III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 99 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government of Uzbekistan 

should immediately enforce its existing domestic legislation and fulfill 

its international commitments aimed at ending state-sponsored forced 

and child labor. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 2, 2009 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. BINGAMAN) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government 

of Uzbekistan should immediately enforce its existing 

domestic legislation and fulfill its international commitments aimed at ending state-sponsored forced and child 

labor. 

Whereas the United States has a growing strategic involvement in Central Asia; 

Whereas the interests of the United States in Central Asia, 

including the operations in Afghanistan, can only be secured by the presence in the region of viable, vigorous democracies that fully guarantee the economic and social 

rights of all people, including children; 


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•SRES 99 IS 

Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan continues to commit 

serious human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrest 

and detention, torture in custody, and the severe restriction of freedom of speech, the press, religion, independent 

political activity, and nongovernmental organizations; 

Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan detains thousands of 

people for political or religious reasons; 

Whereas Uzbekistan is the third largest exporter of cotton in 

the world, and cotton is 1 of the largest sources of export 

revenue for Uzbekistan; 

Whereas Uzbekistan has signed and properly deposited with 

the International Labour Organization (ILO) the Minimum Age Convention, convened at Geneva June 6, 1973 

(International Labour Organization Convention Number 

138), and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 

convened at Geneva June 1, 1999 (International Labour 

Organization Convention Number 182); 

Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan issued a decree in 

September 2008 that ostensibly prohibited the practice of 

forced and child labor, but the Government of Uzbekistan 

sent schoolchildren to harvest cotton within weeks after 

issuing the decree; 

Whereas the 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices by the Department of State stated that large-scale 

compulsory mobilization of youth and students to harvest 

cotton continued in most rural areas of Uzbekistan and 

that the students and youths were poorly paid, living conditions were poor, and children were exposed to harmful 

chemicals and pesticides applied in the cotton fields; 

Whereas research by the Environmental Justice Foundation 

indicates that each year hundreds of thousands of schoolVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:53 Apr 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR99.IS SR99

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•SRES 99 IS 

children from Uzbekistan, some as young as 7 years old, 

are forced by the Government of Uzbekistan to work in 

the national cotton harvest for up to 3 months; 

Whereas a policy briefing published by the School of Oriental 

and African Studies, University of London, in 2008, entitled ‘‘Invisible to the World’’, used extrapolations based 

on surveys in 6 areas that took place in 2006 and 2007 

to conclude that approximately 2,400,000 schoolchildren 

from Uzbekistan between the ages of 10 and 15 are forcibly recruited into the annual cotton harvest; 

Whereas the British Broadcasting Company undertook an investigation in late 2007 and found that the Government 

of Uzbekistan continues to rely on the state-orchestrated 

mass mobilization of children to bring in the cotton harvest; 

Whereas, in 2008, reports of child labor in the cotton fields 

were received by multiple media outlets and local human 

rights activists from the major cotton-growing regions in 

Uzbekistan, including Djizzak, Namangan, Samarkand, 

and Ferghana, among others; 

Whereas a report by the Rapid Reaction Group indicates that 

schoolchildren who cannot fulfill their daily picking 

quotas are forced to make up the difference in cash from 

the pockets of their own families; 

Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan detained and harassed an independent journalist who accompanied a diplomat from the United States on a research trip to Syr 

Daria province, where the diplomat photographed children working in the cotton fields; 

Whereas the children working in the cotton fields are stressed 

by the pressure to fulfill cotton quotas, physically abused 


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•SRES 99 IS 

by arduous work in the cotton fields, and subjected to 

poor and hazardous living conditions during the harvest 

period; 

Whereas international brands such as Gap, H&M, Levi 

Strauss, Limited Brands, Target, Tesco, and Wal-Mart 

have banned cotton from Uzbekistan from their products 

and instructed their suppliers to comply with the ban; 

Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan allowed a survey to 

be conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund 

(UNICEF), under the strict supervision of the Government of Uzbekistan, yet the survey was not conducted 

during the fall harvest season (a time when the likelihood 

of children working in the fields is significantly greater); 

Whereas the Government of Uzbekistan refused to fully cooperate with the ILO and the International Cotton Advisory Committee to undertake an independent technical 

assessment of forced child labor during the fall 2008 harvest season; and 

Whereas the ILO has conducted independent investigations 

into forced and child labor in more than 60 countries 

around the world, including developing and developed 

countries: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 

2 Government of Uzbekistan should— 

3 (1) immediately enforce its existing domestic 

4 legislation and fulfill its international commitments 

5 aimed at ending state-sponsored forced and child 

6 labor; 


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•SRES 99 IS 

1 (2) allow a comprehensive independent inves2 tigation into forced and child labor in the cotton sec3 tor during the fall 2009 harvest season by the Inter4 national Labour Organization; 

5 (3) in consultation and cooperation with the 

6 International Labour Organization, develop a cred7 ible and comprehensive action plan based on the 

8 findings of the International Labour Organization 

9 and commit the resources necessary to end forced 

10 and child labor in the cotton sector; and 

11 (4) take concrete steps towards systemic reform 

12 that will— 

13 (A) ensure greater freedom and better re14 turns from their labor for cotton-producing 

15 farmers; and 

16 (B) enable such farmers to employ adults 

17 in the cotton sector. 

Æ 


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