We hear that the European Center for Constitutional Rights (ECCHR), with the support of human rights legal office of Prakken d’Oliveira, has filed criminal complaints against several Dutch and U.S. textile and fashion brands that have their European headquarters in the Netherlands. They argue that Patagonia, Nike, C&A and State of Art may have been directly or indirectly involved in the forced labor of members of the Uighur population in China’s Xinjiang province. They are asking Dutch prosecutors to investigate the companies’ alleged complicity in human rights abuses that could amount to crimes against humanity. The lawsuit in the Netherlands is part of a series of criminal complaints in Europe against Western companies for their alleged sourcing from Xinjiang.
Nike has already publicly denied the charges, stating that its contract suppliers have confirmed that they are not using textiles or spun yarn from the Xinjiang region. Patagonia said in the summer of last year that it was actively exiting the Xinjiang region, in accordance with guidance from the Fair Labor Association (FLA). In its latest CSR pronouncement, Patagonia called for a moratorium on seabed mining.
