Zara & Uniqlo Are Sued In French Courts Over Complicity In Uighur Forced Labour In China
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Sherpa, the Ethical Collective on Etiquette, the Uighur Institute of Europe and a Uighur victim, represented by the law firm Bourdon - Associates, have filed a complaint with the Paris Judicial Court against several multinational clothing companies.
They have submitted information to the French justice as to their involvement in the forced labour imposed on the population in the autonomous region of Uighur where they have commercial ties.
The complaint is more widely directed at a large number of retailers and distributors in the sector and denounces the impunity of these actors in the face of violations committed in the context of economic globalization.
Since at least 2019, journalists and researchers have uncovered the existence of forced labour systematized in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region by the Chinese government, in which nearly 20% of the world's cotton is produced.
However, according to the public information available to date, Inditex (which owns the Zara, Bershka, Bull and Bear, Massimo Duti brands, Uniqlo, SMCP (which owns the Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot, De Fursac) and Sketchers brands, as well as many other transnational companies, would continue to outsource part of their production or market goods using the product , complicit in the serious crimes committed there.
Supported by several MEPs, including Raphael Glucksmann, our organisations have filed this complaint in order to highlight the role played by multinational companies in crimes committed against the Uighur people and thus to allow French courts to decide on their possible criminal liability.
This complaint is the first in a series that will be deployed in the coming months in other European countries, and is supported by ECCHR - European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and the World Uyghur Congress.
It is part of these organizations' long-standing advocacy to combat the impunity of transnational corporations and victims' access to justice and reparation.
The European Directive on the Duty of Vigilance, which will be drawn up in the coming months, will have to address these crucial issues.
About The Ethical Collective On Etiquette
The Ethical Collective on Etiquette seeks to promote the emergence of new economic behaviours for better respect for basic economic and social rights at work in the countries of the South.
Since its inception, the Collective has asked companies operating in France and major French and international brands to ensure the production conditions of the goods they market, to ensure that their purchasing practices promote social progress among their suppliers and subcontractors by involving trade unions, NGOs, consumer movements, government representatives, etc.
The collective's work focuses on labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles, toys or sporting goods.
Our Demands
· Brands and distributors, to ensure the production conditions of the goods they market,
· to ensure that their purchasing practices promote social progress among their suppliers and subcontractors, by insisting on freedom of association,
· to submit to independent checks including all the actors concerned (unions, NGOs, consumer movements, government representatives)
· States and international institutions to ensure the application and respect of the 8 fundamental social rights derived from ILO conventions In government,
