Following the filing of a complaint against fashion brands in April 2021, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecution Office had opened a preliminary investigation into concealment of crimes against humanity led by the Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes. On 12 April 2023, the Public prosecutor closed the inquiry, on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction to prosecute this type of offence. Our organisations regret this change of position of the prosecutor’s office, two years after they had decided to open an investigation on this specific legal ground.

The complaint filed yesterday is based on the offence of concealment of 4 crimes: crimes against humanity, genocide, aggravated bondage and human trafficking in an organised gang. NGOs are asking for a judicial investigation to be opened to shed light on the responsibilities of multinational garment companies allegedly profiting from Uyghurs forced labour for the manufacture of their products.

20% of the world’s cotton production originates from the Uyghur region, so 1 in 5 cotton garments could be tainted by Uyghur forced labour. Multinational companies who use cotton from the region or resort to subcontractors benefiting from Chinese government programmes cannot ignore that their products could be made with Uyghur forced labour. By marketing these products, the fashion industry is profiting from the serious crimes committed against this population.

As the repression of Uyghurs persists, and in the face of the weak responses of third States, the courts could play a key part in shedding light on the responsibility of economic actors who could profit from the genocide...