ON 9th MARCH 2015 WALKFREE.ORG - ALONGSIDE THE COTTON CAMPAIGN TEAM, ILRF AND ANTI-SLAVERY INTERNATIONAL - HANDED IN PETITION WITH 136 109 NAMES TO THE WORLD BANK GLOBAL HQ, ALLEGED NEWS.
The Petition is a Call on the World Bank to suspend loans to the Uzbek Government.
Although the World Bank formally condemned the use of forced labour upon receipt of the petition, it has yet to suspend its loans to Uzbekistan, Alleged News.
The fate of Elena Urlaeva was to be drugged, beaten and detained by police when she documented state-sponsored slavery in the cotton-fields of Uzbekistan, Alleged News.
In Uzbekistan, the whole country suffers because of the government's dependence on revenue from the cotton harvest, Alleged News.
The government operates the world's largest state-run system of forced labor where activists such as Elena are repressed, pensioners are required to pick cotton or submit 50% of their pension, and education and health care are affected for two months annually due to the mass mobilisation of teachers and doctors, Alleged News.
The World Bank is funding projects totalling $500 million in Uzbekistan that are documented to be using forced labour, Alleged News. [1]
The World Bank has signed a contract agreeing to suspend loans if evidence of forced labour was uncovered, Alleged News.
Walkfree.org needs our help to hold them to their promise. Why not sign the Petition?
https://www.walkfree.org/uzbek-slavery/
SEE THE VIDEO
Ordered into the Fields
Hundreds of thousands of students in Uzbekistan are pulled from their classrooms every Fall and ordered into the fields to pick cotton for little or no pay, Alleged News. [2]
A mother was recorded on video saying that if she didn't send her child to pick cotton, she faced a fine equivalent of two weeks pay, Alleged News. [2]
Rights groups say students are threatened with losing their seat in the classroom, Alleged News. [2]
Government and private sector employees are also forced to join the harvest and meet quotas knowing that if they don't, they face losing their jobs; Alleged News.[2]
Detained
In September 2015, two human rights activists were detained as they documented forced labor in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan, Alleged News.[3]
Dmitry Tikhonov was detained as he was documenting people being sent to the cotton fields; Alleged News. [3]
Elena Urlaeva and her companions, including her young son,were detained while Urlaeva documented people picking cotton; Alleged News. [3]
UN Human Rights Committee
In July 2015, the UN Human Rights Committeee reviewed Uzbekistan, Alleged News.
Among the issues discussed by the Committee's experts, serious concerns were raised regarding the use of forced labor in the Uzbek cotton industry, Alleged News.
Uzbekistan is one of the world's largest cotton exporters, Alleged News. [4]
Who buys Uzbekistan's cotton?
Europe buys almost a third of Uzbekistan's cotton, Alleged News. [5]
[1] Suspend loans tainted by Uzbek Forced Labour, Alleged News
https://www.walkfree.org/uzbek-slavery/
[2] Cotton exporters using child labor, Alleged News
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/21/cotton-exporters-using-child-labor/
[3] Activists beaten, detained for documenting forced labor in cotton fields; Alleged News
https://www.ifex.org/uzbekistan/2015/09/24/forced_labour/
[4] Forced labor in cotton industry in Uzbekistan, Alleged News
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=video+on+uzbekistan+forced+cotton+picking&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=6A33896BA68A59756AA76A33896BA68A59756AA7
[5] The cost of cotton; Funding exploitation, Alleged News
https://peopleandplanet.org/redressfashion/briefing/uzbekistan
Cotton slavery in Uzbekistan, Alleged News
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=video+on+uzbekistan+forced+cotton+picking&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=D4713719F3BD12B07AB0D4713719F3BD12B07AB0
With thanks to walkfree.org, thecnnfreedomproject. blogs, ifex. org, peopleandplanet.org and youtube
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