Slavery was abolished in 1807* – Not in Xinjiang


Slavery and forced labour is alive and well in Xinjiang. Major retailers complicit. Welcome to ‘cotton laundering’

August 2026

Many people believe that slavery ended sometime in the 19th Century and many – certainly older people reading this – think that Britain led the way. Slavery continued for many years afterwards. The reality is that slavery is alive and well and that you are wearing the products of this vile system while sat reading this. You may feel that you have purchased your cotton garments from a respectable high street retailer so this surely cannot be the case. If you watch the video in the RTE programme [link below], they will explain how retailers such as M&S who feature strongly in the film, are evading controls with vague labelling.

The story of cotton

Around 80% of cotton production in China comes from Xinjiang, using forced labour from the Uyghur which represents 20% of the global cotton production. Following an uproar and call to action in 2020 that called on numerous fashion brands (such as Nike, Adidas, Zara, H&M, Amazon, etc) to sever ties with Uyghur forced labour, many of these brands decided apparently to stop sourcing cotton from Xinjiang. If we were to ask these brands today about their commitment to Uyghur rights, they would answer that Uyghur forced labour has been cut from their supply chain. (Photo is one of the major companies involved in China).

However, the reality is not that simple. Cotton production has not reduced in the region since 2020; instead, Chinese manufacturers have resorted to “cotton laundering”. Once the cotton has been transformed into yarn or fabric, the cotton enters the supply chain through third countries such as Bangladesh or Vietnam. This results in cotton that is extremely difficult to trace.

Cotton laundering

Some brands may claim that having the label ‘Better Cotton’ to claim that their supply chains are ethical. However as investigated by RTÉ, it appears that “the Better Cotton can be mixed or blended with what they call conventional cotton very early on in the supply chain, and that includes cotton from the Uyghur region“. The RTE film (5 mins) can be viewed here.

Although companies have acted on demands to stop using suppliers that rely on Uyghur forced labour, it can be easy to imagine that cotton harvested in Xinjiang finds its way to those factories through cotton laundering. That is why we are asking you today to write a question to a company that produces apparel which contains cotton to ask them what processes and safeguards are in place to ensure forced labour is not present in their supply chains.

Research published by Sheffield Hallam University shows in detail how the system works and contains much evidence. They say that previous research has provided significant evidence indicating that these programmes are indeed tantamount to forced labour, human trafficking, and modern slavery and that this system of repression is particularly deployed in the cotton and textile industries, which for China are centred in the Uyghur Region. Reports have shown that much of the region’s cotton is hand-picked by people who are forced to do so, that textile factories in the Uyghur Region employ forced labour, and that minority citizens of the region have been “transferred” thousands of miles into the interior of China to work in factories for major textile and apparel exporters.

The notion of slavery today is universally condemned. Britain was heavily involved in the trade for nearly two centuries transporting well over 3 million in the triangular trade. Many are often surprised to discover that the slave owners (not the slaves) were compensated and the debt was only paid off in 2015.

As we have noted before, although Xinjiang seems a long way off and few will have been there, the products of this obnoxious and cruel system are sitting on the clothing racks of our major high street retailers and hence in your wardrobes. Truly we are all involved.

[*Quite when slavery ended is difficult to be precise. Many ships simply reflagged to avoid patrols. Slavery persisted for decades in the Caribbean and America. Slaves were still transferred between countries. A separate act was later passed to end the practice in India. Freed slaves simply became indentured.]

