France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has opened up an investigation into four fashion companies for being complicit in “crimes against humanity” for the alleged use of slave labour in the Xinjiang region of China.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) has accused Uniqlo France, owned by the Japanese group Fast Retailing, Inditex, the owner of Zara, the textile firm SMCP, and the shoemaker Skechers of profiting from Uyghur slave labour in Xinjiang.
The investigation was launched following complaints from the anti-corruption association Sherpa, the Ethics on Etiquette collective, the Uyghur Institute of Europe, and a Uyghur who was interned in Xinjiang province, Sud Ouest reported.
The lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the case, William Bourdon said: “This is just the start, this investigation will necessarily create a legal risk and additional accountability for all those who, with complete impunity, thought they could import into France, in order to enrich themselves, resources and products at the cost of tears and blood.”
The companies face charges of “concealment of the crime of genocide and crimes against humanity”. The complaint was based on a 2020 report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank, which alleged that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has forcibly transferred over 80,000 Uyghurs to factories throughout China to work in slave-like conditions to produce products for foreign brands.- READ MORE
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