Senate Unanimously Passes Senator Peters’ Bipartisan Legislation to Help Combat Human Rights Abuses
WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed U.S. Senator Gary Peters’ (MI) bipartisan legislation to help American businesses combat human rights abuses.
Senator Peters’ Combating Human Rights Abuses Act – which he reintroduced with U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) – would direct the U.S. Department of Commerce to help educate American exporters that are, or are considering, exporting goods in partnership with businesses in the People’s Republic of China where forced labor and significant human rights abuses have occurred. The bill would also direct the Commerce Department to offer guidance to exporters to help them avoid doing business with Chinese entities that may be implicated in forced labor or human rights violations.
“Human rights abuses like those committed in China must be condemned,” said Senator Peters. “I’m proud the Senate has unanimously passed this bipartisan legislation to provide American businesses with the information and transparency they need to avoid business dealings with entities in China that may be involved in forced labor or other atrocities.”
The legislation has earned the support of the Uyghur Human Rights Project and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
“There is no room for half-measures to stop corporate complicity in the atrocity crimes against Uyghurs,” said Omer Kanat, Executive Director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. “UHRP strongly endorses this Congressional action. It’s past time to end profits tied to entities that are using Uyghur forced labor, and tech companies that provide the 24-7 surveillance state enforcing the ongoing genocide of the Uyghur people.”
The government of the People’s Republic of China has perpetrated egregious human rights abuses—including in Tibet and in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region—against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups. The Chinese government’s actions have encompassed mass detention in internment camps, the use of forced labor, cultural cleansing, and other atrocities. This has led the U.S. State Department to determine that the People’s Republic of China, “under the direction and control” of the Chinese Communist Party, “has committed genocide against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang” as well as use “coercive policies” to seek to “eliminate Tibet’s distinct linguistic, cultural, and religious traditions among younger generations of Tibetans.”
The U.S. Department of Commerce provides valuable assistance to help U.S. businesses and exporters increase sales and tap into new markets, such as through export counseling provided by the U.S. Commercial Service. Peters’ bipartisan bill would build on existing human rights training for Commerce Department staff by ensuring its workforce is specifically informed about emerging trends and issues with respect to human rights abuses in China such as in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
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