By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Questions of worker safety and possible foul play are raised after seven workers die in blaze at a small factory in Bangladesh.

On Saturday, a fire ravaged a small factory owned by Smart Exports Garment Ltd in the Dhaka metropolitan area.  Roughly 50 people were injured in the stampede, 6 had to be rushed to the hospital and at least 7 women workers were found trampled to death amidst the chaos.

Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, Kalpona Akter, reported that Smart Exports Garment Ltd had been subcontracted to fill orders by other garment factories.  This particular company was not a member of the Bangladesh garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association.  Lacking membership, the company was unlicensed by fire prevention and labor governing bodies.

Factory worker, Raushan Ara, reported to a local newspaper that the emergency exit was locked when workers tried to flee the blaze.  Spectators reported that some of the trapped workers attempted to jump out of second story windows.

Jahangir Kabir Nanak, a government official, has been assigned to investigate the possibility of foul play due to the allegations that the emergency exit was locked, trapping many of the workers inside the factor during the fire.

Altaf Hossain, father of one of the casualties sustained in the fire, is seeking legal action, bringing cases of negligence against three of the directors of the factory.  The police have begun their own independent investigation into the alleged crimes.

Abdul Halim, a fire official, has reported that the actual cause of the fire continues to remain a mystery as the fire department continues their investigation.  Preliminary findings suggest that the fire was caused by electrical short circuit in the upper floor of the two-story building.

International labor rights groups, including The Worker Rights Consortium, Clean Clothes Campaign, the Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights, and the International Labor Rights Forum, have called for better accountability in the apparel industry to improve garment workers’ rights in this part of the world.

The large brand companies that contract these factories to make their clothing continue to keep their internal audit and investigation results secret, marginalize trade unions, and simply walk away from these types of tragedies when convenient.

Bangladesh currently operates roughly 4,500 garment factories and is one of the world’s largest exporters of clothing.  The garment manufacturing industry currently makes up about 80% of Bangladesh’s $24 billion in annual exports.

It is unclear whether or not the clothing made in this particular factory was destined for western markets as initial reports have been conflicting.  This tragedy comes merely two months after one of Bangladesh’s worst factory fires which occurred in the Tazreen Fashions Ltd factory, killing 112 workers and injuring 150 others.

For further information, please see:

The Global Times – Foreign labels found in latest Bangladesh factory fire – 27 January 2013

The Times of Northwestern India – Bangladesh probing if factory’s 1 exit was locked – 27 January 2013

Reuters – Labor rights groups seek action after Bangladesh factory blaze – 27 January 2013

Belfast Telegraph – Bangladesh factory fire kills seven – 26 January 2013

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Yesterday, Apple terminated its contract with Chinese circuit manufacturer, Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics Co. Ltd., after learning that seventy-four (74) workers were underage.

“Given the high turnover rate in the factories and the production pressure in the peak season, the factories may not strictly comply with labor laws and the code of conduct,” shared Debby Chan, a spokeswoman for Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior.

After being criticized for working conditions of suppliers including Foxconn, Apple joined the Fair Labor Association last year.

Apple has conducted three hundred and ninety three (393) audits, a 72% increase from 2011, of its suppliers as part of its investigation of staff working conditions.

Per The Telegraph, Apple has audited both small and subsidiary suppliers and larger ones such as Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, for working conditions. From the foregoing audits, Apple learned that 95% of the sites conformed with underage labor requirements.

According to BBC News, Apple relayed that a regional recruitment company, Shenzhen Quanshun Human Resources Co., Ltd., provided the underage workers to PZ and even supplied said workers with false identity papers.  As a result, Shenzhen Quanshun Human Resources Co., Ltd.’s business license has been revoked.

Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics Co Ltd, or PZ, makes “a standard circuit board component used by many other companies in other industries,” read a report. Moreover, the report stated that 92% of the 1.5 million workers covered by the audit worked a maximum of 60 hours per week.

“We go deep in the supply chain to find it,” explained Jeff Williams, Apple’s Senior Vice-President of Operations.  “And when we do find it, we ensure that the under-age workers are taken care of, the suppliers are dealt with,” continued Mr. Williams.

In October 2012, Foxconn, a China-based iPhone and iPad manufacturer, Foxconn confessed to hiring 14-year-old interns in one of its factories.

“We recognise that full responsibility for these violations rests with our company and we have apologised to each of the students for our role in this action,” read a statement Foxconn issued.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Under-age workers found in Apple supply audit – January 25, 2013

Bloomberg – Apple Says China Agent Forged Papers for Underage Workers – January 25, 2013

The Telegraph – Apple audit finds underage workers in China – January 25, 2013

 

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Yesterday, former Nepalese Colonel Kumar Lama, 46, appeared at a 40-minute preliminary hearing before Judge Fulford in London’s Old Bailey Court for two charges of torture.

Mr. Lama, a current British resident, is accused of inflicting severe pain or suffering while commanding a Nepalese army barracks in 2005. According to The Guardian, the purported crimes occurred at the Gorusinghe army barracks in Kapilvastu, Nepal, between April 15, 2005 and May 1, 2005.

The charges against Mr. Lama relate to two men, Janak Bahadur Raut and Karam Hussain, under the Criminal Justice Act of 1988, Section 134.

According to France 24, London’s Metropolitan Police clarified that because torture is a crime prosecuted under international jurisdiction, they were required to arrest Mr. Lama. A prior concern was that the alleged crimes occurred in Nepal and therefore, London authorities possessed no right to detain Mr. Lama.

Nonetheless, London’s Metropolitan Police stated that no charges have been brought by the Nepalese authorities, who are currently demanding Mr. Lama’s release.

If jurisdiction holds, Mr. Lama’s case will be the first in Nepal’s history that a serving security officer has been arrested in foreign land in human rights violation case under universal jurisdiction.

The provisional date for the trial is June 2, 2013, in London’s Kingston Crown Court and is an projected to last between four and six weeks. A case management and plea hearing will is set for May 10, 2013. Mr. Lama is currently in custody after the court denied his application for bail.

“We have no option except waiting for the next hearing and subsequent court ruling,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha relayed to The Himalayan Times.

To defend Mr. Lama, Nepal’s embassy in England hired London solicitor on criminal justice, Caplan and his Kingsley Napley firm associate, Barness. Prior to his representation of Mr. Lama, Mr. Caplan defended Former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet.

Neither the police nor the Crown Prosecution Service gave additional information regarding the case’s background or the circumstances until said information arrives in court.

Before his arrest last year, Mr. Lama served as a UN peacekeeper in South Sudan and was to return.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Nepal torture suspect appears in court – January 24, 2013

The Himalayan Times – London court dismisses Col Lama’s bail plea – January 24, 2013

France 24 – Nepalese colonel to face torture trial in London – January 24, 2013