RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate.

III
111TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION S. RES. 99
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government of Uzbekistan
should immediately enforce its existing domestic legislation and fulfill
its international commitments aimed at ending state-sponsored forced
and child labor.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL 2, 2009
Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. BINGAMAN) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government
of Uzbekistan should immediately enforce its existing
domestic legislation and fulfill its international commitments
aimed at ending state-sponsored forced and child
labor.
Whereas the United States has a growing strategic involvement
in Central Asia;
Whereas the interests of the United States in Central Asia,
including the operations in Afghanistan, can only be secured
by the presence in the region of viable, vigorous democracies
that fully guarantee the economic and social
rights of all people, including children;
VerDate Nov 24 2008 05:53 Apr 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR99.IS SR99 rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
2
•SRES 99 IS
Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan continues to commit
serious human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrest
and detention, torture in custody, and the severe restriction
of freedom of speech, the press, religion, independent
political activity, and nongovernmental organizations;
Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan detains thousands of
people for political or religious reasons;
Whereas Uzbekistan is the third largest exporter of cotton in
the world, and cotton is 1 of the largest sources of export
revenue for Uzbekistan;
Whereas Uzbekistan has signed and properly deposited with
the International Labour Organization (ILO) the Minimum
Age Convention, convened at Geneva June 6, 1973
(International Labour Organization Convention Number
138), and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention,
convened at Geneva June 1, 1999 (International Labour
Organization Convention Number 182);
Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan issued a decree in
September 2008 that ostensibly prohibited the practice of
forced and child labor, but the Government of Uzbekistan
sent schoolchildren to harvest cotton within weeks after
issuing the decree;
Whereas the 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
by the Department of State stated that large-scale
compulsory mobilization of youth and students to harvest
cotton continued in most rural areas of Uzbekistan and
that the students and youths were poorly paid, living conditions
were poor, and children were exposed to harmful
chemicals and pesticides applied in the cotton fields;
Whereas research by the Environmental Justice Foundation
indicates that each year hundreds of thousands of school-
VerDate Nov 24 2008 05:53 Apr 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR99.IS SR99 rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
3
•SRES 99 IS
children from Uzbekistan, some as young as 7 years old,
are forced by the Government of Uzbekistan to work in
the national cotton harvest for up to 3 months;
Whereas a policy briefing published by the School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London, in 2008, entitled
‘‘Invisible to the World’’, used extrapolations based
on surveys in 6 areas that took place in 2006 and 2007
to conclude that approximately 2,400,000 schoolchildren
from Uzbekistan between the ages of 10 and 15 are forcibly
recruited into the annual cotton harvest;
Whereas the British Broadcasting Company undertook an investigation
in late 2007 and found that the Government
of Uzbekistan continues to rely on the state-orchestrated
mass mobilization of children to bring in the cotton harvest;
Whereas, in 2008, reports of child labor in the cotton fields
were received by multiple media outlets and local human
rights activists from the major cotton-growing regions in
Uzbekistan, including Djizzak, Namangan, Samarkand,
and Ferghana, among others;
Whereas a report by the Rapid Reaction Group indicates that
schoolchildren who cannot fulfill their daily picking
quotas are forced to make up the difference in cash from
the pockets of their own families;
Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan detained and harassed
an independent journalist who accompanied a diplomat
from the United States on a research trip to Syr
Daria province, where the diplomat photographed children
working in the cotton fields;
Whereas the children working in the cotton fields are stressed
by the pressure to fulfill cotton quotas, physically abused
VerDate Nov 24 2008 05:53 Apr 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR99.IS SR99 rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
4
•SRES 99 IS
by arduous work in the cotton fields, and subjected to
poor and hazardous living conditions during the harvest
period;
Whereas international brands such as Gap, H&M, Levi
Strauss, Limited Brands, Target, Tesco, and Wal-Mart
have banned cotton from Uzbekistan from their products
and instructed their suppliers to comply with the ban;
Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan allowed a survey to
be conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), under the strict supervision of the Government
of Uzbekistan, yet the survey was not conducted
during the fall harvest season (a time when the likelihood
of children working in the fields is significantly greater);
Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan refused to fully cooperate
with the ILO and the International Cotton Advisory
Committee to undertake an independent technical
assessment of forced child labor during the fall 2008 harvest
season; and
Whereas the ILO has conducted independent investigations
into forced and child labor in more than 60 countries
around the world, including developing and developed
countries: Now, therefore, be it
1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the
2 Government of Uzbekistan should—
3 (1) immediately enforce its existing domestic
4 legislation and fulfill its international commitments
5 aimed at ending state-sponsored forced and child
6 labor;
VerDate Nov 24 2008 05:53 Apr 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR99.IS SR99 rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
5
•SRES 99 IS
1 (2) allow a comprehensive independent inves2
tigation into forced and child labor in the cotton sec3
tor during the fall 2009 harvest season by the Inter4
national Labour Organization;
5 (3) in consultation and cooperation with the
6 International Labour Organization, develop a cred7
ible and comprehensive action plan based on the
8 findings of the International Labour Organization
9 and commit the resources necessary to end forced
10 and child labor in the cotton sector; and
11 (4) take concrete steps towards systemic reform
12 that will—
13 (A) ensure greater freedom and better re14
turns from their labor for cotton-producing
15 farmers; and
16 (B) enable such farmers to employ adults
17 in the cotton sector.
Æ
VerDate Nov 24 2008 05:53 Apr 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR99.IS SR99 rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS