VZCZCXRO3545
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0099 0231227
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231227Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1396
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0407
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE VIENNA AU
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

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