Atiyah Abd al-Rahman rose to his position after Osama Bin Laden was killed in raid on compound in May Al-Qaida’s second-in-command has been killed in Pakistan, delivering a “major blow” to the terrorist group still reeling from the death of Osama bin Laden, American officials said on Saturday. Libyan national Atiyah Abd al-Rahman rose to his position when Ayman al-Zawahiri took command after Bin Laden was killed in a raid on his Pakistani compound in May. Officials did not reveal how al-Rahman was killed but said it happened on 22 August in Waziristan, north-west Pakistan, where members of al-Qaida are thought to be hiding out. A CIA drone strike was reported that day. “Atiyah’s death is a tremendous loss for al-Qaida, because [Zawahiri] was relying heavily on him to help guide and run the organisation, especially since Bin Laden’s death,” one American official said. “The trove of materials from Bin Laden’s compound showed clearly that Atiyah was deeply involved in directing al-Qaida’s operations even before the raid. He had multiple responsibilities in the organisation and will be very difficult to replace.” Since bin Laden’s death, counterterrorism officials have hoped to capitalise on al-Qaida’s unsettled leadership. The more uncertain the structure, the harder it is for them to operate covertly and plan attacks. Another official added: “There’s no question this is a major blow to al-Qaida. Atiyah was at the top of al-Qaida’s trusted core.” US defence secretary Leon Panetta said on a visit to Afghanistan last month that he believed the strategic defeat of al-Qaida was within reach if the United States could kill or capture up to 20 remaining leaders of the core group and its affiliates. “Now is the moment, following what happened with bin Laden, to put maximum pressure on them,” he said. Al-Rahman joined Bin Laden as a teenager in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union. He once served as Bin Laden’s personal emissary to Iran. Al-Rahman was allowed to move freely in and out of Iran as part of that arrangement and has been operating out of Waziristan for some time, officials have said. al-Qaida Pakistan United States guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• Five people die as Hurricane Irene lashes US east coast • Two million homes without power as Irene tracks north • New York braced for storm-surge flooding and high winds • Irene downgraded to category one hurricane • Read the latest summary here • Read our latest news story on Irene • Follow me on Twitter @MatthewWells • Email me at matt.wells@guardian.co.uk 8.01pm ET: While I took a break from the liveblogging hotseat earlier, I went out for a walk around Tribeca, where I live, and down to the shore of the Hudson. Night has fallen now, and the rain is lashing down. But a few hours ago, you can see from this video – usually teeming with ferries and other craft – that the river was as calm as a millpond. 7.44pm ET: More on the growing concern over the New York mayor’s attitude to Rikers Island . At a press conference earlier, he breezily dismissed a reporter’s question about why the 17,000 prisoners on the island were not being evacuated, despite being in the evacuation zone. Tonight, City Hall has put out a more reasoned explanation of why the inmates on Rikers are staying put. “Rikers Island does not touch the Atlantic Ocean and, like Manhattan Island, Roosevelt Island and City Island, it does not need to be evacuated, according to a spokeman for the mayor’s office told the Wall Street Journal . 7.40pm ET: While we gear up for a big night in New York, Irene will pass by the US capital, Washington , first. The Weather Channel is forecasting hurricane-force winds heading for Washington and Baltimore now. Ewen Macaskill , our chief Washington correspondent, another Scot on the Guardian US team, has just been out for a walk around the streets. He reports: It is wet but no worse than typical day in Glasgow, it definitely does not feel anything like a hurricane. But it is supposed to get worse in the next hour or so. I called into my local, which had plenty of people in it, but it was just closing up: I suppose the staff want to go home early, given the forecast. Many people have opted to stay at home. Having said that, there are lots of cars on the road and many of people wandering about the city. 7.00pm ET: Good evening and welcome to our continuing coverage of hurricane Irene’s track up the Atlantic coast of the United States, with New York braced for a night of heavy winds and potentially damaging storm surges. This is Matt Wells live blogging from Lower Manhattan – right in the middle of the area where the storm surges are expected to hit. Fortunately, I’m nine floors up. You can catch up with our earlier coverage here. Here’s a summary of events so far. • At least five fatalities have now been attributed to the storm. Three of these deaths were caused, directly or indirectly, by trees felled by high winds. In Florida, a surfer was killed while attempting to take advantage of the hurricane-powered waves. • Approximately 1 million Americans – in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and DC – are without electricity. The mayor of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania has warned citizens that outages could last for days, even weeks. As Irene heads north, that number is likely to grow. • Hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate coastal and low-lying areas along the eastern seaboard. As many as 1 million people have left the Jersey shore . In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has warned that “we are going to break down doors if we have to” to enforce the evacuation. • Transport has ground to a virtual halt on the east coast. Some 9,000 flights have been cancelled from affected airports. In New York, all public transport has closed down until Monday . • Despite Irene losing force, downgraded to category 1, storm surges and heavy rains are creating danger of widespread flooding. In northern New England, Vermont’s governor has declared a state of emergency, with flooding predicted in every river in the state. Hurricane Irene Natural disasters and extreme weather United States Matt Wells guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The mighty baseball bat could soon be brought low by bugs—unless a USDA plan to instigate some bug warfare succeeds. Meet the emerald ash borer, or EAB, a beetle that recently began infesting New York’s forests and feeding on its ash trees. And since roughly 50% of major leaguers…
