During the recent International Cotton and Textile Fair in Tashkent, not a single western buyer signed a contract for Uzbekistan’s cotton, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. This boycott demonstrates the strength of a pledge signed by more than 60 apparel manufacturers, brands and retailers to eliminate forced child labour in the cotton industry.

Jurewicz writes of the growing consumer demand for transparency:

Having buy-in throughout the entire global value chain, where all of the dots are connected, is essential. The time of transparency has come. Consumers and legislation are demanding it.

Consumers are demanding to know more about the goods they are purchasing and, thankfully, new technologies are being adopted to give this information to them right at the point of purchase.

US legislation is also starting to demand more transparency.

Read more here.

Some 330 companies from 38 countries reportedly sent representatives to the fair and those representatives bought a reported 600,000 tons of Uzbek cotton and textile products on October 12-13.

Uzbek media reported that China’s Xinjiang Group of Agricultural Resources and Tianzhan Cotton Exchange, Elma Yarn of Bangladesh, Vinotex of Vietnam, Toeshima of Japan, Arta Tejarat Zamin of Iran, Falcon of Turkey, Miad General Trading of the United Arab Emirates, Tirotex of Moldova, Russia’s TransSpecProm, and Bellegprom of Belarus were the major purchasers at the fair.

Many international companies stayed away from the fair: more than 60 worldwide have announced a boycott of Uzbek cotton, which rights groups say is often picked by children in violation of child-labor laws.

There are also many reports of secondary and university students along with some professionals being “volunteered” to harvest cotton instead of attending school or working.

The campaign against purchasing Uzbek cotton has seen increased support among Western companies in recent years with well-known brands such as Burberry, Levi’s, H&M, and others publicly vowing to avoid knowingly buy it.

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

On Wednesday, September 28 at noon at the W Hotel in Washington, DC, a number of human rights and labor groups plan to protest the use of child forced labour in the cotton industry as well as other human rights violations by the oppressive regime of President Islam Karimov.

RSVP ONLINE HERE! For more details, visit the International Labor Rights Forum at www.LaborRights.org or contact laborrights@ilrf.org or 202-347-4100.

More information is available now about those speaking at the event at the AUCC.

The decision by the Senate Appropriations Committee to include language in support of a waiver in the foreign operations bill is no doubt among the events indicated by the AUCC in its reference to “positive developments during the recent Annual Bilateral Consultations between the Governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Uzbekistan.”

Those “positive developments” are now leading the Uzbek delegation to expand and upgrade its representation.

Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Elyor Ganiev, who also holds the title of Foreign Minister, will lead the Uzbek delegation. The US is sending an official who is not at the same level, but still sufficiently high: Susan M. Elliott, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia U.S. Department of State.

Other US government officials who will be present at what is now not just a meeting of businesses, but a meeting of political leaders, are Jonathan Ward, Director for South and Central Asia, The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, who will give a report from the US Central Asia Trade and Investment Council meeting; and Danica Starks, Senior Caucasus and Central Asia Policy Advisor, Office of Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia of the International Trade Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce who will speak on the theme “U.S. Government Resources for Doing Business”.

David Owen, Deputy Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund will speak on “Economic Outlook for the Central Asia Region, Including Uzbekistan” and Takuya Kamata, Country Manager for Uzbekistan for the the World Bank will speak on “Development Opportunities and Challenges for Middle Income Economies.”

Corporate officials from General Electric, NUKEM, and GM will speak, as will representatives from the state-run Uzbek energy companies, but they are almost overwhelmed by the government heavy-weights.

Dr. Frederick Starr, long a friend to Central Asian governments, will also speak.

Uzbek 5th Grader in Karakalpakstan, Photo by Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights

Buoyed by the success of the picket to protest inclusion of Gulnara Karimova in New York’s Fashion Week, the International Labor Rights Forum is planning a picket next week in Washington, DC as Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Elyor Ganiev arrives for meetings with the business elite in the capital.

The Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan is infamous for its widespread abuses of human rights and its state policy of forcing children to work in cotton fields across the country. That won’t stop the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce from advocating for continued business partnerships with the brutal Uzbek regime.

Every year, the government of Uzbekistan removes up to two million children from schools across the country and forces them to pick cotton. Reports continue to flood out of Uzbekistan that children and adults are being forced into the cotton fields right now during the current harvest season. This widely documented, abusive state policy enriches a cadre of elites and fuels a regime characterized as “an authoritarian state” by the U.S. Department of State. Uzbekistan is one of the largest cotton producing countries in the world and cotton harvested there by forced child labor finds its way into the U.S. garment industry. Additionally, the government of Uzbekistan has been criticized for jailing independent journalists and human rights defenders, torturing prisoners and a range of other rights violations.

