Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020
PL 116-145 (S.3744), enacted 06/17/2020

[116th Congress Public Law 145]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 647]]

                     UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY ACT
                                 OF 2020

[[Page 134 STAT. 648]]

Public Law 116-145
116th Congress

                                 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. <<NOTE: June 
                        17, 2020 -  [S. 3744]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Uyghur Human 
Rights Policy Act of 2020.>> 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) <<NOTE: 22 USC 6901 note.>>  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.

[[Page 134 STAT. 649]]

            (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.

[[Page 134 STAT. 650]]

            (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;

[[Page 134 STAT. 651]]

            (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. <<NOTE: President. 22 USC 6901 note.>>  IMPOSITION OF 
                    SANCTIONS.

    (a) Report Required.--

[[Page 134 STAT. 652]]

            (1) <<NOTE: Determination.>>  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--

[[Page 134 STAT. 653]]

                                    (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) <<NOTE: Determination. Certification.>>  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) <<NOTE: Determination. Reports.>>  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

[[Page 134 STAT. 654]]

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) <<NOTE: Consultation.>>  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) <<NOTE: Web posting.>>  make the report described in 
        paragraph (1) available on the website of the Department of 
        State.

    (b) <<NOTE: Assessments.>>  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;

[[Page 134 STAT. 655]]

            (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.

     <<NOTE: Consultation.>> 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) <<NOTE: Coordination.>>  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

[[Page 134 STAT. 656]]

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) <<NOTE: Assessment.>>  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) <<NOTE: List.>>  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.

     <<NOTE: Consultation. Assessments.>> 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

[[Page 134 STAT. 657]]

            (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.

    Approved June 17, 2020.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 3744:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 166 (2020):
            May 14, considered and passed Senate.
            May 27, considered and passed House.
DAILY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS (2020):
            June 17, Presidential statement.

                                  <all>