Continue reading …
Lawyer for Tom Condliff, a retired police officer, says human rights appeal to Strasbourg will go ahead to clarify law A health authority that refused to pay for a 22-stone man to be fitted with a gastric band has said it will now fund the operation, in a move that has potentially wide-ranging legal ramifications for future claims by obese people. Tom Condliff, a 62-year-old retired police officer, was told by the North Staffordshire primary care trust (PCT) that it would not pay for the £5,500, life-saving operation. Condliff fought the decision in court, arguing that many other health authorities would have paid for his operation under national guidelines, but judges ruled against him . However, the trust has now said it will fund the operation on the grounds that Condliff, who has a needle phobia and type 2 diabetes, is an “exceptional” case. “I really believe that the operation will save the PCT money,” Condliff said. “The operation will cost the PCT £5,500. At the moment my symptoms, particularly my diabetes, kidney and liver functions, are getting worse week by week and the more ill I become the more support and care I need from the PCT, so the cost of my care without the operation would just keep increasing.” The U-turn is likely to encourage other morbidly obese people to bring similar claims. It is predicted an increasing number of people will need similar surgery as obesity levels in the UK soar. Health researchers predicted last week that the number of obese adults will rise by 73% over the next two decades, from 15 million to 26 million, resulting in more than a million extra cases of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. “I think that my case is a sad indictment of what seems to be happening within some parts of the NHS,” Condliff said. “The litigation has been very difficult for me, and I think it is wrong that people have to resort to legal action to get the treatment.” In a move that will see the rights of obese people placed firmly on the legal agenda, Oliver Wright, Condliff’s solicitor, said he would appeal against the trust’s initial refusal to pay for the operation to the European Court of Human Rights. “The law, as it currently stands, is out of kilter with article 8 of the Human Rights Act [respect for private and family life] and European
Continue reading …
Thinktank tracked 30,000 people across four decades and says parental discipline is big factor in cutting alcohol problems Poor parenting significantly increases the likelihood that children will grow up to be binge drinkers, according to the findings of a controversial study. The thinktank Demos, which tracked the lives of 30,000 people across four decades, found that high levels of parental warmth and attachment until the age of 10, combined with strict discipline by the time they are 16, play a powerful role in reducing the likelihood that a child would go on to be a binge drinker. The findings will chime with claims from the right that many of society’s problems are attributable to inadequate parenting. But it is unusual for a left-of-centre thinktank with historically close links to the Labour party to identify dysfunctional parenting as one of modern society’s most high-profile problems. Advocating a traditional “tough love” style of parenting, Demos claims its research suggests that high levels of attachment between parents and pre-fives significantly reduce the chances a child will drink excessively. It warns that bad parenting at age 10 makes a child twice as likely to drink excessively in their 30s. But it is during the teenage years that “tough love” parenting seems to exert its most crucial influence. Demos claims a 16-year-old child is more than eight times more likely to drink excessively if there are poor levels of parenting. They are more than twice as likely to drink excessively in their 30s. “The enduring impact of parenting on a child’s future relationship with alcohol cannot be ignored,” said Jamie Bartlett, author of the report. “This is good for parents: those difficult moments of enforcing tough rules really do make a difference, even if it doesn’t always feel like that at the time.” Levels of binge drinking in the UK have been dropping since 2000. But Bartlett said the media’s infatuation “with a boozed-up Britain” had made the “culture of a binge-drinking minority more extreme, and more public”. The thinktank suggested a number of measures parents could take. These include not appearing drunk in front of their children and resisting having a relaxed attitude to under-age consumption. Demos also recommends that alcohol should be discussed in the context of setting firm boundaries, with children encouraged to develop “sensible and responsible” expectations of consumption. Alcohol in the home should be monitored and teenagers prevented from having access to it. However, Demos also called for the government to help parents by making it harder for children to obtain alcohol and by ensuring sales to under-age drinkers were better policed. Research shows that young people who buy their own alcohol are especially at risk of becoming problem drinkers, while strictly enforced laws strengthen the social norm that under-age drinking is unacceptable. One of the thinktank’s more radical suggestions is to spread the six-week school summer holiday throughout the year and provide activities for at-risk children. Bartlett said: “For children whose parents may be disengaged, very practical measures like spreading the school summer holiday throughout the year, and providing activities for children in the school breaks, will go some way to preventing boredom and avoiding risky behaviour like under-age drinking.” Demos’s research was based on a statistical analysis of two sets of data, involving more than 30,000 children born during the past 40 years, including the respected 1970 British Cohort
Continue reading …
Imperial College team says government is ‘seriously undermining’ anti-tobacco campaign Health experts have accused the government of spending more on subsidising American films that contain smoking scenes than on anti-tobacco campaigns. Researchers at Imperial College London calculated that between 2003 and 2009, £338m of tax credits in Britain went to US-produced films with imagery “promoting” tobacco use. Foreign film-makers receive 16% tax relief against their British production costs if more than a quarter of their budget is spent in Britain. More than three-quarters of British film subsidies go to US production companies. “In the period we looked at, the government gave £48m a year in tax credits to American films that feature smoking, almost all of which were rated suitable for children and adolescents,” said Christopher Millett, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. “By comparison, the government spent £23m a year on mass media anti-smoking campaigns.” Research has shown that young people heavily exposed to tobacco imagery in films are more likely to begin smoking than those who are only lightly exposed. This led the World Health Organisation (WHO) to recommend in 2009 that films with scenes of smoking should be given an adult content rating, creating an economic incentive for producers to leave smoking out of their films. But in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, the Imperial team says its findings show the recommendation has been largely ignored in the UK, US and Canada. They accuse all three governments of underwriting many films that promote youth smoking with public subsidies. They estimate that of the “high-grossing” films that had their tobacco content monitored, 66% featured tobacco imagery. More than half (57%) containing scenes of smoking were rated U, PG or 12A, and only 8% were given an 18 certificate. Recent UK-subsidised films featuring smoking include Mamma Mia! , Nine , Quantum of Solace , Sherlock Holmes and The Wolfman . Millett said that by “promoting smoking in films” the government was “seriously undermining” tobacco control efforts. “We think film subsidy programmes should be harmonised with public health goals by making films with tobacco imagery ineligible for public subsidies,” Millett said. “This wouldn’t cost anything to implement so in the current financial climate it should be an attractive policy option.” His comments were echoed by Martin Dockrell, director of research at Action on Smoking and Health. “The research is clear: the more a young person sees smoking in films the more likely they are to try smoking themselves,” he said. “This study reveals the astonishing fact that the government has spent an average of almost £50m a year subsidising films that encourage children to smoke, more than twice as much as they spent on advertising supporting people to quit.” The previous Labour government published a tobacco control strategy that recommended smoking “must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorised in other programmes likely to be widely seen or heard by under-18s unless there is editorial justification”. But health campaigners attacked the recommendations for being too vague and falling significantly short of actions proposed by the WHO. “This year the government promised to look at what more could be done to tackle the role of TV and films in stimulating smoking among children,” Dockrell said. “At the moment we have a film funding system that makes the problem worse., by investing millions in films made for young people that have the effect of encouraging them to smoke.” Smoking Tobacco industry Health World Health Organisation Film industry Jamie Doward guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Imperial College team says government is ‘seriously undermining’ anti-tobacco campaign Health experts have accused the government of spending more on subsidising American films that contain smoking scenes than on anti-tobacco campaigns. Researchers at Imperial College London calculated that between 2003 and 2009, £338m of tax credits in Britain went to US-produced films with imagery “promoting” tobacco use. Foreign film-makers receive 16% tax relief against their British production costs if more than a quarter of their budget is spent in Britain. More than three-quarters of British film subsidies go to US production companies. “In the period we looked at, the government gave £48m a year in tax credits to American films that feature smoking, almost all of which were rated suitable for children and adolescents,” said Christopher Millett, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. “By comparison, the government spent £23m a year on mass media anti-smoking campaigns.” Research has shown that young people heavily exposed to tobacco imagery in films are more likely to begin smoking than those who are only lightly exposed. This led the World