Torch of Justice: Congressman Jim McGovern for his leadership as the Co-Chair of  the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission,  and his work on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

First elected to Congress in 1996 to represent the Worcester area of Massachusetts, Congressman McGovern serves as the Chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and is the Democratic Co-Chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission – both of which monitor, investigate and advocate on behalf of international human rights, the rule of law, and good governance. The Congressman wrote, introduced, and saw signed into law the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which allows the President to punish foreign officials who the U.S. identifies as corrupt or human rights abusers. The law was so successful, Congress later applied it world-wide as the Global Magnitsky Act. He has championed resolutions to end violence against children globally; as well as to prohibit arms sales and security assistance to Saudi Arabia.

The Congressman has long been supportive of Rohingya rights and, making a connection to our Torch of Justice awardee last year, Justice Minister Tambadou of Gambia, Congressman McGovern has also applauded the International Court of Justice emergency measures to protect the Rohingya from genocide. Moreover, since the recent coup in Burma he has called for a top to bottom reassessment of US policy.  And to help the Uyghur, Congressman McGovern introduced the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, strong legislation to fight forced labor in East Turkestan (XInjiang), China, which passed in the House last year and has been reintroduced this year.

Rohingya Advocate of The Year Award: Ambassador Samuel Brownback for his consistent support of the Rohingya  and religious freedom

Sam Brownback was sworn in as Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom on February 1, 2018. He has had an extensive career in public service, serving as Governor of Kansas from 2011 to 2018. Previously he also served as a Congressman in the House of Representatives (1995-1996) from his Kansas district and then a U.S. Senator (1996-2011). While a member of the Senate, he worked actively on the issue of religious freedom in multiple countries and was a key sponsor of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. He also served as Kansas Secretary of Agriculture (1986-1993) and was a White House Fellow in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (1990-1991). Prior to his public service, Ambassador Brownback was a private attorney in Kansas and taught agricultural law at Kansas State University, co-authoring two books on the subject. He earned a B.S. from Kansas State University and a J.D. from the University of Kansas.

Founder, CEO, Justice For All, President, SoundVision

Save Uyghur Campaign 

Uyghur Advocate of The Year 2021

Mother of two girls and resident in Amaty, Kazakhstan, Gulbahar Jalilova used to travel to East Turkestan for business in the Capitol City Urumqi and in innerland cities as well. On May 21, 2017 she went to Urumqi for business but Chinese security agents arrested her, shackled her feet and hands and with a black sack over her head, took her to the national public security bureau. Even though she is a Kazakh citizen, she was held in Number Three Prison until September 2018. She was detained in prison camps for exactly 1 year 3 months and 10 days and for over a year her family and Khazak diplomats couldn’t even locate her. In detention her passport was confiscated, and she received a new Chinese ID and was forced to learn Chinese.

Gulbahar was finally released by family and diplomats and after traveling to Turkey she sought asylum in France in October 2020. She had witnessed torture and death, indoctrination and insufficient space to even sleep. Now she can’t sleep. Her former fellow prisoners asked her to be their voice. Bravely, she is now giving testimony of her ordeal and of the genocide affecting so many others.

Kashmir Advocate of The Year for her book Resisting Disappearances: Military Occupation and Women’s Activism in Kashmir (June 2019) 

Ather Zia, Ph.D., is a political anthropologist, poet, short fiction writer, and columnist. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Gender Studies program at the University of Northern Colorado Greeley. Ather is the author of Resisting Disappearances: Military Occupation and Women’s Activism in Kashmir (June 2019) which won the 2020 Gloria Anzaldua Honorable Mention award and the 2021 Public Anthropologist Award. 

Team Lead – Save India from Fascism

Team Lead – Save Uyghur Campaign

Team Lead – Kashmir Action

Director DC