Letter

This is a sample letter to a retailer or manufacturer to model yours on. It is likely you will receive a standard reply but it will register with the retailer that they are being watched and if not careful, they could receive reputational damage:

Dear xx,
I am writing to express my concern as to the possibility that your cotton products contain cotton produced in Xinjiang using Uyghur forced labour.
One tactic used by Chinese manufacturers to sell cotton produced by forced labour and internal displacement of Uyghur population is “cotton laundering”. These companies will transform cotton into yarn or fabric and then introduce them to global chains through third countries such as Bangladesh or Vietnam. As a result, the origin of the cotton is extremely difficult to trace.
In addition, the label “Better Cotton” does not prevent products from containing cotton produced through forced labour. The Better Cotton Initiative does not have a traceability protocol and enable mixed or blended cotton with ethically sourced material. Cotton from the Uyghur region may very well be present in those mixes or blends.
As a concerned consumer, I would like to ask you: what protocols and safeguards do you have in place to absolutely ensure that none of the cotton present in your garments is a result of Uyghur forced labour? How do you verify that the cotton used in your garment does not come from Xinjiang?
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Yours sincerely,

We have drawn from material produced by RTE (Ireland), Sheffield Hallam University, Statista and from the Uyghur Solidarity Team with thanks.

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Uyghur campaign progress


Local group features in today’s action

August 2026

We are pleased to report that the activities of the Salisbury group feature in part of today’s (16th August) action by the campaign team. We have put up a post on most days of the campaign using material provided by the team and we have a letter published in the local paper.

What has been remarkable however, is the numbers viewing the posts from China itself. China rarely appears in our viewing figures, we suspect because our posts are blocked. We reported the latest figures – accessed yesterday (15th August) – i.e. half way through the month and these are reproduced in the newsletter:

“The Salisbury group has experienced considerable interest in the Uyghur campaign on its website with a record number of views from China itself. The numbers are high for the site and the month looks as though it is heading for a record number of hits likely to exceed 3,000 for the first time led by the Uyghur campaign although there is other material posted.

“No less than 88% of the hits were posts on the campaign partly because we have posted something on almost every day. Around 70% were from China and Hong Kong SAR a figure we have never seen before. Usually, views from China seldom reach double figures. And it is not just China as a country, further analysis reveals it is cities all over China which are viewing. There were 88 from Hong Kong, 31 from Beijing and 15 from Shanghai. A total of 56 cities throughout China are represented.

“One might expect the CCP to monitor posts about their country but the fact that views are coming from all over suggests that ordinary people may be evading the tight controls over access to foreign sites such as ours. Views from nine cities in China even exceeded the views of people from Salisbury. The group also managed to get a letter published in the Salisbury Journal which sees itself as very much a local paper and does not usually publish material on topics outside the area.

“Sadly, this interest was not reflected on Salisbury Amnesty’s Facebook page with only twenty or so views for each of the posts. Almost none were in the 18-24 age group. We are pleased to note the Uyghur Crisis Response Team thanked us for our posts on Bluesky @ucrt.bsky.social.

“Altogether a satisfactory response and we are of course not at the end of the month. The group is proud to have played a small part in this campaign. Salisbury group’s website: https://salisburyai.com and Bluesky: @salisburyai.bsky.social. We no longer post on X.”

The campaign continues …

Image: Observe Algerie

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Another vigil and is the mood changing in the US?


Latest vigil – No 141 – is well attended

August 2026

Around 35 attended the latest vigil held in Salisbury’s market place and it is remarkable that they continue week after week. As we have said before, there is a mixture of people who come every week and those who turn up occasionally. Recognition is high and news of the terrible events in the region continue to appear on our screens and in the media.

The rising tide of settler violence achieved significant coverage last week even from the BBC which is extremely nervous of covering news from the area for familiar reasons. We noted a shift in attitudes in America in our last post and a forthright criticism by Mike Huckabee, the American ambassador, calling the settlers ‘Israeli terrorists’. This from a Zionist and Israeli apologist. What was important was not just the comment itself but that he felt able to make them.

Once again we note the absence of the Salisbury MP Mr John Glen who has never attended a vigil or ever mentioned them in his weekly column in the Salisbury Journal. 141 weeks of silence is a powerful message. He is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel along with around 140 other MPs.

