5 Ways People try to Defend Slavery in Cocoa by Clay Gordon

Top 5 Ways People (try to) Defend Slavery in Cocoa

Are apologetics defensible when it comes to “defending” slavery?

To borrow a phrase from someone who’s definitely feeling the heat to apologize right now: “Awww, hell naw.” 

The term apologetic is used to describe a defense to a position. This usage for the Latin root apologia, from the Greek ἀπολογία, can be traced back to before the lives of notable Greek philosophers including Aristotle and Plato. Socrates reportedly used the term in the sense of “... a well-thought justification of accusations made.”

An apologist can be thought of as someone who makes and uses apologetics 

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The Supreme Court Grants Request by Nestle and Cargill to consider Giving Corporations Legal Immunity From using Child Slaves.

THE SUPREME COURT GRANTS REQUEST BY NESTLE and CARGILL TO CONSIDER GIVING CORPORATIONS LEGAL IMMUNITY FROM USING CHILD SLAVES TO HARVEST COCOA. HELP STOP THEM

Thu, 07/02/2020 - 15:36 -- admin

Contact: Terry Collingsworth, Executive Director
tc@iradvocates.org Twitter @tpcollingsworth

There is no question that young African children are harvesting cocoa for Nestle, Cargill and other large companies in Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana. The U.S. Department of Labor recently funded a study by the University of Chicago’s NORC which found that TWO MILLION AFRICAN CHILDREN ARE STILL harvesting cocoa.  http://iradvocates.org/news/nestle/department-labor-study-child-labor. Here are two young boys who were trafficked from Burkina Faso. Our researchers found them performing hazardous work on a cocoa plantation producing for a Cargill cooperative in Cote D’Ivoire:

cocoa harvesting picture 1.png

Media Folder: 

Media Root

In Doe v Nestle/Cargill , we sued Nestle and Cargill in 2005 on behalf of six children who were trafficked, enslaved and forced to harvest cocoa for the cocoa industry. The Court of Appeals ruled for the second time that our case should go forward, but today, the Supreme Court agreed to review Nestle and Cargill’s request to grant them legal immunity under international law. Believe it or not, Cargill and Nestle are arguing that corporations should be absolutely immune under international law and only individuals can face liability for human rights violations. Rather than work with IRAdvocates and others to STOP CHILD SLAVERY, Nestle and Cargill want legal immunity to continue profiting from child slavery. Win or lose in the Supreme Court, we must and will continue the fight to force these companies to FREE THE CHILDREN.    

Please help us by donating or taking a few minutes to contact the companies with a direct message that African children’s lives matter and slavery was outlawed in 1865. HERE’S HOW:

DONATE NOW: https://iradvocates.nationbuilder.com/donate

CONTACT CARGILL                 

Cargill’s CEO Dave MacLennan put out yesterday on the company’s twitter ( @Cargill  and @CargillEMEA) and facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Cargill/): “We stand with all who have spoken up to say Black lives matter and ‘not ever again.’”
Please respond to this cynical and false assertion of solidarity by posting on the company’s facebook and twitter accounts (they do not give out the direct contacts for officers):
Cargill CEO Dave MacLennon and General Counsel Anna Richo, the Lives of African Children Matter and Slavery ended in 1865! Stop using Black child slaves to harvest your cocoa. Instead of seeking legal immunity, work with IRAdvocates to end child slavery and establish meaningful independent monitoring and certification systems. 

CONTACT NESTLE
Please send this message directly to the email accounts of the officers below and also post on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/nestle.USA/) and twitter (@Nestle and @Nestle USA):
Nestle, the Lives of African Children Matter and Slavery ended in 1865! Stop using Black child slaves to harvest your cocoa. Instead of seeking legal immunity, work with IRAdvocates to end child slavery and establish meaningful independent monitoring and certification systems.  
• Nestle CEO Mark Schneider: mark.schneider@nestle.com
• Nestle Executive VP Laurent Freixe: laurent.freixe@nestle.com
• Nestle USA CEO Steve Presley: steve.presley@us.nestle.com; @NestleUSA
• Nestle USA VP Molly Fogarty: molly.fogarty@us.nestle.com

PLEASE ALSO POST YOUR MESSAGES ANYWHERE THAT CAN HELP GET OUR URGENT MESSAGE OUT. THANKS VERY MUCH!

Children working in cocoa industry increases 21%

According to Tulane University's Payson center, 

 "A report just released by the University of Tulane, commissioned by the US Department of Labour, estimates that there are more than 2.1 million child labourers in cocoa-growing across Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. This represents a 21% increase in the absolute number of child labourers in cocoa, and a 15.5% increase in the prevalence of cocoa-related child labour in cocoa-growing areas, between the selected baseline year of 2008/9 and 2013/4. "

Not good. The situation has gotten WORSE, not better since the the onset of the Harkin Engel Protocol.