Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (S.3744)

(Passed by the Senate May 14, 2020, passed by the House on May 27, 2020, and signed by the President on June 17, 2020)

The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (S.3744) was introduced in the US Senate by Senator Marco Rubio (R) and Senator Robert Menendez (D) and 64 other original cosponsors to address gross human rights violations against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim Turkic peoples.

The legislation:

  • Updates U.S. policy towards China to address human rights in the Uyghur region;
  • Directs the President to impose visa bans and financial sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for atrocities against Uyghurs, under the provisions of the Global Magnitsky Act;
  • Requires the Secretary of State to prepare a comprehensive public report on human rights abuses in East Turkistan and U.S. diplomatic responses;
  • Requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to submit a report to the Congress on efforts to protect Uyghurs and Chinese nationals from Chinese government intimidation and harassment within the United States; and
  • Requires two reports from the Director of National Intelligence on:
    • (1) security and economic threats caused by the Chinese government’s crackdown and policies of repression against the Uyghur population, actions by other governments to forcibly return Turkic Muslim refugees and asylum seekers to China, and the development or transfer of technology that facilitates mass internment and surveillance, and
    • (2) the ability of the U.S. government to collect and analyze intelligence regarding the scope and scale of the detention and forced labor of Uyghurs.

***The legislation was amended to require Global Magnitsky sanctions for foreign persons responsible for forced labor, by the enactment of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (H.R.6256) on December 23, 2021