's Republic of
China launched its latest ``Strike Hard Against Violent Extremism''
campaign, using wide-scale, internationally-linked threats of
terrorism as a pretext to justify pervasive restrictions on and
serious human rights violations of members of ethnic minority
communities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The August 2016
appointment of former Tibet Autonomous Region Party Secretary Chen
Quanguo to be Party Secretary of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
accelerated the crackdown across the region. Scholars, human rights
organizations, journalists, and think tanks have provided ample
evidence substantiating the establishment by the Government of the
People's Republic of China of internment camps. Since 2014, the
Government of the People's Republic of China has detained more than
1,000,000 Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other
Muslim minority groups in these camps. The total ethnic minority
population of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was approximately
13,000,000 at the time of the last census conducted by the People's
Republic of China in 2010.
(3) The Government of the People's Republic of China's actions
against Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other
Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region violate
international human rights laws and norms, including--
(A) the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which the People's Republic
of China has acceded;
(B) the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the People's
Republic of China has signed and ratified;
(C) the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, which the People's Republic of China has signed; and
(D) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
(4) Senior Chinese Communist Party officials, including current
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, who
executes Chinese government policy in the region, and former
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Deputy Party Secretary Zhu
Hailun, who crafted many of the policies implemented in the region,
bear direct responsibility for gross human rights violations
committed against Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of
other Muslim minority groups. These abuses include the arbitrary
detention of more than 1,000,000 Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz,
and members of other Muslim minority groups, separation of working
age adults from children and the elderly, and the integration of
forced labor into supply chains.
(5) Those detained in internment camps in Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region have described forced political indoctrination,
torture, beatings, food deprivation, and denial of religious,
cultural, and linguistic freedoms. These victims have confirmed
that they were told by guards that the only way to secure their
release was to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty. Poor
conditions and lack of medical treatment at such facilities appear
to have contributed to the deaths of some detainees, including the
elderly and infirm.
(6) Uyghurs and ethnic Kazakhs who have obtained permanent
residence or citizenship in other countries report being subjected
to threats and harassment from Chinese officials. At least 5
journalists for Radio Free Asia's Uyghur service have publicly
detailed abuses their family members in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region have endured in response to their work exposing the
Government of the People's Republic of China's abusive policies.
(7) In September 2018, United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights Michelle 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 reeducation camps across Xinjiang''.
(8) In 2019, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China
concluded that, based on available evidence, the establishment and
actions committed in the internment camps in Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region may constitute ``crimes against humanity''.
(9) On December 31, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed into
law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-
409), which--
(A) condemns the People's Republic of China's ``forced
disappearances, extralegal detentions, invasive and omnipresent
surveillance, and lack of due process in judicial
proceedings'';
(B) authorizes funding to promote democracy, human rights,
and the rule of law in the People's Republic of China; and
(C) supports sanctions designations against any entity or
individual that--
(i) violates human rights or religious freedoms; or
(ii) engages in censorship activities.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the President should--
(A) condemn abuses against Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz,
members of other Muslim minority groups, and other persons by
authorities of the People's Republic of China; and
(B) call on such authorities to immediately--
(i) close the internment camps;
(ii) lift all restrictions on, and ensure respect for,
human rights; and
(iii) allow people inside the People's Republic of
China to reestablish contact with their loved ones,
friends, and associates outside the People's Republic of
China;
(2) the Secretary of State should consider strategically
employing sanctions and other tools under the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), including
measures resulting from the designation of the People's Republic of
China as a country of particular concern for religious freedom
under section 402(b)(1)(A)(ii) of such Act (22 U.S.C.
6442(b)(1)(A)(ii)), that directly address particularly severe
violations of religious freedom;
(3) the Secretary of State should--
(A) work with United States allies and partners and through
multilateral institutions to condemn the mass arbitrary
detention of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of
other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region; and
(B) coordinate closely with the international community on
targeted sanctions and visa restrictions;
(4) the journalists of the Uyghur language service of Radio
Free Asia should be commended for their reporting on the human
rights and political situation in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
despite efforts by the Government of the People's Republic of China
to silence or intimidate their reporting through the detention of
family members and relatives in China;
(5) the United States should expand the availability of and
capacity for Uyghur language programming on Radio Free Asia in
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region;
(6) the Federal Bureau of Investigation and appropriate United
States law enforcement agencies should take steps to hold
accountable officials from the People's Republic of China or
individuals acting on their behalf who harass, threaten, or
intimidate persons within the United States; and
(7) United States companies and individuals selling goods or
services or otherwise operating in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region should take steps, including in any public or financial
filings, to ensure that--
(A) their commercial activities are not contributing to
human rights violations in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or
elsewhere in China; and
(B) their supply chains are not compromised by forced
labor.