Health Organisation (WHO) to recommend in 2009 that films with scenes of smoking should be given an adult content rating, creating an economic incentive for producers to leave smoking out of their films. But in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, the Imperial team says its findings show the recommendation has been largely ignored in the UK, US and Canada. They accuse all three governments of underwriting many films that promote youth smoking with public subsidies. They estimate that of the “high-grossing” films that had their tobacco content monitored, 66% featured tobacco imagery. More than half (57%) containing scenes of smoking were rated U, PG or 12A, and only 8% were given an 18 certificate. Recent UK-subsidised films featuring smoking include Mamma Mia! , Nine , Quantum of Solace , Sherlock Holmes and The Wolfman . Millett said that by “promoting smoking in films” the government was “seriously undermining” tobacco control efforts. “We think film subsidy programmes should be harmonised with public health goals by making films with tobacco imagery ineligible for public subsidies,” Millett said. “This wouldn’t cost anything to implement so in the current financial climate it should be an attractive policy option.” His comments were echoed by Martin Dockrell, director of research at Action on Smoking and Health. “The research is clear: the more a young person sees smoking in films the more likely they are to try smoking themselves,” he said. “This study reveals the astonishing fact that the government has spent an average of almost £50m a year subsidising films that encourage children to smoke, more than twice as much as they spent on advertising supporting people to quit.” The previous Labour government published a tobacco control strategy that recommended smoking “must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorised in other programmes likely to be widely seen or heard by under-18s unless there is editorial justification”. But health campaigners attacked the recommendations for being too vague and falling significantly short of actions proposed by the WHO. “This year the government promised to look at what more could be done to tackle the role of TV and films in stimulating smoking among children,” Dockrell said. “At the moment we have a film funding system that makes the problem worse., by investing millions in films made for young people that have the effect of encouraging them to smoke.” Smoking Tobacco industry Health World Health Organisation Film industry Jamie Doward guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Human rights campaigners say Chinese factories using children as young as 14 and that workers forced to do overtime Disney’s best-selling Cars toys are being made in a factory in China that uses child labour and forces staff to do three times the amount of overtime allowed by law, according to an investigation. One worker reportedly killed herself after being repeatedly shouted at by bosses. Others cited worries over poisonous chemicals. Disney has now launched its own investigation. It is claimed some of the 6,000 employees have to work an extra 120 hours every month to meet demand from western shops for the latest toys. The factory, called Sturdy Products, makes toys for the giant Mattel company, which last month announced quarterly profits of £48m on the back of strong sales of Barbie dolls and Cars 2 toys. Sturdy Products, in the city of Shenzhen, also makes toys for US superstore chain Walmart. Among the brands produced are the Thomas the Tank Engine range, Matchbox cars, Cars , Toy Story , Barbie and Fisher Price products, Scrabble and the Hot Wheels sets. The undercover investigation was carried out with the help of human rights group Sacom (Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour), which helped to expose abuses in Apple’s Foxconn plant in China this year. Workers were interviewed away from the factory, and an investigator then spent a month working inside it to gather more information. He found evidence of the use of child labour and illegal working hours, along with concerns over the use of poisonous chemicals. Sacom’s accusations against the factory include: ■ The employment of a 14-year-old. Staff also reported the presence of other child workers, according to the investigator. ■ Routine excessive overtime. Employees produced a “voluntary” document they said they had to sign agreeing to work beyond the maximum overtime legal limit of 36 hours a month, along with wage slips that suggested they were averaging 120 hours of overtime a month. ■ A harsh working environment in which workers complained of mistreatment by management. One worker injured on the production line was shouted at and ordered back to work despite needing medical treatment. ■ Concerns about the chemicals in use and poor ventilation. Employees claimed three workers had fallen ill. They said they had to hide pots of adhesive and thinners during audits of the factory by its client companies. ■ They also claimed that they were paid by the factory to give misleading answers during audits and that they were fined for failing to hit targets. The calculation of wages for different workers was described by Sacom as arbitrary. Concerns were raised about conditions at Sturdy Products when a 45-year-old female employee, Hu Nianzhen, jumped to her death from a factory building in May after she was allegedly shouted at by managers. Colleagues subsequently described the environment in the factory as tense and complained about the demanding workload. “A female worker committed suicide,” one said, “because she was always scolded. However, I feel helpless because it is not easy for me to find another job.” The allegations are sure to concern many parents whose children are