State-imposed forced labor in Turkmen cotton harvest and the risk of forced labor Turkmen cotton in global supply chains

Join us on July 18, 2022, as leading independent Turkmen human rights groups Turkmen.News and the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, launch a joint report exposing state-imposed forced labor during the 2021 cotton harvest in Turkmenistan.

Findings of civil society monitoring show that in 2021, once again, the Turkmen government forced tens of thousands of public sector workers to pick cotton, or – as alternatives – pay money or hire a replacement worker. Anyone unable to do this faced threats of lost wages and termination of employment.

The report also reveals trade routes through which forced labor Turkmen cotton enters the global markets, underscoring the need for:

1) robust human rights due diligence and corporate accountability legislation across jurisdictions to require companies to map and publicly disclose subsidiaries, suppliers, sub-suppliers and business partners across their supply chains; and

2) robust enforcement of the existing forced labor import bans in the U.S. and Canada, and the introduction of import control measures against forced labor products in the EU and other jurisdictions.

On this webinar, we will discuss what governments and companies can do to increase the pressure on the government of Turkmenistan to reform its forced labor system and ensure that global supply chains are free of forced labor Turkmen cotton.

The webinar is scheduled for 90 minutes, between 10:00-11:30 am ET and 16:00-17:30 pm CET. Russian to English interpretation will be provided.

Background information:

Turkmen News and the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights are members of the Cotton Campaign, a global coalition working to end forced labor and promote decent work for cotton workers in Central Asia.

https://www.cottoncampaign.org/turkmenistan