Israeli support for violence and the lack of healthcare for Palestinians claimed

A distressing report in Haaretz discusses the attitude of many Israelis towards Palestinians and particularly their health care or rather lack of it. They report:

“The majority of Israel’s Jewish public supports the worsening conditions of Palestinian patients, caused by their inability to receive necessary treatments. This isn’t the finding of any pollster – no one includes in their surveys a question like, “Do you support the elimination of Palestinian public healthcare?

“Yet this conclusion is inevitable, considering the fact that Israel’s Ministry of Finance continues unimpeded to steal the Palestinian Authority’s income from taxes and customs. Those revenues are meant for medical treatments, medications, medical staff salaries and the maintenance and development of hospitals and clinics”.

The article describes the lack of condemnation by a wide range of Israeli organisations and the writer concludes:

“[…] With great pain, you have to conclude that, in the eyes of too many Jews in Israel, also the slow killing of Palestinians, simply because they are Palestinians, is a legitimate policy.”

Public opinion in Israel is important especially with elections imminent. The hard right politicians who support the destruction of Gaza, the increasing West Bank settler violence and the prevention of health care described in the article, are in the ascendant. If the article is right, it does not look as though there will be much in the way of pressure to change the political climate.

Photo: Courtesy of Peter Gloyns

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Are American attitudes towards Israel changing?


Evidence that young Americans attitudes to Israel are changing

August 2026

Over the past few days (12th & 13th August) there have been a number of reports on BBC radio and TV and on Channel 4 concerning the latest violent actions by settlers in the village of Qusra on the West Bank. Palestinian families have been attacked by large groups of settlers and some have been besieged in their homes. The Israeli army is on the scene but is unable or unwilling to do more than make ineffectual efforts to curb the violence. There is footage of homes being trashed by the settlers.

In one way, this is not unusual. Settler violence against Palestinians has been a feature of the past few years with the IDF and Israel police doing nothing to stop it. But something changed with this attack. Firstly, it has received extensive coverage as noted with packages of 10 or 15 minutes devoted to the violence. More significantly, Mike Huckabee described the actions as ‘a horrific act of terror’ and those perpetrators as ‘Israeli terrorists’. Huckabee is the US Ambassador and a staunch supporter of Israel. The question is therefore: is there a change in the US attitude to Israel? Will the carte blanche support continue?

Changing American attitudes

The Pew Research Center has produced evidence which seems to record a shift in opinion. They and other commentators suggest that 60% of Americans have a less favourable view of Israel now compared with previously. Among young people especially, there are strong negative views about Netanyahu. There is a divide in the opinion with the young having negative views and older people maintaining their loyalty.

The Institute for Global Affairs suggest that more Americans are seeing Israel as a liability. Many want the flow of arms to be reduced or constrained. American help for Israel has been open ended and has amounted to around $300bn to date. Increasingly, they don’t see Israel as ‘worth a war’.

For UK people, a major factor has been the destruction and killings which have taken place in Gaza. For Americans, it has been Iran and the feeling that the US was embroiled in an expensive project at the behest of Israel. Violence on the West Bank has not gone down well. Americans are seeing the effects in the price of gas (petrol) and other commodities because of the blockade of the Straight of Hormuz. There is a view that Israel is no longer seen as a ‘pioneer democracy’ but more of an ‘oppressive state’.

It is claimed that that the powerful AIPAC organisation – one of the most powerful in the States – has a ‘stranglehold’ over Congress. They have significant contacts and are known to give support to politicians early in their careers. As in the UK, members are taken on carefully curated tours of Israel. They spent $100m to try and influence recent elections.

Problems

Despite the spending and efforts to control the debate and neutralise critics, Americans can see the results on their screens which no amount of sanitising can hide. In the Senate the numbers of Senators calling for restrictions on arms being sent to Israel is increasing.

The biggest group of supporters is from American Evangelicals who see that part of the world in Biblical terms. They see it also in terms of the second coming. They are a key part of the electorate and are very influential.

A problem however with pointing at AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is that it casts Israel, and more particularly Jews, as ‘having control’, a sensitive issue. This simply adds to the anti-Semitic claims made by Israel about any or all people who criticise them. It has an effect on critics.