pestering them to buy the extensive range of Cars 2 toys launched to coincide with the movie, which hit UK cinema screens in July. Cars 2 has so far grossed £303m worldwide, overtaking the original movie despite being panned by critics. The poor reviews have not hindered sales of the merchandise, which Disney expects to exceed the £1.7bn spent last year on Toy Story 3 merchandise. Cars 2 toys will compete with Transformers and Smurfs items as the must-have Christmas toys. But Sacom said that parents should think twice before buying the toys. A spokeswoman said: “Mattel, Walmart and Disney, the renowned toy companies, always claim they strictly comply with local laws and adhere to their respective code of conduct. The rampant violations at Sturdy Products, including excessive overtime, arbitrary wages, unfair punitive fines, child labour and negligence of occupational health, prove that the pledges are empty statements. There is no effective enforcement mechanism and remedies for workers at all.” She said the violations exposed the failings of the International Council of Toy Industries, which is supposed to police the industry. “Consumers could never expect that the lovely toys which bring joy to children are manufactured in such deplorable conditions. They should convey messages to toy companies including Mattel, Walmart and Disney to launch remedial actions to compensate the wronged workers. Without remedies, there is no cost for labour rights violations.” She said the companies should already have been aware of the dangers of dealing with Sturdy Products after a previous investigation in 2007 uncovered similar problems. That investigation also found a six-day working week, with staff working up to 288 hours a month. During peak periods there was a compulsory seven-day week and the company was found to be failing to pay the minimum wage. Investigators said that some employees had attempted to raise awareness of the abuses by setting up their own group to inspire colleagues to fight for their rights. Sturdy Products’ parent company, Winson, failed to respond to requests to discuss the allegations. Walmart issued a statement in which it said: “As soon as we learned of the allegations of human rights abuses at the Sturdy Products factory, we immediately launched an investigation. We are also in contact with the International Council of Toy Industries, a worldwide toy industry organisation that is also investigating this issue. We take reports like this very seriously and we will implement a corrective action plan if our investigations confirm any of the findings. “We remain committed to sourcing merchandise that is produced responsibly by suppliers that adhere to Walmart’s rigorous Standards for Suppliers code of conduct.” Disney said: “We take these matters impacting our licensees and business partners very seriously and will continue to evaluate this situation based upon the information available to us.” Mattel declined to comment directly on any of the allegations other than to note that the company was “deeply saddened” by the suicide but that, while it was “very tragic”, it was an isolated event and local authorities had found nothing suspicious about the circumstances. The company said it had carried out a detailed investigation. It said it was committed to working collaboratively through the International Council of Toy Industries’ Care (Caring, Awareness, Responsible, Ethical) process “to achieve continuous improvements in factory working conditions”. Sacom’s findings brought a rebuke from the International Council of Toy Industries’ Care Foundation. “We are the first to concede that much more work lies ahead of us, but we refuse to accept the sensationalist, media-oriented declarations of any group, especially when they are carping and filled with incorrect information. It is simply counter-productive,” the foundation said. “The plain truth is that workers in many toy factories in China are better off now than they were before and that this is due in considerable part to the ICTI Care Process.” China Child labour Walt Disney Company United States Human rights Gethin Chamberlain guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Human rights campaigners say Chinese factories using children as young as 14 and that workers forced to do overtime Disney’s best-selling Cars toys are being made in a factory in China that uses child labour and forces staff to do three times the amount of overtime allowed by law, according to an investigation. One worker reportedly killed herself after being repeatedly shouted at by bosses. Others cited worries over poisonous chemicals. Disney has now launched its own investigation. It is claimed some of the 6,000 employees have to work an extra 120 hours every month to meet demand from western shops for the latest toys. The factory, called Sturdy Products, makes toys for the giant Mattel company, which last month announced quarterly profits of £48m on the back of strong sales of Barbie dolls and Cars 2 toys. Sturdy Products, in the city of Shenzhen, also makes toys for US superstore chain Walmart. Among the brands produced are the Thomas the Tank Engine range, Matchbox cars, Cars , Toy Story , Barbie and Fisher Price products, Scrabble and the Hot Wheels sets. The undercover investigation was carried out with the help of human rights group Sacom (Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour), which helped to expose abuses in Apple’s Foxconn plant in China this year. Workers were interviewed away from the factory, and an investigator then spent a month working inside it to gather more information. He found evidence of the use of child labour and illegal working hours, along with concerns over the use of poisonous chemicals. Sacom’s accusations against the factory