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Gulshan Abbas (古丽仙·阿巴斯) — Retired Uyghur physician imprisoned after her sister spoke out in Washington

Gulshan Abbas (古丽仙·阿巴斯) — Retired Uyghur physician imprisoned after her sister spoke out in Washington

Status: In custody. Serving a 20-year sentence reported by PRC (Mainland) authorities to run until 10 September 2038. As of 17 October 2026, no release has been reported. (Sources: PRC government reply to UN experts, 2024; US House Resolution 1570, 21 September 2026; family interview with CIVICUS, 5 October 2026.)

Summary

Dr. Gulshan Abbas is a retired Uyghur physician from Ürümqi in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the PRC (Mainland). She disappeared on or about 10–11 September 2018, days after her sister, the US-based Uyghur advocate Rushan Abbas of Campaign for Uyghurs, spoke at a public event at the Hudson Institute in Washington. In December 2020 her family said it had learned that she had been sentenced in a secret trial to 20 years in prison. The PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs then confirmed that she had been sentenced for “participating in a terrorist organization, aiding terrorist activities and assembling crowds to disrupt social order.” Her family and independent observers say she had no involvement in politics or activism. In 2022 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found her detention arbitrary and called for her immediate release.

Background

Gulshan Abbas was born in 1962 and worked as a doctor at a petroleum-sector hospital in Ürümqi before retiring early for health reasons. Her sister Rushan Abbas and brother Dr. Rishat Abbas live in the United States, as does her daughter Ziba Murat. Her family says more than 20 of her relatives are US citizens or residents. Relatives and UN experts report that she has chronic conditions, including high blood pressure, osteoporosis, back problems, migraines and eye problems requiring monitoring.

Case timeline

  • 5 September 2018: Rushan Abbas speaks about mass detentions of Uyghurs at a Hudson Institute panel in Washington.
  • 10–11 September 2018: Gulshan Abbas disappears in Ürümqi. UN experts say she is believed to have been taken by Public Security Bureau officers on 10 September; the family lost contact on 11 September.
  • March 2019: According to the PRC government, the Artush Municipal People’s Court sentences her to 20 years. Her family was not notified at the time.
  • 30 December 2020: At a Congressional-Executive Commission on China press conference, her daughter Ziba Murat says the family has learned of the 20-year sentence on terrorism-related charges.
  • 31 December 2020: PRC MFA spokesperson Wang Wenbin confirms the sentence and lists the three charges. The US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor calls for her release.
  • January 2021: Amnesty International issues an Urgent Action calling for her release and medical care.
  • 7 May 2021: Date from which, according to the PRC government, she has been held at Kashgar Women’s Prison.
  • 18 November 2022 (published March 2023): The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (Opinion No. 88/2022) finds her detention arbitrary, describes it as an enforced disappearance, and calls for her immediate release. The PRC did not reply to the Working Group.
  • May–October 2023: The US State Department features her in its #WithoutJustCause political-prisoner campaign. The Chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance calls for her release.
  • June 2024: Four UN Special Rapporteurs write to the PRC government. Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor publicly says the family still lacks information on her whereabouts, the evidence and her health.
  • 2024: In a written reply to UN experts, the PRC government discloses the court, the prison and the sentence end date (10 September 2038). It also states that three 15-minute family phone calls were arranged in 2023–2024.
  • 10 September 2024: A bipartisan group of US senators and representatives calls for her immediate release on the sixth anniversary of her detention.
  • 10 October 2024: The European Parliament adopts an urgency resolution calling for her immediate and unconditional release.
  • 18 March 2025: The State Department’s DRL bureau says she “remains detained today.”
  • 4 November 2025: The PRC Embassy in Costa Rica publicly calls her a “terrorist” and rejects the claims that she disappeared.
  • 13 May 2026: The US Senate (S.Res.728) and the House (H.Res.1259) pass resolutions urging the President to prioritize her release in talks with Xi Jinping.
  • 21–22 September 2026: Representatives Moolenaar and Suozzi introduce H.Res.1570 marking eight years of her imprisonment. Senator Durbin calls for her release on the Senate floor before the Trump–Xi summit in Washington.
  • 5 October 2026: Rushan Abbas says her sister remains in prison, that no one has been able to visit her, and that the family has received no independent report on her health.

Current status (as of 17 October 2026)

In custody. According to the PRC government, Gulshan Abbas is serving a 20-year sentence at Kashgar Women’s Prison, with a stated end date of 10 September 2038. No release was announced during or after the September 2026 Trump–Xi summit. Her family reports no visits and no independent information about her health. The PRC authorities have published no verdict and no evidence.

Media profile: See her media profile and archive: Gulshan Abbas — Media Profile & Archive.

Sources

  1. PRC Government reply to UN Special Procedures (AL CHN 9/2024), 2024. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=38568
  2. UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 88/2022. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4021344/files/A_HRC_WGAD_2022_88-EN.pdf
  3. PRC MFA, regular press conference, 31 December 2020. http://english.scio.gov.cn/m/pressroom/2021-01/01/content_77081964.htm
  4. Radio Free Asia, 30 December 2020. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/jailed-12302020182351.html
  5. UN Special Rapporteurs, AL CHN 9/2024, 7 June 2024. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=29123
  6. OHCHR press release, 19 June 2024. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/06/china-authorities-must-provide-information-imprisoned-uyghur-doctor
  7. Amnesty International, ASA 17/3508/2021, 12 January 2021. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/3508/2021/en/
  8. Al Jazeera (Reuters), 31 December 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/31/us-demands-release-of-uighur-doctor-sentenced-to-20-years-in-jail
  9. US Department of State, DRL, 18 March 2025. https://x.com/StateDRL/status/1902012179827626155
  10. US Senate, S.Res.728, 13 May 2026. https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/sres728/BILLS-119sres728ats.htm
  11. US House, H.Res.1570, 21 September 2026. https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hres1570/BILLS-119hres1570ih.pdf
  12. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 10 September 2024. https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/rep/release/risch-joins-rubio-durbin-colleagues-in-reaffirming-call-for-the-immediate-release-of-dr-gulshan-abbas
  13. ISHR on the European Parliament resolution, 10 October 2024. https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/eu-parliament-urges-china-to-release-uyghur-doctor-gulshan-abbas-economist-ilham-tohti
  14. PRC Embassy in Costa Rica, 4 November 2025. https://cr.china-embassy.gov.cn/sgxw/202511/t20251104_11746513.htm
  15. CIVICUS Lens interview with Rushan Abbas, 5 October 2026. https://lens.civicus.org/interview/china-my-sister-has-been-in-a-chinese-prison-for-eight-years-because-i-exercised-my-freedom-of-speech/
  16. USCIRF FoRB Victims List. https://www.uscirf.gov/religious-prisoners-conscience/forb-victims-database/gulshan-abbas
  17. US House Clerk, Roll Call 167, 13 May 2026 — H.Res.1259 passed 414–0 (16 not voting). https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026167?Page=1