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Despite Uzbek Government Promises, Human Rights Activists Discover School Children at Cotton Fields in Kashkadarya Region

2012-10-27T03:33:53Z

The Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan (HRAU) announced that 11 and 12 year old children are picking cotton instead of going to school in the Yakkabag district of the Kashkadarya region.

Uznews.net reports that HRAU surveyed the region and found school children from the fourth and fifth grades from school Number 70 on the cotton fields. The teachers said that children have been picking cotton from 20 September, and even work on Sundays, and said that school children from other schools are working on remote fields. Read more >>>

SEC Sued Over ‘Conflict Minerals’ Rule by Business Groups

2012-10-23T15:51:08Z

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers asked a federal court to modify or scrap U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules governing so-called conflict minerals.

The SEC adopted a regulation in August that requires companies using gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum in their products to make “reasonable” efforts to determine if those materials came from the Democratic Republic of Congo or an adjoining country. Business groups have complained the measure is burdensome, costly to administer and ineffective.

Tashkent Holds Cotton Fair in Secrecy

2012-10-19T23:00:30Z

Tashkent’s eighth cotton fair has been held behind an unprecedented veil of secrecy with both its venue and nearby facilities closed for outsiders. Read more >>>

Cotton Campaign Calls on President Obama and Mr. Romney to Speak Out Against Slavery in Uzbekistan

2012-10-18T20:38:00Z

President Obama and Mr. Romney, during the 2012 US Presidential election campaign the world is listening, and the children, women and men exploited in modern-forms of slavery await your leadership. On this Anti-Slavery Day, the Cotton Campaign calls on you to speak out against the modern day slavery used to produce the clothes we wear. Read more >>>

Unwilling Cotton Harvesters in Uzbekistan

2012-10-13T20:19:00Z

“They used to bring in children of ten and over to work in the fields, but now they are between 15 and 18, mostly college and high school students,” the Alliance’s head Yelena Urlaeva said. “The authorities have raised the age, but the pattern of forced labour still applies.” Read more >>>

Senator Rubio Comments on President's Human Trafficking Executive Order

2012-09-25T19:31:00Z

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s newly announced executive order mirroring Rubio- sponsored legislation (S. 2234, “The End Trafficking in Government Contracting Act of 2012”) to crack down on human trafficking in government contracting: Read more >>>

Executive Order - Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking In Persons In Federal Contracts

2012-09-25T19:18:00Z

EXECUTIVE ORDER

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STRENGTHENING PROTECTIONS AGAINST TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS IN FEDERAL CONTRACTS

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (40 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended (TVPA) (Public Law 106-386, Division A), and in order to strengthen protections against trafficking in persons in Federal contracting, it is hereby ordered as follows: Read more >>>

Fact Sheet: the Obama Administration Announces Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking at Home and Abroad

2012-09-25T19:04:00Z

“It ought to concern every person, because it’s a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community, because it tears at the social fabric. It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name—modern slavery.”

“Our fight against human trafficking is one of the great human rights causes of our time, and the United States will continue to lead it…”

—President Barack Obama, September 25, 2012

In March 2012, President Obama directed his Cabinet to redouble the Administration’s efforts to eliminate human trafficking, which afflicts more than 20 million people around the world, including in communities here at home. Today, building on the strong record of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and its member agencies, the President is announcing several initiatives:

• Executive Order Strengthening Protections in Federal Contracts:

• Tools and Training to Identify and Assist Trafficking Victims:

• Increased Resources for Victims of Human Trafficking:

• Comprehensive Plan for Future Action: .read more >>>

Uzbek Government Breaks Promise to End Child Labor in Cotton Fields

2012-09-25T02:29:00Z

Washington Times

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Uzbekistan’s prime minister pledged last month to end child labor in the country’s cotton fields. But children as young as 13 are being put to work under grueling conditions. Read more>>>

Conflict-Free Tin Initiative Announced

2012-09-19T02:39:00Z

BRUSSELS

Industry partners convened by the Dutch government today announced their intention to start a conflict-free tin sourcing program in South Kivu, an eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Read more >>>