SEC. 5. UPDATING STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
Section 901(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal
Years 1990 and 1991 (Public Law 101-246; 104 Stat. 84) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), and (9) as paragraphs
(8), (9), and (10), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
``(7) United States policy toward the People's Republic of
China should be explicitly linked to the situation in Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region, specifically as to whether--
``(A) the internment of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz,
and members of other Muslim minority groups in internment camps
has ended;
``(B) all political prisoners are released;
``(C) the use of mass surveillance and predictive policing
to discriminate against and violate the human rights of members
of specific ethnic groups has ceased and is not evident in
other parts of China; and
``(D) the Government of the People's Republic of China has
ended particularly severe restrictions of religious and
cultural practice in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region;''.
SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.
(a) Report Required.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than annually
thereafter, the President shall submit a report to the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs
of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Financial
Services of the House of Representatives that identifies each
foreign person, including any official of the Government of the
People's Republic of China, that the President determines is
responsible for any of the following with respect to Uyghurs,
ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, members of other Muslim minority groups, or
other persons in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region:
(A) Torture.
(B) Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
(C) Prolonged detention without charges and trial.
(D) Causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction
and clandestine detention of those persons.
(E) Other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or
the security of persons.
(2) Form.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.
(b) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose the
sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to each foreign
person identified in the report required under subsection (a)(1).
(c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this
subsection are the following:
(1) Asset blocking.--The President shall exercise all of the
powers granted to the President under the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent
necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in property and
interests in property of a foreign person identified in the report
required under subsection (a)(1) if such property and interests in
property--
(A) are in the United States;
(B) come within the United States; or
(C) come within the possession or control of a United
States person.
(2) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or parole.--
(A) Visas, admission, or parole.--An alien described in
subsection (a)(1) is--
(i) inadmissible to the United States;
(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other
documentation to enter the United States; and
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled
into the United States or to receive any other benefit
under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et
seq.).
(B) Current visas revoked.--
(i) In general.--An alien described in subsection
(a)(1) is subject to revocation of any visa or other entry
documentation regardless of when the visa or other entry
documentation is or was issued.
(ii) Immediate effect.--A revocation under clause (i)
shall--
(I) take effect immediately; and
(II) cancel any other valid visa or entry
documentation that is in the alien's possession.
(3) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections (b)
and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a foreign person that
violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a
violation of paragraph (1) to the same extent that such penalties
apply to a person that commits an unlawful act described in
subsection (a) of such section 206.
(d) Implementation.--The President may exercise all authorities
provided under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this
section.
(e) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions
under this section with respect to a person identified in the report
required under subsection (a)(1) if the President determines and
certifies to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the
Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives that
such a waiver is in the national interest of the United States.
(f) Exceptions.--
(1) Exception for intelligence activities.--Sanctions under
this section shall not apply to any activity subject to the
reporting requirements under title V of the National Security Act
of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intelligence
activities of the United States.
(2) Exception to comply with international obligations and for
law enforcement activities.--Sanctions under subsection (c)(2)
shall not apply with respect to an alien if admitting or paroling
the alien into the United States is necessary--
(A) to permit the United States to comply with the
Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations,
signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force
November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United
States, or other applicable international obligations; or
(B) to carry out or assist law enforcement activity in the
United States.
(3) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(A) In general.--The authorities and requirements to impose
sanctions authorized under this section shall not include the
authority or a requirement to impose sanctions on the
importation of goods.
(B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, the term ``good''
means any article, natural or manmade substance, material,
supply, or manufactured product, including inspection and test
equipment, and excluding technical data.
