A coalition of human rights groups is calling on federal agencies to investigate several Canadian companies allegedly procuring products made by forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
In a letter submitted to the Canadian Ombudsperson for Ap’s Responsible Enterprise (CORE)Lil 10, A coalition of 28 groups, ClaimCanadian companies— —Many are subsidiaries of US multinationals— —He is involved in human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and its supply chain is “polluted by Uighur forced labor outside Canada.”
“At this point, it is well established that atrocities and human rights abuses, including genocide, are being committed by the CCP. [Chinese Communist Party] For Uighurs. Documented crimes and ill-treatment include surveillance, arbitrary detention, torture, forced sterilization, forced organ removal, and forced labor, “said lawyers Sarah Take and David Matas, and human rights activist Aria Khan. , Mehmet Torture, a letter signed by Dean Ravi states. ..
The letter states that multiple industries, including garment and mining, are using Uighur forced labor, with China producing 22% of the world’s cotton, 84% from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It states that.
Uighurs are a minority of Turkic Muslims in western China. Canadian parliamentarians said the human rights violations they received in a motion passed by the House of Representatives in February 2021 corresponded to a genocide. The British House of Representatives adopted a similar motion in April 2021.
The motion came a few months after the United States Called The abuse was “genocide” on the last day of the Trump administration in January 2021. The Biden administration made the same declaration after his inauguration.
Some of the 28 groups of coalitions complaining to CORE are the Alliance Canada Hong Kong, Canada Tibet Committee, and the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP), which help refugees in urgent need.
core Founded in 2019, it is responsible for reviewing allegations of human rights abuses by foreign Canadian companies in the garment, mining, oil and gas sectors.
In an online briefing on complaints on April 21, Take stated that investigating the Uighur forced labor issue was CORE’s “reason for existence.” If they do not, and if they are involved in human rights abuses, they can be held liable and they should be held liable. “
URAP’s Mehmet Tohti told The Epoch Times that CORE has accepted the complaint but has not yet been shown whether to investigate it.
CORE does not have the authority to take action if it discovers that a Canadian company is infringing on human rights, Recommendations To end the abuse.
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Noé Charter is a Montreal-based Epoch Times reporter.