Karimov regime to stop forced child labor in this country!

Only a boycott of Uzbek cotton can convince the
Karimov regime to stop forced child labor in this country!
An open letter from Uzbek civic activists to:
· The European Union
· The United States Administration
· Companies importing cotton, textiles,
and cotton products
· International Executive Committee of
Cotton, Textiles, and Cotton Products;
Bremen Cotton Exchange; Gdynia
Cotton Association
· World Bank
· Asian Development Bank
cc:
· United Nations Human Rights Council
· International Labor Organization
· UNICEF
· European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development
· The Government and Citizens of
Uzbekistan
· Those concerned about human rights
in Uzbekistan
June 3, 2009
Summary:
· Despite ratifying International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions, Uzbekistan
continues to use forced child labor.
· Uzbekistan does not reinvest the proceeds from its cotton exports into cotton
producers and the rural areas where it is grown, but siphons it into the hands of a
small group of the country’s ruling elites.
· World Bank and Asian Development Bank loans to Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector
have not led to genuine reform. Uzbekistan’s continued reliance upon a command
economy paves the way for loans to go into the hands of the ruling elite. Activists are
calling for international financial instruments to lend to the Uzbek agro-sector only
on a conditional basis, to encourage the reforms that would free Uzbek farmers
from the tyranny of a corrupt regime.
· Activists are calling for a boycott of Uzbek cotton. They call upon companies
importing cotton, in particular the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre , as well as
retailers, to adhere to the principles of corporate social responsibility
· The international community should not take at face value mere spoken or written
commitments made by Uzbekistan, but should demand actions demonstrating a
complete end to the practice of forced child labor that can be verified via an
independent monitoring during the cotton season.
· Activists call on the U.S. government and the EU to take steps to prevent their
markets from being penetrated by products bearing traces of forced child labor.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This appeal is released to coincide with the World Day Against Child Labor, June 12,
2009. This day is particularly important for Uzbekistan as the use of forced child labor is one
of the most acute issues of human rights in Uzbekistan.
According to various independent assessments, between 1.6 to 2.4 million children from the
ages of 10 to 15, as well as tens of thousands of students and civil servants on the direct order
of local authorities spend two months every autumn in the cotton fields, virtually turning the
entire country into a giant labor camp.
During the harvest period, the state closes schools and children, under the supervision of their
teachers, pick cotton full-time without even a day off in fields treated by agrochemicals.
Neither these children nor their parents are consulted as to whether they want to work in the
fields. The children’ failure to meet daily quota for picking cotton can lead to their public
denouncement or even physical abuse, and their families can be deprived of their access to
public services and utilities.
We are certain that Uzbekistan’s child labor is not an initiative of families or some single
local bureaucrats, as the government may claim, but is organized by local authorities at the
direct, though not written, instructions of the central government. Despite the
pervasiveness of child labor, the authorities publically and routinely deny the existence of the
massive exploitation of children, as well as their own involvement in it. The government
refers to their adoption of laws and conventions prohibiting the use of child labor. However,
for those who are familiar with the daily realities of Uzbekistan, this argument is
unconvincing and even ridiculous.
We claim that the Constitution and laws of Uzbekistan are not the guiding principles of the
current government. There is a big gap in Uzbekistan between what’s written in the books,
and another, what goes on in practice.
We, the citizens of Uzbekistan, are witnesses to this double standard and the shameful
practices that hark back to Stalin’s era. For some time, this issue was relatively low-profile
internationally, but that has begun to change in the last two years.
In December 2008, at a session of the UN Human Rights Council, over 10 states raised the
issue of child labor in Uzbekistan, as it contravenes Uzbekistan’s international human rights
commitments.
In response to this criticism, Uzbekistan ratified two International Labor Organization
conventions: Concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (? 138) and
concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst
Forms of Child Labor (? 182). In September 2008, the government adopted a decree on
the implementation of its new obligations. But the question remains: did anything change in
practice?
With a wealth of evidence and documentation on hand, we argue that since the signing of
these documents, nothing changed: only weeks following the decree’s adoption, schools were
closed and children, once again, as in the previous year, were forcibly rounded up and
sent to the cotton fields. In addition, other citizens, such as students, civil servants,
housewives, and even the elderly, were forced to participate in the cotton harvest with even
greater intensity.
As an independent state for the past 20 years, Uzbekistan’s government has been a signatory
to over 60 major human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, the Elimination of All Forms of Forced or Compulsory Labor of (? 29 and ? 105),
and others. However, we attest to the fact that Uzbekistan’s commitments to all previously
signed and ratified obligations are empty promises with no bearings on actual practices.
We are surprised and outraged that some officials in the West consider the signing of ILO
conventions as “progress.” We see this as yet another example of empty promises. The 20
year-old post-Soviet history of the authoritarian regime in Uzbekistan has shown numerous
examples of the government willing to sign international conventions as smokescreen to
mislead the international community. One must be naïve or deliberately casting a blind eye to
believe that the current Karimov regime takes its obligations respecting human rights
seriously.
