TASHKENT – Serious human rights risks remain in the Uzbek cotton industry a year after state-imposed forced labour was eliminated, according to independent monitoring of last year's harvest.
The Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, which monitors the harvest for human rights abuses each year, says further reforms are needed to increase farmers’ independence and protect workers' rights.
The forum's report promoted the Cotton Campaign coalition, which last year ended its global boycott of Uzbek cotton after concluding government-imposed forced labour had been eradicated, to call for democratically elected unions and associations in the country's cotton industry.