Is American opinion going to change and will that bring about a re-calibration of their support to Israel? Some observers think it is a while off yet. Although younger Americans are no longer uncritical supporters, their influence is not yet great but it is growing. That Mike Huckabee spoke out in such terms is significant, not just the words themselves but that he felt able to utter them. All in all, the Israeli government is likely to be concerned at the changing mood towards them.

We must hope that a change will happen for the sake of the thousands who suffer in Gaza and the instability in Lebanon. The ceaseless violence will not ultimately help Israel. To cede control to thugs going out and terrorising Palestinians while your army and police stand by is no way for a civilised state to behave. The settlers know they have support for their actions from the highest level of government.

Sources: Channel 4 News (and a podcast); Pew Research Center; Al Jazeera; BBC; Christian Science Monitor; Institute for Global Affairs; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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Latest Death Penalty Report


Report for mid – July to mid – August

August 2026

We are pleased to attach the latest report with thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. The highlights in the report are

  • Conditional pardon offered to Ruth Ellis who was the last person to be hanged in Britain
  • In Lebanon a law has been passed abolishing the death penalty.  It will be the only country in the Middle East formally to end the penalty
  • Florida continues with its spate of executions including two on one day and Governor DeSantis is busy signing fresh warrants
  • Jermaine Wright, Delaware, becomes the 203rd person exonerated since 1973 and is declared innocent after 34 years on death row.

As ever we note that there is no data from China – believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world put together – because they are a state secret. It is another aspect of the persecution of the Uyghurs the subject of a series of posts elsewhere on this site.

Report: mid – July to mid – August (Word)Download

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Uyghur campaign: letter


Group members publish letter in local paper

August 2026

Two members of the local group have their letter published today (13th) on the Uyghur campaign in the Salisbury Journal:

“DURING  August, the local Amnesty group is taking part in the Uyghur Solidarity Month to highlight the dire human rights situation in that part of China.

“The UN Commissioner for Human Rights said there were credible allegations that the Chinese government had carried out arbitrary detention, torture, forced labour, family separation and severe restrictions on religious and cultural freedoms on a vast scale.   Reading a book in their language is punished and might result in execution.

“Despite these findings, the suffering of the Uyghur people continues while the world looks on. More than a million Uyghurs have been detained and countless families have been torn apart. 

“Survivors describe detention camps where torture, rape, forced labour and coercive birth control measures are carried out by the Chinese. Whether one views this issue through the lens of International law, religious freedom human rights or human dignity, the plight of these people deserves continued public attention. 

“Further background can be found on the Salisbury Amnesty site www.salisburyai.com

Lesley and Peter Curbishley”

The letter was modelled on one suggested by the campaign team which had to be shortened because of the paper’s word limit.

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Uyghur campaign – day 11


Latest action in relation to the persecution of the Uyghurs

August 2026

Today’s action is a little bit different, as we will focus on issues closer to home rather than exclusively on the rights of the Uyghurs.  We are asking you to sign the Amnesty petition to ‘protect the protest’ – something that we feel is ultimately essential to the future of all human rights campaigning. 

In some of our recent posts, we have started to include issues concerning the UK with successive attempts by governments to clamp down on unwelcome protests. In the UK, new laws are constraining our ability protest peacefully, which is an attack on our political rights. It risks creating a precedent and mark the beginning of more infringements on our ability to campaign on human rights. The UK is not of course in the same league as China where repression and stifling of rights is on a massive scale.

However, governments are dilatory about climate actions, are determined to assist Israel overtly and covertly in their violence, and are happy to support and allow arms sales to a wide variety of obnoxious regimes with poor human rights records. Voluble protests against these actions are unwelcome.

We want to protect our ability to run campaigns such as this one on the Uyghurs. In the end, protecting our political rights means protecting the future work we will do for human rights globally. The current laws that impact our ability to protest peacefully, which infringes not only on basic human rights to assembly, association, and expression (Articles 10 and 11, Human Rights Act), also creates nearly 7,000 climate protesters were arrested in the UK between 2019 and mid-2025.

