Family Farms? Presidential Decree 3077
The forced laborers of Uzbekistan do not work on their own farms, except for those few who are granted tenancy rights from the government. This number is shrinking because of Presidential decree no. 3077. The decree was described as “an exercise in arbitrary land redistribution, in which local political leaders reward friends, family, and those offering bribes”. Others say the decree is an excuse to take the land from smaller farmers. The supposed purpose of the decree is to “optimize” farm production by having several smaller plots of land controlled by a single person. The decree actually takes land from families who need it and increases unemployment rates, before making family members forced laborers during the cotton harvest. Children, who accompany adult forced laborers to the cotton fields, become victims of forced labor themselves. Because of this, it is obvious student laborers do not pick cotton to help their families, but to avoid harsh penalties from the government.
International Awareness and Actions
Trade Unions, NGOs, and the business community have banded together to help end these practices. Understanding forced labor in Uzbekistan is more pertinent than ever, because of a meeting of the International Labor Organization Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations is taking place in Geneva during the cotton harvest. Uzbekistan continues to violate ILO Convention 105 on Abolition of Forced Labor, which Uzbekistan ratified in 1997.
At a meeting of the Committee of Experts in 2011, Uzbekistan and Convention 105 were discussed. Numerous groups and workers’ organizations sent letters to the government of Uzbekistan about child labor before the meeting. The Uzbek government repeated earlier statements denying the use of forced labor, stating that forced labor is illegal and most of the country’s cotton is are private undertakings. The Committee of Experts requested that the Uzbek government explain if and how university students and public employees participate in the cotton harvest, in addition to relevant court decisions and proceedings against employers for the use of forced labor.
Despite communication from the government of Uzbekistan denying forced labor, there are no reports on prosecutions for those responsible for forced labor. The ILO “strongly encourages the Government (of Uzbekistan) to accept a high-level ILO tripartite observer mission…” to be independent verification of what happens during the cotton harvest. The International Trade Union Confederation “concluded that, even if forced labour in the cotton fields was not the result of state policy, the Government (of Uzbekistan) still violated the Convention by failing to ensure its effective observance” according to an ILO report. Though, multiple NGOs and anecdotal evidence shows this is not the case. The ITUC’s conclusion is helpful considering the Uzbek government’s stance on the matter, because the government should take action regardless. With the support of the international community, Uzbekistan needs to “take effective measures to secure the immediate and complete abolition of forced or compulsory labour…” as they promised.
