Retired Uyghur doctor and human rights activist detained in China as part of the systematic repression of Uyghurs
Gulshan Abbas is a retired Uyghur doctor and human rights activist from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. Her case is closely linked to the activism of her sister, Rushan Abbas, a prominent Uyghur-American activist who has publicly criticized Chinese policies toward Uyghurs.
On September 10, 2018, Gulshan was arrested in Ürümqi without any official charges. Her detention was widely seen as retaliation for her sister’s activism and as a warning to the broader Uyghur community. In March 2019, in a secret trial, Gulshan Abbas was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of “participating in a terrorist organization” and “disturbing public order,” accusations considered politically motivated and baseless by international observers. Her family only learned of the sentence in December 2020.
Since then, no official information has been provided about her health or her place of detention. It is known that Gulshan suffers from several medical conditions, including hypertension, migraines, back pain, vision problems, and acid reflux. She has never had access to adequate legal defense, and Chinese authorities have not released details about her trial or detention conditions.
The international community has repeatedly called for her release, condemning her detention as a form of collective punishment against her family and as part of the broader repression of Uyghur human rights. Organizations such as Amnesty International, the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Commission, and the European Parliament have urged concrete measures to protect her.
Gulshan Abbas’s case has become a symbol of ongoing human rights violations in Xinjiang and a pressing call for justice and the protection of fundamental rights. Her story highlights not only the challenges faced by Uyghur journalists and activists but also the systematic repression of anyone who speaks out against human rights abuses in China.
In recent years, the human rights situation for Uyghurs in Xinjiang has been dire. Millions of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained in “re-education” camps, subjected to mass surveillance, digital monitoring, and forced cultural and religious assimilation. Numerous reports document torture, forced labor, restrictions on religious freedom, forced sterilizations, and enforced disappearances. The international community continues to denounce these abuses as part of a systematic campaign of ethnic and cultural repression.
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September 10, 2025, 10:45 AM EST
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Seven Years of Injustice: CFU Demands Freedom for Dr. Gulshan Abbas
Washington, D.C. – Today, September 10, 2025, Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) observes seven years since the enforced disappearance and unjust imprisonment of Dr. Gulshan Abbas, sister of CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas and Dr. Rishat Abbas, President of Uyghur Academy International. Her case stands as a stark reminder of the Chinese regime’s use of kin punishment and transnational repression amidst the ongoing Uyghur genocide.
Dr. Gulshan Abbas’s disappearance came just days after her sister, Rushan Abbas, spoke publicly at a Hudson Institute panel about the Chinese government’s persecution of Uyghurs in September 2018. Her family had no knowledge of her whereabouts until December 2020, when authorities admitted that Dr. Abbas had been secretly sentenced to 20 years in prison on baseless charges of “terrorism.” Now entering her seventh year of unjust imprisonment, concerns grow about her health conditions, as she suffers from serious medical conditions, including high blood pressure. Denied access to proper medical care and contact with her family, Gulshan’s imprisonment is both an act of retaliation against her siblings’ advocacy and a violation of international law.
To date, policymakers, faith leaders, students, and activists in more than 40 countries have demanded the release of Dr. Gulshan Abbas. In 2024, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor urged Beijing to provide information on Dr. Abbas’s status and pressed for transparency on the treatment of other imprisoned individuals. In the same year, the European Parliament passed a landmark resolution on the unjustly imprisoned Uyghurs, calling for their immediate release, specifically naming Dr. Gulshan Abbas.
“My sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, has now spent seven years in a Chinese prison for no reason other than being related to me and my advocacy for Uyghur rights,” said Rushan Abbas, Founder and Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs. “Gulshan is a retired doctor, a mother, and a gentle soul who dedicated her life to caring for others. Instead of living peacefully with her children and grandchildren, she has been unjustly imprisoned and denied medical care, in a blatant violation of international laws and humanitarian principles.
CFU calls on governments, human rights organizations, and the international community to demand the immediate release of Dr. Gulshan Abbas and every Uyghur unjustly imprisoned under Beijing’s repression. Her case embodies the cruelty of China’s collective punishment and the urgent need for accountability. We urge supporters to share her story, amplify the call for justice with #FreeGulshanAbbas, and stand united against the ongoing genocide of the Uyghur people.