The US-Uzbekistan Annual Business Forum, sponsored by the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce, will feature top business and government representatives from the US and Uzbekistan including the Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elyor Ganiev. Join us outside the US-Uzbekistan Annual Business Forum to call for an end to forced child labor and human rights abuses in Uzbekistan.

RSVP ONLINE HERE! For more information, visit the International Labor Rights Forum at www.LaborRights.org or contact laborrights@ilrf.org or 202-347-4100.

But she’s not giving up and has been searching for a new venue. According to the New York Post, she has contracted with Cipriani, an upscale restaurant and event space in Manhattan, to put on her show anyway this Thursday at noon, the Post confirmed.

Labour and human rights activists in New York who have been protesting her presence during Fashion Week are now calling on the owners of Cipriani not to allow the show to go on, as a symbol of oppression in Uzbekistan and the use of forced child labour. The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) has organized a petition at Change.org urging foreign embassies that have been contacted not to host her show, either.

Now the daughter of Uzbekistan’s dictator Islam Karimov is planning to relocate her disgraced show to the posh restaurant and event space Cipriani, the New York Post reported:

Next up on the menu at Cipriani: hot potato!

Gulnara Karimova, the fashion-designing daughter of Uzbekistan’s ruthless dictator, aims to stage her runway show at upscale restaurant Cipriani after getting booted from Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, The Post has learned.

After protests from human rights groups and pickets by Uzbek émigrés about torture, political imprisonment and forced child labor, IMG said it was “horrified” and first ask Karimova to withdraw voluntarily. When she didn’t, the Fashion Week organizers abruptly disinvited her.

IMG is said now to be in negotiations about a refund of $30,000 in rental fees, only a portion of the funds that Karimova had shelled out to display her Guli ethnic clothing line, says the Post.

As she was searching for a location, Karimova also reportedly reached out to a number of friendly foreign missions, including those of Russia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates. The Uzbek president appointed his daughter as ambassador to Spain and also envoy to UN organizations in Geneva.

Cipriani, which hasn’t confirmed the event according to the Post, has itself been mired in controversy with the owner having pled guilty to $10 million in tax evasion.

Despite the cancellation, a coalition of labor and human rights groups vowed to stage their picket of Fashion Show on September 15 to call on the apparel industry not to source cotton in Uzbekistan.

Already more than 60 US and European companies and a major industry association have pledged not to use Uzbek cotton and have called on Tashkent to allow the International Labor Organization to inspect the cotton fields during the harvest, Responsible Sourcing Network reported.

This article originally appeared on Choihona at EurasiaNet.

More than 60 of the world’s best known apparel companies and brands as well as the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), which represents more than 800 brands, have signed a pledge not to knowingly source Uzbek cotton harvested using forced child labor.

These companies will maintain this pledge until the elimination of this practice is independently verified by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). RSN is coordinating the pledge, which is published on its website.

Company signatories include:

adidas Group (adidas, Reebok, Taylor-Made, adidas Golf); ANN INC. (Ann Taylor, LOFT); Brooks Sports, Inc.; Burberry; C&A; Carrefour; Carter’s (Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh); Columbia Sportswear Company; Eddie Bauer LLC; EILEEN FISHER; H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB; J.Crew; Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc.; Levi Strauss & Co.; Li & Fung Limited; Liz Claiborne Inc.; Macy’s Inc.; New Balance; Nordstrom Product Group; Peacocks Stores Ltd (Peacocks London, Pearl Lowe for Peacocks, By Design); PPR Group (Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, PUMA, Volcom, Redcats); PVH Corp.; Target Corporation; The TJX Companies, Inc.; The Jones Group; VF Corporation; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (ASDA, Better Homes & Gardens Canopy, Faded Glory, George, Home Trends, Mainstays, No Boundaries, Puritan, Sam’s Club, White Stag, Your Zone); The Walt Disney Company.

The pledge builds on efforts begun in 2004 by a number of US, European, and Uzbek advocacy groups to stop the scourge of forced child labour in Uzbekistan.

“I commend these companies for making this public commitment and sending a message about sourcing all aspects of their products ethically,” stated Patricia Jurewicz, director of RSN. RSN, a project of As You Sow (www.asyousow.org) addresses human rights violations and environmental destruction in the supply chains of consumer products at the raw commodity level. RSN supports network participants in leveraging their influence to achieve measurable solutions in the areas of conflict minerals and child slave labor.

