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US lawmakers query Shein, Adidas, Nike over Uyghur rights concerns

US lawmakers have sent letters to Adidas, Nike, Shein, and Temu seeking reassurances about their supply chains and compliance with US law.

The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has cited witness testimony alleging that Nike and Adidas might be sourcing materials from China’s Xinjiang region, where human rights abuses are alleged to occur.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of lawmakers urged securities regulators to require Shein to attest it does not use forced Chinese labour as a condition of a public offering.

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NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — Multiple groups of US lawmakers have sought reassurances this week about clothing giant Shein and other brands facing allegations their products use forced Chinese labour or material from regions where such conditions allegedly occur.

On Tuesday, a group of lawmakers sent letters to the CEOs of Adidas, Nike, Shein and the Chinese shopping app Temu with questions about their supply chains.

In the letters, seen by AFP, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party cited witness testimony that alleged Nike and Adidas might be sourcing materials from China’s Xinjiang region, in possible violation of US law.

“We would like to offer” Nike and Adidas “an opportunity to respond to these serious allegations and to provide information regarding” compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the letters read.

The committee also reached out to Temu and Shein, asking their executives to explain how they verify the compliance of their supply chains with US law.

The letters to brands came just a day after a separate bipartisan group of US lawmakers urged securities regulators to require Shein to attest it does not use forced Chinese labor as a condition of a public offering.

Citing reports that the fast-growing discount apparel company uses cotton from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, two dozen members of the House of Representatives urged action from the head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Shein is aggressively raising capital and plans to execute an IPO before the end of this calendar year,” they said in a May 1 letter.

“We request that you set forth regulations and mandate Shein to certify via independent verification that the company does not use Uyghur forced labour as a condition of being registered to issue securities in the United States.”

Fast fashion

Human rights groups say China’s Muslim-majority Uyghurs are subjected to mass incarceration in forced labour camps and banned from expressing their culture.

Beijing says the ethnic minority is not being repressed and that any security measures in their northwestern region of Xinjiang are a response to a terrorism threat.

The letter was organized by Virginia Democrat Jennifer Wexton and Tennessee Republican John Rose and signed by 24 House members.

A Shein spokesperson said the company has no suppliers in the Xinjiang Region and that it has “zero tolerance” for forced labour.

“We take visibility across our entire supply chain seriously, and we are committed to respecting human rights and adhering to local laws in each market we operate in,” the spokesperson said.

“Our suppliers must adhere to a strict code of conduct that is aligned to the International Labor Organization’s core conventions.”

Founded in 2008 in China and currently based in Singapore, Shein has been called an example of “fast fashion,” utilizing TikTok and other online platforms to market its goods.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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