No real progress can be declared until an independent investigation has found evidence
that Uzbekistan indeed has ended the practice of forced labor.
Based on our observations and numerous, but futile attempts to persuade the Karimov regime
to respect human rights, we have concluded that the ruling regime in Uzbekistan will only
yield to real pressure from the international community. With regard to forced child labor, to
date, there is no more effective means to persuade the Uzbek regime to end the practice
than through threats to boycott Uzbek cotton. In November 2007 and January 2008, a
number of Uzbek activists called for a boycott. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to this
call.
We must look at the root of the problem. The cotton sector needs comprehensive reform.
Farmers, replacing collective farms, are still deprived of their freedoms and rights to choose
what they grow on their land and how to use their products. In autumn 2008, the government,
under the pretext of the “optimization” of land resources allocated to farmers, in fact, began a
massive expropriation of the farmers’ land resulting in about half of all farmers
dispossessed of their lands and without any kind of compensation for the costs of the harvest
that year. This recalls Stalin’s violent collectivization campaign of the 1930s — and we know
of the tragic consequences of that historical episode. It is astounding that the government of
Uzbekistan is following this same path and yet no one is stopping it from doing so.
If the government genuinely intended to make changes, it would reform the cotton sector by
granting farmers the right to decide for themselves what to grow on their land, the right to
sell it themselves as well as determine pricing on the base of supply and demand. However,
there is no indication that the Karimov regime intends to reform the cotton sector. Therefore,
any promises to end child labor ring hollow; but some officials in the West give too much
credibility to the Uzbek government’s promises.
In this regard, we find it regrettable that the World Bank and Asian Development Bank
continue to finance Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector. In 2001, the World Bank provided $36
million in loans to support reform in the agricultural sector. Despite the fact that the goals of
the loan were not achieved (the cotton sector did not undergo reform and continues to be
dominated by command economy), in February 2009, the World Bank, counter to any logic,
opened up another credit line to Uzbekistan in the amount of $69.96 million. Unfortunately,
none of these cash injections have lead to any reform in the agricultural sector, and have
simply channeled resources into the hands of the country’s ruling elites.
Within the context of a command economy, no other outcomes are possible. All profits from
the cotton sector are concentrated in the hands of the president, his family, and those
few close to him. According to our data, the profits of the Uzbekistan’s state budget do not
reflect income from cotton exports either in the form of taxes or direct income from exports.
Export revenues simply do not reach the state budget and therefore do not benefit the national
economy or Uzbek society. In Uzbekistan, there is a sophisticated system to drain resources
from the country’s rural areas. Because of price disparities, as the state determines an
artificially low price for cotton and farmers purchase their production inputs at market and
often monopoly prices; farmers, as a rule, lose out in the cotton sector. Farmers, like children,
are also victims of this deeply flawed system.
At the same time, the rural schools supplying cheap labor are themselves in poor condition,
lacking heat in the winter and generally underfunded. School administrations deduct money
from children’s compensation from gathering cotton for school renovation. Due to the mass
closure of schools during the cotton season, the quality of education drops every year. Thus,
subjecting children to exploitation and depriving them of education, Uzbekistan’s regime
robs the lives and futures of millions of Uzbek children, giving instead lives of near-slavery
and futures with fewer options other than the downtrodden life of labor migrants abroad.
We urge the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to reconsider their policies in
respect to Uzbekistan and to promote real reform in the agricultural sector of the country.
We encourage trading companies importing cotton, to disclose to the public which part of
their stock they are buying from Uzbekistan and to set a moratorium on further purchases
from that country. We bring to the international community’s attention the cotton exchange
in Dubai, where cotton operations are non-transparent and conceal the traces of Uzbek
cotton. As the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has decided to purchase 200
thousand tons of Uzbek cotton, we would like to make retailers in the West aware of this
fact, and to urge them to avoid purchasing cotton products that have passed through this
exchange.
We urge the U.S. Government and European Union to take effective measures to prevent
cotton products bearing traces of forced child labor from gaining access to their
markets. Europe and the United States abolished slavery in their countries, but by
purchasing Uzbek cotton products, they are encouraging slavery in this Central Asian
country. That Uzbek cotton continues to benefit from the General System of Preferences
(GSP) that reduces import tax duties for Uzbek cotton and textile, can also be viewed as an
endorsement of slavery.
Some warn that the boycott of Uzbek cotton may actually harm the interests of ordinary
farmers. This is the kind of logic that would justify the freeing criminals since imprisoning
them would deprive their families of breadwinners. The boycott intends to pressure the
Uzbek regime to change its policy toward the cotton industry, which would serve the
real interests of farmers, schoolchildren and society.
