Eight children who claim to have been used as slave labor on cocoa plantations in Côte d’Ivoire have launched legal action against the world’s largest chocolate industry. They accuse the businesses of helping and supporting the illegal slavery of ‘thousands’ of children on cocoa farms in their supply chains.
Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Olam, Hershey and Mondelēz were named in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC by the human rights firm International Rights Advocates (IRA) on behalf of eight former child slaves who were forced to working on cocoa plantations in the West African country without payment.
The plaintiffs, who are all originally from Mali and are now young adults, are seeking damages for forced labor and further compensation for unfair enrichment, negligent supervision and intentional administration of emotional distress.
This is the first time a class action lawsuit against the cocoa industry has been filed in a US court. Referring to, among others, the US State Department, the International Labor Organization and Unicef, the court documents claim that the plaintiffs’ experience of child slavery is reflected by the thousands of other minors.
Ivory Coast produces about 45% of the global supply of cocoa, a key ingredient in chocolate. Cocoa production in West Africa has long been linked to human rights violations, structural poverty, low wages and child labor.
A key allegation of the lawsuit is that the defendants, although they do not own the cocoa farms in question, “knowingly took advantage of the illegal work of children. According to the submissions, the accused’s contracted suppliers could offer lower prices than when they were adults employed workers with proper protective equipment.
The lawsuit also accuses the companies to actively mislead the public in their promise to “phase out” child labor in 2001. The original deadline for reaching the commitment, made as part of the Harkin-Engel Voluntary Protocol, was 2005. The World Cocoa Foundation, ‘ an industry body to which all the accused belong, wants to achieve the goal by 2025.
In the claim, all eight plaintiffs describe that they were recruited by deception and deception in Mali before being traded across the border to cocoa farms in Ivory Coast. There they were forced to work – often for a few years or longer – without pay, no travel documents and no clear idea of where they were or how to return to their families.
The court documents allege that the plaintiffs, who were all under the age of 16 at the time of their recruitment, worked on farms in large parts of the country that produce cocoa. The defendants ‘apparent influence in these markets is described by the plaintiffs’ lawyer as ‘dominant’.
According to the lawsuit, one plaintiff was only 11 years old when a local man in his hometown of Kouroussandougou, Mali, promised him to work 25,000 CFA francs (£ 34) a month in the Ivory Coast. According to the legal documents, the boy worked for two years without ever being paid, and he regularly applied pesticides and herbicides without protective clothing.
According to the documents, another child named as a plaintiff in the suit had visible cuts to his hands and arms due to chopping knife accidents. He spoke of his experience of forced labor between 2009 and 2011 and recalls that he was constantly bitten by insects. As with most of the plaintiffs, he claims in the lawsuit that he was promised payment after the harvest, but it never came.
Many of the plaintiffs cite the court documents report that they are fed little and work long hours. They often claim to have been kept alone or isolated from other child laborers, who spoke different dialects.
During fieldwork for this case, the plaintiffs’ legal team said they regularly found children who were used with chopping mats, applied chemicals and undertook other dangerous tasks on cocoa plantations produced for one or more of the defendants.
The crimes against children are not only morally repulsive, but also a ‘humanitarian disaster’, as it contributes to the continuing poverty in Ivory Coast, court documents read. The widespread use of child slavery is also credited by the plaintiffs for causing ‘prolonged mental and physical trauma’.
According to the case documentation, the accused are responsible for the development of the entire cocoa production system of Ivory Coast. As important participants in this ‘enterprise’ it is claimed that they knew or should have known the “systematic” use of child labor.
The case is being filed with the Victims of Victims of Trafficking Act of 2017. IRA is currently involved in a separate complaint filed under the Alien Tort Statutes against Nestlé and Cargill.
In a statement, Cargill said: “We are aware of the submission and although we are not currently able to comment on the details of this case, [the company wants] to strengthen, we have no tolerance for child labor in cocoa production. Children belong in school. They deserve safe living conditions and access to good nutrition. ”
Nestlé said the lawsuit ‘does not promote the shared goal of ending child labor in the cocoa industry’, adding: ‘child labor is unacceptable and is contrary to everything we stand for. Nestlé has an explicit policy against it and is adamant in our commitment to end it. We are still committed to combating child labor in the cocoa supply chain and addressing its causes as part of the Nestlé cocoa plan and through collaborative efforts. ”
A Mars spokesman said on the news of the lawsuit: “We are not commenting on any possible pending lawsuit. ‘
Mondelēz said he did not want to comment.
Barry Callebaut said he was committed to eradicating child labor from its supply chain by 2025. “Every year, we publish the progress we have made with this target in our Forever Chocolate progress report,” he said.
A spokesman for Olam said the company had a zero-tolerance policy for forced labor or slave labor in their supply chain. “If we were to identify any cases, we would take immediate action that includes notifying the appropriate authorities,” they said.
Hershey was approached for comment.