A CHRONICLE OF FORCED LABOUR OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS. HARVEST UPDATES FROM UZBEKISTAN.

Child labour, Corruption, Forced labour, Human Rights

Oct 132012

Issue4, October 1, 2012

This chronicle aims to provide fresh evidence of the on-going practice of forced labour of adults, youth, andchildren in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry. Uzbekistan is one of the largest cotton producers and exporters in the world.

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On photo: Small village Surhandarya region “Everyone is in the cotton”

Harvest updates – UGF localmonitors report:

(20.09.2012-1.10.2012)

· Schools of several districts inTashkent and Kashkadarya regions began to send older pupils (grades 7-9) topick cotton; in Kahskadarya region, children work after school hours.

· On the September 29th, 200 8th and 9thgrade pupils from School No 1 in the Zarbdar district of Jizzak region went to harvest cotton. They were led by the school’s director, Bakhtiar Elmuradovym.The pupils were told they would be recruited for three days only, from Saturday till Monday.

· For the first time in many years,people forced to pick cotton are not receiving any payment for their work. In addition, they have to fulfill an assigned daily target, usually of 60-70 kg ofcotton per day, and are told that if they fail to meet the target they have to buy cotton from the local village population or hire someone to meet the targets in their place.

· Andijan. For the first time in the history of Uzbekistan, students of academic lyceums, where the more talented youth go to receive an education, were sent to pick cotton.

· Teachers from Tashkent schools are still being sent to the fields. Every school has to send between 15- 20 percent of their personnel. As a result, due to the lack of teachers, the number of classes are reduced and the remaining teachers have to combine groups and teach them together.

· Doctors and nurses in Tashkent are also sent to pick cotton. City hospitals and clinics are required to send approximately 15-16 per cent of their personnel to the harvest. If anyone refuses, he or she has to pay $150 to the administration, which would hire acasual worker to take the place of the employee in the field. But no one knows how this money is used in reality, it is not accounted for or subject to audit.

· Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan (aGovernment-organized NGO), published an appeal on its website, calling forwomen in the country to take the initiative and go to attend the hashar(collective voluntary involvement in public work, in reality the form of forced labour) of the cotton harvest. “… Cotton does not belong to one person or an organisation, it is all of ours, it is our nation’s wealth! It is a duty forevery citizen to take part in the cotton harvest!”,- says the appeal.

· These calls for mobilizations to pickcotton were also published by The Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Uzbekistan – to the believers, and by the “Makhalla”Foundation – to the residents of neighbourhoods.

· From interviews conducted with teachers of colleges and lyceums, we learned that they were sent to far and secluded (40-50km away) fields away from the central roads. Young people,between ages 16-18, are working in the fields 40-50 km from the major towns, so that foreign correspondents cannot reach them. They are housed in school sportshalls, village cinemas, and meeting halls.

· On August 26th, in Angren (100km awayfrom Tashkent), the Automotive College had a parents’ meeting, where they talked about obligatory participation in the cotton harvest. According to the parents, the participation of teenagers between 15-17 years old was presented by the administration of the college as an “act of patriotism and love for themotherland.” The cotton campaign in its current form has brought corruption toits highest levels. Cotton harvest related extortions and bribery are widespread throughout the country. Parents of students were told that, “in case a student doesn’t go to pick cotton, they would have to pay in average $150 US dollars in addition to paying for transport and food of another worker.”

Deputy Rector of TermezUniversity beats students

17.09.2012

Astudent of Termiz State University who introduced himself as Farkhod complained that Shukur Khurramov, the deputy rector of the university, is beating and humiliating those students who fail to fill the daily quota of cotton.Professor Khurramov admitted to Radio Ozodlik that he slapped students fromtime to time. “Should we let them loose instead of being strict with them? –said Prof. Khurramov said to the Ozodlik correspondent, – We only have one demand, to pickcotton and fulfill the targets assigned by the mayor of the region, which is 60kilo per day. We don’t ask for anything else. We might have slapped one or two times when they misbehaved. 60 kilo targets were assigned across the country for everyone and we arealso trying to accomplish the assignment of higher authorities.”

