Who Are We?
ABOUT US
We are a UK-based grassroots campaign, led by Uyghur human rights activist Rahima Mahmut. We seek to bring together individuals and organisations to campaign for the human rights of Uyghurs.
We aim to build awareness in the UK of the crimes being committed against Uyghurs and other Turkic groups by the Chinese Regime. We would like to see UK society – from NGOs to faith groups to student societies – doing all it can to speak out against the infringement of Uyghur people’s human rights, and to challenge complicity. We work with communities, congregations and consumers to help people to come together to take action to protect Uyghurs and prevent genocide.
OUR TEAM
Rahima Mahmut, Executive Director
Rahima is an Uyghur human rights activist, interpreter and translator, and singer. She became Executive Director of Stop Uyghur Genocide in 2020, after spending years building a cross-community coalition pushing for greater action on the on-going genocide of her people. Rahima has extensive experience of advocating for her community; as a translator, she has worked closely with survivors to bring breaking news reports, and interpreted witness’ testimonies during the Uyghur Tribunal. She has played a key role in galvanising UK civil society against the atrocities the Chinese regime is perpetrating against her people. Rahima is also currently UK Director of the World Uyghur Congress, and Advisor to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).
Valeria Topalo, Policy & Advocacy Officer
Valeria, an LLB Law graduate from UCL, joined Stop Uyghur Genocide in 2023 after working as a litigation paralegal at a Mayfair law firm and interning at various organisations and companies, including REDRESS and Google LLC. Valeria is responsible for researching policy and legal developments impacting Uyghur human rights, crafting and presenting advocacy materials to parliamentarians, and implementing strategies to influence legislative changes in support of SUG’s thematic areas. Concurrently, she is also studying the Bar Course at The Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA) and assisting barrister Michael Polak with legal research at Lawyers for Uyghur Rights.
To get in touch with Valeria, email her at: valeria@stopuyghurgenocide.co.uk
Stop Uyghur Genocide’s board of trustees
Dr David Mathieson, former lawyer and adviser to Robin Cook.
Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director of Rene Cassin, the Jewish Voice of Human Rights. Chair of the Board
Kishan Manocha, Senior Adviser on Freedom of Religion or Belief at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Shukhrat Issabayev, Vice President of FP&A, B2B SaaS. Treasurer of the Board
Jessica Templeman, Freelance Consultant and former chief operating officer for Arise
Dr Raghib Ali OBE, CMO, Our Future Health and NHS Consultant Acute Medicine
Stop Uyghur Genocide is the campaign name for UYGHUR CAMPAIGN LTD which is registered as a company limited by guarantee in the UK SC673649
We can only operate with the generous support of our sponsors and supporters. In particular, we thank the Pears Foundation, whose support helped set up Stop Uyghur Genocide. Additionally, our thanks go to all whose donations allow us to campaign for the human rights of Uyghurs.
