Human rights activists have reported responsible employees of German companies for allegedly profiting from crimes against Uyghurs in China. Report Mainz and the SZ have exclusive access to the complaint.
Systematic surveillance, mistreatment and forced labor - more and more details have come to light in recent years about how the Chinese government oppresses the Uyghur Muslim minority.
At least one million people are to be held in re-education camps in the Xinjiang region, where they are to be brought into line culturally and politically. Thousands of people from rural regions are to be forced into jobs in state-organized work programs, for example in yarn or textile factories.
Complaint to the Federal Attorney General
To this day, a substantial part of the cotton processed worldwide comes from Xinjiang. In view of the situation in China, human rights organizations therefore also see a responsibility on the part of the global textile industry, possibly even a criminal one.
For this reason, the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) has filed a complaint with the Federal Prosecutor General. It concerns five large German corporations, including the discounter Lidl, and is directed against responsible employees. The ARD political magazine Report Mainz and the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) have exclusive access to the complaint.
On about 100 pages, the human rights activists try to substantiate the accusation that responsible employees of the five companies have made themselves suspect of aiding and abetting the crime against humanity of enslavement. This is because the companies have maintained direct or indirect supply relationships with textile companies in Xinjiang in recent years, for which there is evidence of the use of forced laborers. read more