Accordingto the student, the professor said: “You are not human, dirty dog, you didn’t come from humans, and you are a dog child.” The health conditions of the students are not taken into account at all. Some of them might be ill, but they never receive care, – says Farkhod.

661 students of Termiz State University have been picking cotton since 5 September 2012 in Pari village of Muzrobod district in Surkhandarya. According to university authorities, the daily target per student was assigned at 60 kilos,in total the students have to pick 39 tons and 660 kilos of cotton per day.

Source:http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/24710620.html

Schoolchildren alreadyin the fields

29.09.2012

It’sbeen four days since lessons have stopped for upper-class pupils of Ishtihon district schools, Samarkand region. Starting September 28, even the 5th grade pupils were taken to pick cotton. “Schoolchildren are sent to pick cotton. In the school where I work there weren’t any classes yesterday for 5th graders. They were also sent topick cotton. Schoolchildren from schools # 8, #17 and #33 all were let out ofclass and sent to pick cotton. 7th, 8th and 9th graders were also sent to pick cotton four days ago. Before them, all the teachers went to the fields to pick cotton, now they are sending children, – said the teacher from one of the schoolsin Ishtihon district to Radio Ozodlik.

Radio Ozodlik spoke with one of the 5th grade children of school # 8:

Radio Ozodlik:Did you go to pick cotton?

Pupil: Yes,they let us out of school for cotton.

Radio Ozodlik:How long have you been picking cotton for?

Pupil: About three days now

Radio Ozodlik:How much cotton you are picking per day:

Pupil: We are picking ten kilos a day

Source:http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/24723781.html

Students escaping fromcotton crushed by the train

25.09.2012

Onthe September 16th, in Turtkuldistrict village, Republic of Karakalpakstan, 17year old Masharip Siddikov and Doston Amitov, were run over by a train.

Theinvestigation results found that the two were fleeing the cotton field theywere working in and died while trying to run away back home.

Accordingto a report by an anonymous source from Turtkul district, the students fellunder the train while trying to jump off it. The reason they ran away wasbecause they weren’t given any food and were starving while working in thefields. Both had been picking cotton in Miskin village since the beginning of September.The incident was confirmed by the the Turtkul police.

Source:http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/24719640.html

Mothers of smallchildren punished for refusing to pick cotton

24.09.2012

Forthe past week, the electricity has been cut off in the houses of women withsmall children who did not attend the cotton harvest. These cases took place inSamarkand village of Pakhtakor district, Jizzakh region.

Jasurbek,a villager, told Radio Ozodlik, that this punishment was being enforced by localauthorities and police officers.

“Themahalla committee, the local police, the representatives from the Women’committee and an electrician all came to cut off the power. They did it inretaliation for the women’s refusal to go to the cotton fields. They send everyonereceving welfare benefits to pick cotton. When they refuse to go, they all comeand cut off the power. These committee people and the police never leave themalone, coming to their homes daily,- says Jasurbek.

Accordingto human rights activist Uktam Pardaev, in some areas women who are notattending the harvest but still receiving benefits for their children, arepunished even more severely having their benefits cut off. A staff member ofthe Jizzakh regional office of Labour and Social Protection did not deny thatwomen with small children were forced to go to pick cotton.

Source:http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/24718319.html

Fifteen year oldstudents sent to pick cotton

20.09.2012

Accordingto reports by a Fergananews.com reader on September 15, 15- year old studentsfrom a college in Samarkand city were taken to pick cotton in the fields.

“Theywere told to take enough food for three days. I don’t know which village theywere sent to in Pastdargom, said the reader, – It is also unknown when they will be back.Perhaps when theplan has been fulfilled.

Source:http://www.fergananews.com/news.php?id=19479&mode=snews

Uzbeks are pickingcotton in Kazakhstan

20.09.2012

Thousandsof Uzbeks are picking cotton in southern areas of Kazakhstan. The payment inKazakhstan is as twice of what is being paid in Uzbekistan.