Since 2021, the government has proposed four different anti-protest laws in four years. Police have arrested 3,300 people for peaceful protest against the proscription of Palestine Action. The actual prosecution of peaceful protesters in the UK threatens our ability to raise our voices for human rights around the world. It is also an infringement on political rights that limits a human rights response in any instance of further infringement.

For the health of our human rights futures (and therefore, our ability to campaign for others) please sign this petition: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/authoritarianism/protect-the-protest/

Although this is not directly related to the Uyghurs as part of the Uyghur Solidarity Month, we did suggest in our last post on this topic an action to speak to a friend or colleague.

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Risks of University Partnerships with Arms Firms and Israel


Report by Southampton University into tensions and risks in dealing with Israel and Palestine

August 2026

The latest edition of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade’s News (Issue 277, Summer 2026) contains an article discussing links with universities and arms companies in the context of relations with Israel and Palestine. The report Aligning Policy with Practice: Tensions and Risks in the Context of Israel and Palestine, February 2026 analyses these tensions in relation to Southampton but it is clear the issues apply to many universities in the UK. The full report can be accessed here. It is the product of work carried out by the Palestinian Solidarity Network in the University (pictured) and the lead author is Irene Ruiz Espejo.

Essentially, the report analyses the various principles which the University has concerning transparency, sustainability, ethics and EDI and matches that against what happens, the links they have with arms firms and their support for research, and also the links with Israeli universities. They suggest that sometimes matters of governance, partnerships and approaches to free speech can exert a chilling effect as has been seen at other academic institutions.

Risks

They identify several risks: legal, financial, reputational and wellbeing in the report. Official communications do not reference the historical and legal realities of military occupation in Gaza, settler colonialism on the West Bank, apartheid, or the longstanding siege of Gaza. They also do not engage with international legal developments and findings, including United Nations and international and Israeli civil society organisations, which have raised serious concerns that Israel’s conduct in Gaza may amount to grave breaches of international law, including acts that violate the Genocide Convention.

In addition, University statements do not situate events in Gaza within the wider regional context of Israeli military aggression, including the bombing of Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Qatar, and Iran, which have resulted in additional civilian deaths and escalating regional and global instability. Instead, communications tend to frame events primarily as a bilateral conflict and to address Palestinian deaths, displacement, and civilian harm largely through the language of humanitarian crisis.

This framing obscures a central and well-documented reality: the “conflict” is characterised by profound asymmetries in power, control, and vulnerability, including Israel’s effective control over borders, airspace, and key conditions of civilian survival in Gaza, including access to humanitarian aid. In this context, large-scale civilian harm is not only the outcome war, but it is shaped by Israel’s political and military decisions that have driven mass displacement, civilian targeting, severe restrictions on essential supplies, the use of starvation as a method of war , bombardment, and the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including all twelve universities.

Power of money

They maintain this bias is not accidental but managed, where money and and power repeatedly take precedence over stated values. Students and staff who raise concerns about arms partnerships, or who engage in Palestinian solidarity, face ‘scrutiny, marginalisation or silencing’ – a direct threat to freedom of speech.

Money has become an existential issue for universities and many are struggling. The drop in foreign students has been a severe blow. The suggestion, implicit in the report, that the desire to secure research funding from arms firms has led to threat to their core values. Links to Israeli universities are not inherently wrong but the nature of the research might be.

The CAAT piece ends “our report is an attempt to interrupt that silence resisting erasure – of lives, of knowledge and our ability to name what is happening requires more than critique. It requires cultivating the capacity to see clearly even when language obscures: to think critically even when institutions reward compliance and to remain connected to our sheared humanity, to people, to place and to the consequences of what is doe with our knowledge our research and our labour”.

Some content from the report.

