URAP Commends CORE’s Announcement to address forced labour complaints against Walmart Canada, Hugo Boss Canada Inc. and Diesel Canada Inc.
URAP applauds today’s announcement by the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) to address forced labour complaints against three Canadian companies – Walmart Canada, Hugo Boss Canada Inc. and Diesel Canada Inc. Today’s decision was in addition to CORE’s earlier announcement to launch a probe into Nike Canada Corp., Dynasty Gold Corp. and Ralph Lauren. These are welcomed responses to a complaint filed in April 2022 by a URAP-led coalition of 28 organizations, calling on CORE to investigate 14 Canadian companies for their alleged ties with Uyghur forced labour in their supply chain.
As stated in our complaint to the CORE, there is credible evidence that companies mentioned above are linked to numerous Chinese companies that use Uyghur forced labour in their supply chains. Forced labour is an integral pillar in the Chinese Communist Party’s genocide against Uyghurs, serving as a mechanism through which absolute control can be exerted over Uyghurs. The forced labour mechanism encompasses forced migration, surveillance and disciplining of Uyghur people inside and outside the detention system of China. The perpetuation of forced labour with impunity renders complicit companies an agent in the orchestration of the ongoing genocide against Uyghurs, as well as a contributor to the hardening of autocratic governance in the PRC.
The International lawyer and a Legal Counsel of URAP Sarah Teich said “The investigations launched today in response to our filings are another positive development towards corporate responsibility”. She added “The evidence that the supply chains of these companies use Uyghur forced labour warrant investigation and we are pleased that the Ombud agreed”
Mr. Mehmet Tohti, the Executive Director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP), said “It is a testament [CORE’s decision] that the Advisory issued by the GAC on Jan 12, 2021 asking Corporate Due Diligence is failed. Canadian corporations continue benefitting from the Uyghur forced labour imports by being a complicit in China’s practice of enslavement of entire Uyghur nation. Urgent action from the Government is even more dire than ever to clean up our market from the use of Uyghur forced labour products “. Mr. Tohti elaborated further by adding “Canadians are more vigilant about their daily purchase practices and are no longer ready to subsidize China’s systematic policy of enslaving Uyghurs.”
CORE’s announcement is a valued step in the right direction to hold Canadian companies accountable for their human rights violations abroad, specifically those which profit the CCP’s diminishment of Uyghurs’ basic human rights and their policies of genocide. It is action time for CORE, the Canadian Government, Canadian Border Service Agency and crucially, Canadian corporations to conduct due diligence and educate themselves and their customers on their supply chains. The onus falls on these stakeholders to ensure that goods being sold in Canadian stores do not have a hand in the Uyghur genocide.