Gymboree Must End Silence on Increased Repression in Uzbekistan

Amid intensifying attacks on human rights defenders in the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, international efforts should be increased to put additional pressure on the government to end its abuses. Earlier this month, the government of Uzbekistan forced Human Rights Watch (HRW) to shut down its office in the country, a move that is only the most recent outrage from a government that imprisons human rights advocates and forces hundreds of thousands of children to pick cotton to benefit the ruling regime. The growing repression dramatically highlights the disregard of the government of Uzbekistan for basic human rights and should clearly demonstrate that it is no longer acceptable for companies that could be sourcing cotton from this regime to remain silent about its abuses.

After 15 years running an office in Tashkent, Human Rights Watch announced last week that the government of Uzbekistan forced the prominent human rights organization to liquidate its office. The announcement follows years of government obstruction in the form of denying visas and work accreditation to HRW staff, and has even included physical attacks. The government's recent actions build on its ongoing refusal to allow scrutiny of conditions in the country. As HRW notes, "Over the last seven years, the Uzbek government has expelled nearly every international nongovernmental organization from the country. It also has consistently denied access to independent human rights monitors, such as United Nations special rapporteurs, no fewer than eight of whom have longstanding requests for invitation pending."

The government also systematically silences, jails and even tortures human rights and political activists. HRW has documented cases of many journalists, human rights advocates and political dissidents who have been imprisoned for their efforts to protect farmers' rights, document torture, expose corruption and highlight other human rights issues in their country. Watchdogs are increasingly working to call attention to the potential danger the deepening repression in this "hard-core authoritarian state" could cause.

One widespread human rights abuse that has inspired international condemnation is the government of Uzbekistan's ongoing use of forced child labor in its cotton fields. As HRW reported this year, "The government continues to force hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren, some of them as young as ten, to help with the cotton harvest for two months a year. They live in filthy conditions, contract illnesses, miss school, and work daily from early morning until evening for little or no money. Hunger, exhaustion, and heat stroke are common." This is exactly the kind of egregious human rights abuse the government wants to keep hidden. That is why the government of Uzbekistan continues to deny the International Labor Organization, a United Nations body, access to the country to assess its compliance with international labor standards.

While governments around the world should certainly "impose policy consequences for [Uzbekistan's] crackdown on civil society" as HRW recommends, corporations that continue to do business with the Karimov regime that allow the government to continue its human and labor rights abuses with impunity should reconsider those arrangements as Uzbek human rights advocates have requested for years. The latest acts of repression in Uzbekistan should demonstrate to companies that could be using cotton from Uzbekistan that the time for silence is long gone.

Around 2,800 Change.org readers have called on Gymboree to join other major garment companies in standing against forced child labor by publicly opposing these abuses in Uzbekistan's cotton industry and committing to boycott Uzbek cotton until the government ends this exploitation. So far, Gymboree has remained silent. In fact, the company has even taken steps to silence those speaking out about the forced child labor behind Uzbek cotton. Please take a moment now to sign the petition to Gymboree and commit to recruiting at least five others to join you.

Photo credit: International Labor Rights Forum (with permission)