Appeal over High Court ruling allowing Uyghur ‘atrocity cotton’ into UK

17.04.24: Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and with the World Uyghur Congress are to appeal a 2023 High Court ruling in favour of the UK government which could have the effect of green lighting importation of cotton produced by captive Uyghurs in East Turkistan (Xinjiang, China). The hearing is scheduled to take place during the second week of May at the Court of Appeal.

The High Court accepted the UK government’s position on ‘adequate consideration’; in effect the ruling means importers cannot be prosecuted for knowingly acquiring the product of atrocity crimes so long as they pay market price. This position makes the UK an international outlier and a safe haven for importers of goods produced as a result of crimes against humanity, and genocide. The UK and Ireland are currently permitting a flood of cotton produced by Uyghur detainees to cross their borders. The majority of high street cotton is implicated with consumers unwittingly buying clothes and goods from cotton produced as part of ongoing atrocity crimes.

Our case challenges the failure of UK’s National Crime Agency to prevent the importation of forced labour cotton by investigating importing companies. The judgment was handed down in favour of the UK authorities, who have the power to investigate these imports but refuse to do so.

The Chinese detention programme is the largest since World War II. It aims to eradicate the culture of the Uyghurs, a minority group in China. Detainees are subjected to torture, abuse and forced labour. UK MPs and several countries, including the US, Canada and the Netherlands have declared this programme to be genocide and accused China of crimes against humanity. Millions of Uyghurs are now detained and forced to produce cotton which evidence suggests ends up in UK high street stores such as Uniqlo and Zara. The UK authorities could determine this as part of an investigation but have refused.

GLAN lawyer Dearbhla Minogue said, “UK consumers are entitled to expect that they are not unwittingly buying cotton produced through atrocity crimes – the National Crime Agency must help ensure this by investigating clearly available lines of inquiry, including by questioning UK companies who list implicated Chinese companies on their supplier lists.”

Rahima Mahmut UK Director, World Uyghur Congress, said, “We have been fighting for justice for the last 7-years, yet the scale of goods produced through Uyghur forced labour is increasing. It’s not just what the CCP is doing, but the complicity of others that is enabling the genocide of my people. The UK has become a dumping ground, and consumers are systematically exposed to goods tainted by Uyghur forced labour. This case is about accountability. Doing nothing enables the CCP to continue profiting from these atrocities. The US and the EU have enough evidence to ban goods from the region – for Government lawyers to say they need more evidence of a link before they act is absurd.”