Human Rights and Labor Activist Fr. Christopher Hartley Urges Corporate Executives...

Human Rights and Labor Activist Fr. Christopher Hartley Urges Corporate
Executives and the European Commission to Ban Future Sugar Purchases from the
Dominican Republic

MADRID, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A groundbreaking report by the US Department
of Labor lists countries and products worldwide where the worst forms of labor
abuses have been documented. Sugarcane production in the Dominican Republic
was specifically mentioned for child labor and forced labor practices, among
other abuses, corroborating the repeated denunciations made by Fr. Christopher
Hartley of human rights and labor violations on Dominican sugar plantations.
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2009TVPRA.pdf

Fr. Hartley has written to company executives at major European sugar
refiners, Tate & Lyle, St. Louis Sucre and Tereos, urging them to examine
their stance on human rights in light of recent purchases of Dominican sugar
under the new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union
(EU) and African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) nations. Fr. Hartley also contacted
the European Commission regarding the ramifications of an agreement allowing
procurement of a product grown and harvested by human beings who lack basic
rights.

"This is the first time ever that sugar harvested in the Dominican Republic is
available in the EU marketplace," says Fr. Hartley. "And for the first time
ever, that same Dominican sugar - knowingly produced in violation of
international human rights principles, Fairtrade standards, and the mandate
and spirit of the EPA - will be stirred into the morning coffee of millions of
European consumers."

Fr. Hartley raises hard-hitting questions as to oversight of Dominican
producers and EU purchasers, noting that Fairtrade certified companies are now
able to introduce "un-Fairtrade" sugar into their product line without
sanction. Questions also loom for the EC regarding scrutiny of EPA purchasers
as to adherence to self-advertised claims of social responsibility, the human
rights practices of their new suppliers, and individual corporate
accountability, as well as the accountability of the EU/EC, especially in
determining "eligibility" of EPA suppliers, and conformity to the intent and
spirit of the EPA itself.

"... Haitian children plant and cut sugarcane. Many Haitian adults and
children live in sugarcane worker villages referred to as 'bateyes,' which
lack adequate housing conditions, access to medical services, and other basic
needs, and are rife with exploitive child labor. Dominican-born children from
parents of Haitian descent are regularly denied citizenship or legal identity
documents which preclude access to education beyond the fourth grade, formal
sectors jobs, and other basic rights." - US DOL: "Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor," p. 64,
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2008OCFTreport.pdf

Citing it as a human rights imperative, as well as good business, Fr. Hartley
urged the companies and their boards to make future purchases of Dominican
sugar contingent upon rectification of human rights abuses and slave-like
labor conditions on the principal plantations in the Dominican Republic: the
state-owned CEA, and those privately owned and operated by the Fanjul,
Campollo and Vicini families.

To date, none of the three companies has agreed to accept Fr. Hartley's
challenge that they "take the lead" and boycott Dominican sugar for as long as
human rights and labor violations remain in effect. In a 9/15/09 response on
behalf of the EC, a Commission official acknowledged the seriousness of the
situation but added that the EPA "does not deal specifically with migration
issues or the verification of fair trade labelling."

To download a copy of Fr. Hartley's report "New Forms of Human Rights Abuses
on Vicini Company Sugar Cane Plantations, Current Harvest (2008-2009)
Dominican Republic," August 31, 2009, go to
http://www.ereleases.com/pr/2009-Hartley.pdf.

Press Contact:

Fr. Christopher Hartley
Fundacion Mision de la Misericordia
Phone: 1 (917) 887-6908
Email: Press.MisionMisericordia@gmail.com

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit
http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Fundacion Mision de la Misericordia

Fr. Christopher Hartley of Fundacion Mision de la Misericordia,
+1-917-887-6908, Press.MisionMisericordia@gmail.com