We hope that the international day against child labor will not be honored through empty and
abstract declarations and formal events, but will be an occasion for serious discussion and
consideration of tangible measures to prevent forced child labor in Uzbekistan.
Signatures:
1. Tolib Yakubov, citizen of Uzbekistan , resident of France, Human Rights Society of
Uzbekistan, hrsu_tolib@rambler.ru
2. Umida Niyazova, citizen of Uzbekistan , resident of Germany, Uzbek-German
Forum for Human Rights, ugforumhr@gmail.com (contact person)
3. Surat Ikramov, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan. Initiative Group of independent
Human Rights Defenders of Uzbekistan, surat.i@rambler.ru
4. Tamara Chikunova, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, «Mothers against death
penalty and torture”
5. Ulugbek Khaydarov, citizen of Uzbekistan , resident of Canada, journalist,
editormail08@gmail.com
6. Sukhrobjon Ismailov, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, “Veritas” Youth Human
Rights Movement , veritas.yhrm@gmail.com
7. Abdusalom Ergashev, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, “Rapid Response Group –
Uzbekistan”, bilolenator@gmail.com
8. Iskandar Khudayberganov, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Center of Democratic
Initiatives – Uzbekistan
9. Nurillo Maksudov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Germany, “Andijan – Justice
and Revival», nurillo_maks@yahoo.de
10. Fazliddin Normuhamedov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden, human rights
activist, fazli75@mail.ru
11. Gofurgon Yuldashev, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Canada, journalist,
yugt1@yahoo.com
12. Abdujalil Boymatov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Ireland, Human Rights
Society of Uzbekistan, b_abdujalil@yahoo.com
13. Kudrat Babajanov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden, journalist,
kbabajan@gmail.com
14. Kamoliddin Rabbimov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of France, political annalist
k_rabbimov@yahoo.com
15. Mukhammadsolih Abutov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden,
sahwii@mail.ru
16. Elena Urlaeva, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Alliance of
Uzbekistan, elena.urlaeva@gmail.com
17. Bakhodir Namazov, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Committee to release
prisoners of conscience in Uzbekistan, uznsovuz@gmail.com
18. Oleg Sarapulov, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Alliance of
Uzbekistan, olegsarapulov@gmail.com
19. Ilnur Abdulov, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Alliance of
Uzbekistan, ailnur@mail.ru
20. Rafiq Ganiev, citizen of Uzbekistan , resident of Sweden, Rafiq@yahoo.com
21. Khazratkul Khodoiberdy, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden,
saturnus04@yahoo.se
22. Khurmat Babajanov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Czech Republic, journalist
23. Farhod Inogambayev, citizen of Uzbekistan, US resident.
24. Tashpulat Rahhmatullaev, citizen of Uzbekistan,resident of Kyrgyzstan, political
annalist t.yuldashev@gmail.com
25. Salomat Boymatova, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Alliance of
Uzbekistan, salomat59@yahoo.com
26. Viktoriya Bazhenova, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Alliance of
Uzbekistan
27. Tatyana Davlatova, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Alliance of
Uzbekistan
28. Anatoliy Volkov, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Alliance of
Uzbekistan
29. Bakhtiyor Khamroev, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, human rights activist
shayboniyxonisyonkor@gmail.com
30. Akmaljon Khaydarov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Canada,
volida54@yahoo.com
31. Muiddin Kurbanov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden, International Society
of Human Rights Defenders, himoyachi@yahoo.com
32. Khasan Temirov, citizen of Uzbekistan , resident of Sweden, aybok@gmail.com
33. Bayramali Yusupov, citizen of Uzbekistan , resident of Denmark, roppir@gmail.com
34. Muhimjon Makhmudov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden,
anvarmirzo@gmail.com
35. Khamdambek Davletov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden
36. Makhmud Bekjanov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Norway
37. Dustnazar Khudaynazarov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden, Erk
Democratic Party of Uzbekistan dust.nazar@yahoo.com
38. Tulkin Karaev, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden, journalist,
tulkin.karaev@comhem.se
39. Farhod Toshmukhammedov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden
40. Zokirjon Ibragimov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Sweden, journalist,
jongold40@rambler.ru
41. Salima Kadirova, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Czech Republic, Uzbek-German
Forum for Human Rights
42. Mamir Azimov, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Society of
Uzbekistan, salimaodina@gmail.com
43. Saida Kurbonova, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Society of
Uzbekistan
44. Uktam Pardaev, citizen and resident of Uzbekistan, Human Rights Activist
45. Shohruh Ziyadulla, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Egypt
46. Faxriddin Xudoyqulov, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Canada, Erk Democratic
Party of Uzbekistan romenafandi@hotmail.com
47. Rahmatulla Aliboev, citizen of Uzbekistan, resident of Canada, human rights activist
kuryerr@gmail.com