RadioOzodlik spoke about this with Khasanboy from Jizzakh who visited his relativesin Kazakhstan:

“Iasked them why they don’t pick cotton in Uzbekistan since we have so much of it?They said that there is not enough land and they pay very little for theharvest, and even that payment you can’t get fully on time,” – said Khasanboy.According to his estimates, there are over 300 Uzbek cotton pickers in thevillage in Kazakhstan he visited.

Abdurakhmon,one of the private land owners in Maktaorol district of Kazakhstan, who has 10hectares of cotton fields, says that he pays 10 cents (US) per kilo for pickingcotton. According to him, he also provides the labourers from Uzbekistan withaccommodation, food and other expenses. In a conversation with him, Radio Ozodlikasked him why the pay for cotton pickers is twice more than it is in Uzbekistanand if the profit from cotton justifies the expenses.

“Weget a good profit that is why we are building houses and buying cars. We cangrow anything we want on our lands, but we choose to grow cotton, because it ismore profitable. The government provides us with cheap fuel, energy, andmineral fertilizers. Every year the government gives us subsidies. For example,this year we received 12 thousand tenge ($80US dollars) per hectare. And wesell the cotton directly to firms through auctions. We are neighbours withJizzakh region, I am in touch with farmers in Uzbekistan. They say that evenwhen they fulfill the government quota, they are still in debt to thegovernment. That really surprises me,- says Abdurakhmon the land owner inKazakhstan.

Source:http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/24714500.html

“The government onlymade half a step”

22.09.2012

InBukhara oblast, schoolchildren have not been seen in the cotton fields. Theyremain at school while 15-17-year-old teenagers from colleges are sent to pickcotton.

Theleader of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan (HRAU), Elena Urlayeva, spentthe whole day on September 18 in remote areas of Bukhara Region, but could notfind schoolchildren in cotton fields.

“Teacherspick cotton only on Sundays,” she said. “I specially chose Jondor Districtwhere I was last year.” The human rights defender said last year fields werecrowded with children, including first-grade pupils that “could not even reachthe top of the cotton shrubs.”.

“Everyschool was assigned to a cotton field, but this time I only saw adult cottonpickers in those fields,” Urlayeva said. Locals told Urlayeva that they hadbeen surprised by the authorities’ move to ban the use of schoolchildren topick cotton.

Butunlike Tashkent oblast where the majority of teachers were sent for cottonharvesting and children are virtually not studying, classes are held in full inschools in Bukhara. If the parents of schoolchildren in Jondor District arelucky, one cannot say the same about the parents of 15-17-year-old college studentswho are being mercilessly exploited this year,

justas previously, in cotton fields.

“Idid not like conditions in which students of Bukhara’s law college are kept, itseemed to me that their barracks are not only terribly miserable but also damp,”Urlayeva said.

Futurelawyers walk to cotton fields at 6:30 in the morning and finish work at 6:30 inthe evening. It takes them over an hour to walk to “their” fields and the sameamount of time to get back to the barracks. A similarsituation is in the neighbouring Romitan District visited by Urlayeva.Schoolchildren are in school this season while college students are exploitedto the full.

“Duringthe monitoring visit I asked people who were travelling from Bukhara to Karakalpakstanor vice versa. All of them said the situation with the use of child labour wassimilar there (in Karakalpakstan),” Urlayeva said.

Humanrights activists are happy by the fact that, against all expectations, thereare no schoolchildren in the cotton fields in Bukhara oblast and Karakalpakstan,even in the most remote areas. “But the government has only made a half-step byreleasing schoolchildren from cotton conscription. They should make a full stepso that all children are released,” Urlayeva said. She referred to theConstitution of Uzbekistan, which states that “children” covers all personsunder 18 years of age.

Source:http://www.uznews.net/news_single.php?lng=en&sub=top&cid=2&nid=20890

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