(g) Termination of Sanctions.--The President may terminate the
application of sanctions under this section with respect to a person if
the President determines and reports to the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives, and the Committee on Financial Services of the House
of Representatives not later than 15 days before the termination takes
effect that--
(1) information exists that the person did not engage in the
activity for which sanctions were imposed;
(2) the person has been prosecuted appropriately for the
activity for which sanctions were imposed;
(3) the person has credibly demonstrated a significant change
in behavior, has paid an appropriate consequence for the activity
for which sanctions were imposed, and has credibly committed to not
engage in an activity described in subsection (a)(1) in the future;
or
(4) the termination of the sanctions is in the national
security interests of the United States.
(h) Sunset.--This section, and any sanctions imposed under this
section, shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(i) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Admission; admitted; alien.--The terms ``admission'',
``admitted'', and ``alien'' have the meanings given those terms in
section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
(2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a person
that is not a United States person.
(3) United states person.--The term ``United States person''
means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence to the United States; or
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the United States
or any jurisdiction within the United States, including a
foreign branch of such an entity.
SEC. 7. REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS
REGION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the
heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies and civil
society organizations, shall--
(1) submit a report on human rights abuses in Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives; and
(2) make the report described in paragraph (1) available on the
website of the Department of State.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required under subsection
(a) shall include--
(1) an assessment of the number of individuals detained in
internment camps in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region;
(2) a description of the conditions in such camps for
detainees, including, to the extent practicable, an assessment of--
(A) methods of torture;
(B) efforts to force individuals to renounce their faith;
and
(C) other serious human rights abuses;
(3) to the extent practicable, an assessment of the number of
individuals in the region in forced labor camps;
(4) a description of the methods used by People's Republic of
China authorities to ``reeducate'' detainees in internment camps,
including a list of government agencies of the People's Republic of
China in charge of such reeducation;
(5) an assessment of the use and nature of forced labor in and
related to the detention of Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region, including a description of foreign companies and
industries directly benefitting from such labor;
(6) an assessment of the level of access to Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region granted by the Government of the People's
Republic of China to foreign diplomats and consular agents,
independent journalists, and representatives of nongovernmental
organizations;
(7) an assessment of the mass surveillance, predictive
policing, and other methods used by the Government of the People's
Republic of China to violate the human rights of persons in
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region;
(8) a description of the frequency with which foreign
governments are forcibly returning Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz,
and other refugees and asylum seekers to the People's Republic of
China;
(9) a description, as appropriate, of United States diplomatic
efforts with allies and other nations--
(A) to address the gross violations of human rights in
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; and
(B) to protect asylum seekers from the region; and
(10) the identification of the offices within the Department of
State that are responsible for leading and coordinating the
diplomatic efforts referred to in paragraph (9).
SEC. 8. REPORT ON PROTECTING CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED
STATES FROM INTIMIDATION AND COERCION.
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 submit a report to the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate, the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, and the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives that outlines all of the efforts to 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 or intimidation within the United
States by officials or agents of the Government of the People's
Republic of China.
SEC. 9. REPORT ON SECURITY AND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF REPRESSION IN
XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
(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 submit a report to the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Select Committee on
Intelligence of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the
House of Representatives, and the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence of the House of Representatives on the matters described
in subsection (b).
(b) Matters to Be Included.-- The report required under subsection
(a) shall include--
(1) an assessment of the national and regional security threats
posed to the United States by the policies of the Government of the
People's Republic of China in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region;
(2) a description of--
(A) the acquisition or development of technology by the
Government of the People's Republic of China to facilitate
internment and mass surveillance in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region, including technology related to predictive policing and
large-scale data collection and analysis; and
(B) the threats that the acquisition, development, and use
of such technologies pose to the United States;
(3) a list of Chinese companies that are involved in--
(A) constructing or operating the internment camps in
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; or
(B) providing or operating mass surveillance technology in
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; and
(4) a description of the role of the Xinjiang Production and
Construction Corps in internment and forced labor in Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region.
(c) Form of Report.--The report required under subsection (a) shall
be submitted in an unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex.
SEC. 10. CLASSIFIED REPORT.
The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with such
elements of the Intelligence Community as the Director deems
appropriate, shall submit a classified report to the Select Committee
on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence of the House of Representatives that assesses the ability
of the United States Government to collect and analyze intelligence
regarding--
(1) the scope and scale of the detention and forced labor of
Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim
minority groups in the People's Republic of China;
(2) the gross violations of human rights perpetrated inside the
internment camps in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; and
(3) other policies of the Government of the People's Republic
of China in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that constitute gross
violations of human rights.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.