For more information, visit RSN’s website and contact:

Connie Connors, +1.212.219.9188, (m) +1.917.287.1710, connie@connors.com, Skype: connie.connors4

Gulnara Karimova is the daughter of strongman Islam Karimov, whose regime is widely criticized for its brutal violations of human rights and for sponsoring forced child labor in the country’s cotton fields. Karimova serves as her country’s ambassador to Spain. New reports from Uzbekistan reveal how young people are removed from school and are forced to pick cotton to meet government-imposed production quotas. The organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers, the International Labor Rights Forum and the Open Society Foundations, urge the fashion industry to take a stand immediately and implement a ban on cotton from Uzbekistan.

Various organizations are still going ahead with organizing a rally and fashion show on Thursday September 15 from 11am to 1pm ET at Lincoln Center to show the fashion industry that children are still exploited in the production of cotton. To join the rally, go to the ILRF website.

For more information contact:
Tim Newman, tim.newman@ilrf.org, 617-823-9464 or 202-347-4100 x113
Tom Lansworth, tlanswor@aft.org, 202-393-6351

Today the New York Post reports that Human Rights Watch is questioning whether the sponsors of Fashion Week should include Karimova, who is her country’s ambassador to Spain and associated with the oppressive regime of her father.

“There’s nothing fashionable about lending a high-profile platform to the senior official of one of the world’s most repressive governments,” Steve Swerdlow, HRW’s Uzbekistan researcher is quoted as saying.

Karimova will be showing her “Guli” fashion line which includes Middle Eastern and Asian ethnic clothing said to be “green” in its use of native cotton. But that makes it suspect for labor rights campaigners, however, as Uzbekistan is documented as using forced child labor to pick cotton.

Already this season, students of the ages of 14-16 are being mobilized into the cotton fields by government order, and taken away from their studies, the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights reports.

WikiLeaks has recently revealed alleged cables that highlight troubling inconsistencies in US and UNICEF policies on the issue of child labor in Uzbekistan and other cables have surfaced indicating how the US has compromised human rights principles for the sake of military concerns.

IMG, the agency which produces Fashion Week, which is sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, appears not to have known about Karimova’s notorious reputation. An IMG spokesman told the New York Post:

We’re horrified by the human-rights abuses in Uzbekistan, and hope that the attention Human Rights Watch generates is able to effect change in the country. We also hope to work hand-in-hand with Human Rights Watch during Fashion Week and beyond to challenge those in power in Uzbekistan to take action immediately.

Even so, IMG plans to go ahead with Karimova’s fashion show. Mercedes-Benz, which has a joint venture in Uzbekistan to sell its buses for public transportation, has not yet commented on the implications of Karimova’s involvement in Fashion Week.

The International Labor Rights Forum is planning to picket Karimova on September 15 with a mock fashion show to dramatize the use of forced child labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry.

The campaigners say some retailers visible in New York have pledged not to use Uzbek cotton, including Macy’s, The Gap, Walmart and H&M, but others, such as Forever 21, are still being petitioned to take a position on the issue.

This article first appeared on Choihona at EurasiaNet.

Gulnara Karimova at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, 2009. Photo by Nader Daoud .

Mercedes Benz, sponsor of the Fashion Week September 8-15, announced today that Gulnara is on the calendar to show her Guli label. The dictator’s daughter is described as being very well educated, with a Ph.D. in political science from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent.

Karimova, revealed in an alleged US embassy cable exposed by WikiLeaks to be “the most hated person in Uzbekistan,” has become notorious in the world media for her alleged involvement in Zeromax, a state-organized conglomerate of businesses involved in everything from oil to food to textiles which was seized by the Uzbek government last year and put into bankruptcy.

Various labor and human rights groups campaigning against the use of forced child labor in the cotton industry are expected to mount protests in New York.

Such organizations as the International Labor Rights Forum have recently been petitioning successfully to get brands like Carter’s, Gymboree and The Children’s Place to pledge not to source their cotton in Uzbekistan. Earlier, Marks & Spencer, Target, Gap, C&A, H&M, Wal-Mart and Tesco were among the companies that pledged to avoid Uzbek cotton.

The U.S. Department of Labor has prohibited the acquisition of cotton from Uzbekistan due to the use of forced child labor.

The International Labor Organization has expressed grave concerns about the allegations of forced child labor in Uzbekistan, but the government has refused to invite the ILO into the country for an inspection of conditions during the cotton harvest.

This article first appeared on Choihona at EurasiaNet.