TAJIKISTAN - COMMENT ON DOL DRAFT LIST FOR TVPRA

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000099 SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP STEINER, DRL/ILCSR MITTELHAUSER, DOL/ILAB RIGBY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM ECON ELAB KTIP TI SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN - COMMENT ON DOL DRAFT LIST FOR TVPRA REF: (A) SECSTATE 3075 (B) 08 Dushanbe 1256 (C) 08 Dushanbe 1388 ¶1. (U) Post appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Department of Labor's draft list of goods that it has reason to believe are produced by forced labor or child labor (ref A). The evidence supports the inclusion of Tajik cotton on the list (refs B and C). We would like to add some context that may be helpful in ongoing efforts to address the situation in Tajikistan. ¶2. (U) As with other Central Asian countries, the use of children, students and government employees in the cotton sector is a holdover from the Soviet period. Over the last few years, the Government of Tajikistan has taken steps to reduce the degree to which child labor and forced labor are used. The government would likely point to these measures as evidence that they are combating the problem. Government officials may also argue that the scale of the problem is not as significant as in other Central Asian countries, particularly Uzbekistan. ¶3. (U) While these points are valid, we believe the government can do more. Reform of the agriculture sector, including but also going well beyond the issue of forced labor and child labor, has been slow. This is in part because of official mismanagement, and in part because government officials are keen to protect their own financial interests. The Ministry of Labor does not make a serious attempt to enforce existing laws prohibiting forced labor and child labor in the cotton sector. While national-level officials, including President Rahmon, have made pronouncements outlawing these practices, they have not ensured that local authorities follow the law. The heads of local or regional governments in Khatlon and Sughd, in cooperation with school and university directors, are directly responsible for compelling, facilitating, or toleratingQ forced labor and child labor in the cotton sector. However, in one development, which may indicate greater official interest in addressing the problem of child labor, prosecutors have opened a case against a local administrator in Shahrituz district over the official's use of school-age children to pick cotton. ¶4. (U) Public reaction to placing Tajikistan on the TVPRA list is difficult to predict. We have often heard that rural families rely on their children to help them subsist. Media reports exposing labor violations in the cotton sector have not met with a significant public reaction. However, the Soviet-era sentiment that participating in the cotton harvest is a matter of "national duty" is waning. Conditions in the cotton fields have become extremely poor, and the pay, if any, is meager (see refs B and C). Many understand that only a privileged few actually benefit from the cotton industry. ¶5. (U) We are ready to participate in a coordinated strategy to reduce child labor and forced labor in Tajikistan. We think it would be helpful to emphasize to government officials that any improvements could positively impact Tajikistan's TIP ranking. We have begun to engage the Tajik authorities - particularly the country's top anti-TIP official - on the issue, and we hope to see some positive results in the coming months. JACOBSON