The protest took place in front of Uzbek…

The protest took place in front of Uzbek embassy at the opening day of the Tashkent cotton fair

The photos are provided by International Labor Rights Forum

On October 14, 2009 the protest took place in front of Uzbek Embassy in Washington DC against the use of child labor at the cotton fields of this Central Asian republic.

Ferghana.Ru reported earlier that this demonstration was organized by American Federation of Teachers, Stop Child Labor, Labor Union, International Labor Rights Forum, Not for Sale Campaign and SEIU.

The meeting gathered about 50 demonstrators and was dedicated to Fifth International Uzbek cotton fair, launched in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.

Long before the demonstration, the organizers dissemination petition, calling on the Republic of Uzbekistan “to immediately stop forced child and teenage labor in the cotton sector of the country; immediately perform the duties in accordance with the conventions of International Labor Organization and other international agreements; invite high-rank ILO mission to the fields; provide the independent journalists and human rights activists full access to what is happening the harvest time of 2009 without threat of persecution or repressions; as well as stop persecution of human rights leaders in the country”.

The demonstrators with patchwork quilt on the background

The petition was widely discussed in the Internet: besides the web resources of organizers, the virtual groups were created in such popular social networking web sites as Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks to active contribution of meeting organizers, several thousand attracted US citizens, Uzbekistanis and foreigners, residing in USA, put signatures in the message, addressed to the government of Uzbekistan. Among them, there are well-informed human rights activists, religious leaders as well as ordinary citizens – workers, housewives and students.

The meeting attendants presented cotton patchwork quilt that had the pictures of Uzbek teenagers, working in the cotton fields. The patchwork quilt also had the list of citizens, which signed the petition.

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“For more than 2 million Uzbek students, going ‘back to school’ also means going ‘back to the fields,’ as they and their teachers are forced to leave school to perform long, hard and dangerous work in the country’s cotton fields. While the government and bosses reap the profits, the children lose valuable learning time while toiling in the fields for little more than meager meals. This state-sanctioned practice must be denounced. All children belong in the classroom, and teachers must be free to practice their craft.” – Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers.

Among other speakers there were the representatives of American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFLCIO.org), the United student organization for fair trade under George Washington University, International Labor Rights Forum, United Methodist church, National consumer league of USA and many others.

The speakers urged the government of Uzbekistan to perform its international duties and reminded that a month ago United States Department of Labor included cotton from Uzbekistan on the List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor. US DOL characterized the cotton issue in the Republic of Uzbekistan as “the forced use of underage labor”.

“The key to Uzbekistan’s future is not in the growth of its cotton, but in the growth of its children’s minds, which cannot happen if they are forced to work. As a student and youth, I stand in solidarity with young people in Uzbekistan in demanding that the government stop these abusive policies.” – Amanda Formica, George Washington University member, United Students for Fair Trade. (Unfortunately, Amanda has no clue that no one in Uzbekistan publicly demands to stop abusive child labor – children, students and their parents obediently do “their job” – editorial note).

International brands and retailers including Wal-Mart, Target, Levi Strauss, GAP, Limited Brands, Disney and Nike, among many others, have agreed to ban Uzbek cotton from their supply chains until forced child labor is ended.

At first, the involvement of religious organizations is not quite understandable: what is their relation to the organization, non-traditional for Uzbekistan, to the problems of traditionally Muslim community in this country? However, the Secretary General of the United Methodist Church, Jim Winkler, reasoned his participation in the demonstration by common human values, close to the problems of teenagers in Uzbekistan.

“The Uzbek government’s use of forced child labor is immoral and must be stopped. People of all faiths in the U.S. and around the world want to be sure that the clothing they buy is made by workers who enjoy ethical working conditions. We add our voices to those who are calling for an end to abuses in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan” he said.

According to the organizers and participants of the meeting, they met no Uzbek Embassy representative. They also had no problems with getting the authorization for the meeting as it is common in the democratic countries.

By the end of the stake, the participants delivered the petition to Uzbek Embassy, signed by attracted citizens, as well as letters from US and other countries. At the very end, most active participants put cotton at the entrance door of the embassy, hinting that for some people the cotton means many hours of labor while for others it is “easy money”, available at the front door.

Later on the observers witnessed how the janitor of Uzbek Embassy cleaned the place and left as if nothing had happed few moments before.

Musafirbek Ozod

http://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=1419&mode=snews