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Obituary: Daphne White


Long standing member of the local group. Born 1933 – died 2026

We are sad to record the death of Daphne White who was a stalwart member of the Salisbury group who died on 19th July. Her funeral was held today 11 August at Salisbury crematorium attended by relatives, friends and former pupils.

Daphne was of the generation who lived their early lives through the war years, years of hardship and making do and mending. An evacuee from Portsmouth came to stay with the family and came to be almost a sister to her. After St Marks Junior School she went to South Wilts Grammar School. She was brought up in a Methodist family and after school, she attended a Methodist Teacher Training college in Scotland. She became a teacher of geography.

She travelled widely despite her dislike of flying working for a while in Cyprus. She returned and taught for a while at Durrington Secondary Modern and then became Deputy Head of Wilton Middle School before retiring.

It was this interest in the world and geography which led her to take an interest in human affairs and thence to become active in Amnesty International, both in the national organisation and with the local group. She took great interest in the plight of others including that of political prisoners. Amnesty became a great passion for her and she was a regular attendee at the monthly group meetings. One prisoner of conscience Daphne worked on was Dr Raul Lombardi who, with his family, came to visit Salisbury following his release. Work with PoCs is a key element of Amnesty’s work. Daphne was the county coordinator for Peru for many years. She is bottom left in the picture (picture credit needed).

We are grateful to the celebrant, Helen George, for this extract from her celebration of Daphne’s life and her work in speaking to those who knew Daphne to describe her life story. Helen can be contacted on helenislageorge@gmail.com. We hope to add to this obituary if further material comes to light including adding a photo. So please view this as a first draft.

She will be missed.

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Uyghurs: getting the word out


Try telling a friend or neighbour about how the Uyghurs are treated

August 2026

Bringing back media and governmental attention on the Uyghurs is an essential step in ensuring that the current crisis is not simply ignored and forgotten. But these actions are only as strong as the wider support from the population. The more people know, care, and act for the Uyghurs, the stronger the influence we can have will be. That is why we are asking you today to simply talk to someone you know – a friend, a neighbour, or a colleague for example – about the Uyghur crisis.

Earlier posts will give you a flavour of the issues, the cruelty and repression these people are experiencing so we hope that with the information we have shared this far you will feel empowered to discuss the issue if in simple terms.

Nobody has all the answers to all the questions that may be asked, but creating that spark of curiosity within someone, who may learn more on their own, is so important and powerful. A simple conversation can make all the difference. You may get a response that it has little to do with us. It is sad and terrible that these things are happening but what can we do? Some points to consider:

  • You are involved. If you have cotton garments in your wardrobe, there is a 25% chance that the cotton was harvested by Uyghurs using forced labour.
  • Repression and denial of free speech is not confined to the Uyghurs. Mongolia and Tibet has also suffered and more recently Hong Kong. Britain has taken in many thousands of people fleeing the territory. There is great anxiety about immigration and considerable political and media attention to the Channel crossings. The thousands of Chinese who have come here receive little attention.
  • We discussed the new China Unity Law in our last post and this has incorporated repression and discrimination into all of China’s minorities.
  • As China becomes ever more powerful, Xi Jinping’s ambitions increase. Taiwan is in his sights and he is fomenting unrest in Japan and elsewhere in Asia
  • China is providing massive weapons assistance to Russia in its war with Ukraine. The war has resulted in many thousands of Ukrainians coming to Britain as well.
  • China is demanding a massive embassy be allowed in Britain which is almost certainly to be used for espionage it is alleged.

Although the Uyghurs may seem a long, long way away, they are but the latest victims of China’s relentless desire for power and commercial domination. The effects of this will increasingly be felt in the UK. Regrettably, it does not get the attention it deserves and governments are keen to pursue trade interests. China is said to be sensitive to criticism and claims that human rights and other matters are raised behind the scenes are to be questioned. They certainly had little or no effect in Hong Kong.

So please mention the Uyghurs to your friends and add that China is becoming ever more important in our lives and it is beginning to affect all of us.

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