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A “Cotton Contract” is shown from the 2011 harvest. The “contract” obligates the signer to participate in the harvest, with punishment for “not fulfilling the commands,” including meeting a daily quota.
Uzbek authorities have increased the use of forced labor by adults and older children in the cotton sector in recent year in an effort to shift the burden away from younger children in response to public scrutiny and international pressure. Human Rights Watch found that for the 2012 harvest, the Uzbek government forced over 1 million of its own citizens — children and adults, including its teachers, doctors, and nurses – to harvest cotton in abusive conditions on threat of punishment.
By RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service
October 18, 2013
TASHKENT — A father of four has committed suicide after being forced to pick cotton then humiliated publicly for underperforming in the western region of Karakalpakistan.
Safarboy Karimov was found hanging from a tree early on October 18, just days after government officials berated him at a public meeting for not meeting a cotton-picking quota.
RELATED: Uzbekistan Signs Contracts At Cotton Fair Worth $1 Billion
A witness at the meeting told RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service that at least one official told Karimov he would be better off hanging himself than coming to another mandatory nightly meeting without meeting the quota.
Uzbeks who are forced to pick cotton have described to RFE/RL the intense official pressure that drives them to work past midnight to meet daily quotas and then rise at 5:00 a.m. to return to the fields.
Three other Uzbeks from the same region who were being forced to pick cotton fled Uzbekistan this week.
Uzbekistan is one of the world’s biggest exporters of cotton, but child and other forced labor practices in its state-dominated cotton industry have prompted calls for global boycotts.
Uzbek authorities reported signing contracts worth $1 billion to sell cotton from its 2013 harvest at an annual cotton fair held in Tashkent on October 16-17.
China is its biggest cotton buyer.
http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbekistan-cotton-labor-death/25141126.html
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