Unbroken: One Uyghur's Fight for Freedom

by Rushan Abbas, Adrian Zenz (Foreword by)

Overview

“Rushan’s powerful memoir takes an unwavering stand against the CCP's brutality, not only exposing systematic oppression but empowering countless others to speak truth to power. Unbroken is an urgent call to action for policymakers, advocates, and all those committed to defending human dignity.” – Rep. John Moolenaar, Chairman of the House Select Committee on China

"Rushan has tirelessly raised awareness of the atrocities taking place in Xinjiang at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. Her book is a must read."– Marco Ruibio, US Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor

What happens when a mother, a freedom fighter, and a former U.S. Department of Defence contractor dares to speak out against one of the world’s most powerful regimes? In Unbroken, Rushan Abbas—an Uyghur-American activist and a leader of Campaign for Uyghurs, an organization twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2022-2025).—delivers a gripping memoir of personal loss, global advocacy, and moral defiance.

When her sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, was abducted by the Chinese regime in retaliation for Rushan’s human rights work, it set off an international campaign to expose China’s genocide against the Uyghur people. Abbas understood the cost of silence from her early work inside Guantánamo Bay as a translator to briefing U.S. military and intelligence officials.

She leveraged her voice when speaking to Congress, the European Parliament, and at the United Nations, where her advocacy helped shape global policy and compel nations to recognize the CCP’s atrocities. Her fight led to the groundbreaking UN Human Rights Office report delivered by Michelle Bachelet in 2022, which formally declared China’s treatment of Uyghurs may constitute crimes against humanity. Blending firsthand testimony with investigative insight, Unbroken exposes a state campaign of mass surveillance, forced sterilization, family separation, and cultural erasure.

But it also celebrates the resilience of women, diaspora communities, and grassroots movements across continents. Unbroken is a powerful blueprint for resistance—a deeply human story of how one woman challenged a superpower and built a global coalition for justice.

For readers of I Am Malala, Know My Name, and The Sun Does Shine, this memoir affirms that the fight for Uyghur freedom is not only a national cause—it is a defining struggle for the soul of humanity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780888903594
Publisher:	Optimum Publishing International
Publication date:	07/08/2025
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Rushan Abbas is a Uyghur-American human rights activist, founder and Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs, and a two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee. A former translator at Guantánamo Bay and a longtime advocate for democracy and civil liberties, she has testified before the U.S. Congress, United Nations, and European Parliament, exposing China’s ongoing genocide against the Uyghur people. Abbas’s global advocacy began after the disappearance of her sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, in retaliation for her public activism. She is widely recognised as one of the most powerful voices for Uyghur rights on the international stage.

Adrian Zenz is Senior Fellow and Director of China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Washington, D.C. (non-resident). His research focus is on China’s ethnic policy, public recruitment in Tibet and Xinjiang, Beijing’s internment campaign in Xinjiang, forced labor and coercive poverty alleviation, and China’s domestic security budgets. Dr. Zenz is the author of Tibetanness under Threat and co-editor of Mapping Amdo: Dynamics of Change. He has played a leading role in the analysis of leaked Chinese government documents, to include the “China Cables,” the “Karakax List,” the "Xinjiang Papers" and the "Xinjiang Police Files." Dr. Zenz is an advisor to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, and a frequent contributor to the international media.

Read an Excerpt

Unbroken: One Uyghur’s Fight for Freedom is the inspiring story of an incredible woman, Rushan Abbas, and her determination to defend her people against the most brutal human rights violation of our time: China’s genocide in the Uyghur province of Xinjiang.

Rushan is the youngest child of a noted scientific researcher and a prominent physician from Xinjiang. Having seen the devastation caused by Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, they raised Rushan and her siblings with a profound dedication to preserving Uyghur tradition and language in the face of growing suppression from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

As Rushan grew older, the party’s crackdown became more severe. Clashes broke out when hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese were relocated to Xinjiang to dilute the local Muslim culture. CCP agents shot thousands of Uyghurs amid the chaos. Xi Jinping’s terror escalated to include DNA tests, state surveillance, and, eventually, the internment of two million Uyghurs in concentration camps.

After immigrating to America, Rushan gave up a successful career in international program management because her passion was defending her people. For this, she has sacrificed immensely, working long hours and giving up time with her own children. But she never expected that standing up to Xi’s brutality would cost two of her closest relatives their freedom.

I met Rushan at a September 2018 Hudson Institute seminar titled “China’s ‘War on Terrorism’ and the Xinjiang Emergency,” which featured policy experts and academics. She addressed the plight of numerous missing family members who were taken to concentration camps—which the Chinese government refers to as “vocational education centers.”

In retribution for Rushan’s remarks at Hudson, the CCP detained her sister and aunt, both non-political, non-religious, and retired. While Rushan’s aunt was released after a few months, her sister, Gulshan, remains detained after nearly seven years.

As this book details, Rushan’s struggle for human rights is deeply personal, as is her pain over her sister’s plight. Her name, Rushan, given in the dark days of the Cultural Revolution, means “brightness.” Though her parents could not have known this at her birth, her life’s mission has been to shed light on the CCP’s barbaric—yet far too hidden—practices and the immeasurable suffering of those like her sister rounded up for no other reason than their ethnicity.

Editorial Reviews

Rushan Abbas is an incredibly strong person, refusing to be silent amid tragedy and transnational repression. America must confront authoritarianism with the moral leadership and courage this moment demands.”

U.S. Congressman Thomas R. Suozzi

1.      “Rushan’s powerful memoir takes an unwavering stand against the CCP's brutality, not only exposing systematic oppression but empowering countless others to speak truth to power. Unbroken is an urgent call to action for policymakers, advocates, and all those committed to defending human dignity.”– Rep. John Moolenaar, Chairman of the House Select Committee on China

 

Chariman of the House Select Committee on China - John Moolenaar Representative