include: ■ The employment of a 14-year-old. Staff also reported the presence of other child workers, according to the investigator. ■ Routine excessive overtime. Employees produced a “voluntary” document they said they had to sign agreeing to work beyond the maximum overtime legal limit of 36 hours a month, along with wage slips that suggested they were averaging 120 hours of overtime a month. ■ A harsh working environment in which workers complained of mistreatment by management. One worker injured on the production line was shouted at and ordered back to work despite needing medical treatment. ■ Concerns about the chemicals in use and poor ventilation. Employees claimed three workers had fallen ill. They said they had to hide pots of adhesive and thinners during audits of the factory by its client companies. ■ They also claimed that they were paid by the factory to give misleading answers during audits and that they were fined for failing to hit targets. The calculation of wages for different workers was described by Sacom as arbitrary. Concerns were raised about conditions at Sturdy Products when a 45-year-old female employee, Hu Nianzhen, jumped to her death from a factory building in May after she was allegedly shouted at by managers. Colleagues subsequently described the environment in the factory as tense and complained about the demanding workload. “A female worker committed suicide,” one said, “because she was always scolded. However, I feel helpless because it is not easy for me to find another job.” The allegations are sure to concern many parents whose children are pestering them to buy the extensive range of Cars 2 toys launched to coincide with the movie, which hit UK cinema screens in July. Cars 2 has so far grossed £303m worldwide, overtaking the original movie despite being panned by critics. The poor reviews have not hindered sales of the merchandise, which Disney expects to exceed the £1.7bn spent last year on Toy Story 3 merchandise. Cars 2 toys will compete with Transformers and Smurfs items as the must-have Christmas toys. But Sacom said that parents should think twice before buying the toys. A spokeswoman said: “Mattel, Walmart and Disney, the renowned toy companies, always claim they strictly comply with local laws and adhere to their respective code of conduct. The rampant violations at Sturdy Products, including excessive overtime, arbitrary wages, unfair punitive fines, child labour and negligence of occupational health, prove that the pledges are empty statements. There is no effective enforcement mechanism and remedies for workers at all.” She said the violations exposed the failings of the International Council of Toy Industries, which is supposed to police the industry. “Consumers could never expect that the lovely toys which bring joy to children are manufactured in such deplorable conditions. They should convey messages to toy companies including Mattel, Walmart and Disney to launch remedial actions to compensate the wronged workers. Without remedies, there is no cost for labour rights violations.” She said the companies should already have been aware of the dangers of dealing with Sturdy Products after a previous investigation in 2007 uncovered similar problems. That investigation also found a six-day working week, with staff working up to 288 hours a month. During peak periods there was a compulsory seven-day week and the company was found to be failing to pay the minimum wage. Investigators said that some employees had attempted to raise awareness of the abuses by setting up their own group to inspire colleagues to fight for their rights. Sturdy Products’ parent company, Winson, failed to respond to requests to discuss the allegations. Walmart issued a statement in which it said: “As soon as we learned of the allegations of human rights abuses at the Sturdy Products factory, we immediately launched an investigation. We are also in contact with the International Council of Toy Industries, a worldwide toy industry organisation that is also investigating this issue. We take reports like this very seriously and we will implement a corrective action plan if our investigations confirm any of the findings. “We remain committed to sourcing merchandise that is produced responsibly by suppliers that adhere to Walmart’s rigorous Standards for Suppliers code of conduct.” Disney said: “We take these matters impacting our licensees and business partners very seriously and will continue to evaluate this situation based upon the information available to us.” Mattel declined to comment directly on any of the allegations other than to note that the company was “deeply saddened” by the suicide but that, while it was “very tragic”, it was an isolated event and local authorities had found nothing suspicious about the circumstances. The company said it had carried out a detailed investigation. It said it was committed to working collaboratively through the International Council of Toy Industries’ Care (Caring, Awareness, Responsible, Ethical) process “to achieve continuous improvements in factory working conditions”. Sacom’s findings brought a rebuke from the International Council of Toy Industries’ Care Foundation. “We are the first to concede that much more work lies ahead of us, but we refuse to accept the sensationalist, media-oriented declarations of any group, especially when they are carping and filled with incorrect information. It is simply counter-productive,” the foundation said. “The plain truth is that workers in many toy factories in China are better off now than they were before and that this is due in considerable part to the ICTI Care Process.” China Child labour Walt Disney Company United States Human rights Gethin Chamberlain guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …