Uzbekistan: World Bank and Human Rights

Uzbekistan: rights defenders persecuted for documenting massive forced labour in cotton

The government of Uzbekistan continues its brutal crackdown on human rights defenders documenting the massive use of forced labour in the cotton harvest. “For years”, writes Human Rights Watch, “the government has relied on the forced labor of over a million people each year – including children, teachers, medical workers, college and university students, and public employees – to pick cotton. It uses coercion, including intimidation and threats of loss of job, social welfare benefits, utilities, expulsion, and even prosecution to force people into the fields.” And for years the government has persecuted rights defenders documenting this coercion. The most recent cases are the arrest and detention of Elena Urlaeva and Dmitry Tikhonov on September 19 and 21, respectively. Among the materials police confiscated from Ms Urlaeva were a fact sheet on ILO Conventions. The World Bank, which is financing the ‘modernization’ of Uzbek agriculture, is supposed to be monitoring the presence of forced labour and has pledged to withdraw over USD 450 million in funding for agriculture if forced labour is confirmed in project areas. What is the World Bank doing in the face of this crackdown? CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and officials involved in the cotton project, telling them that they have an obligation to speak out when courageous rights defenders are persecuted for documenting the abuses the World Bank claims to be monitoring!