Human Rights Groups Condemn State Department Decision to Honor Intel and Gap, Inc., Companies Listed on Jewish World Watch Uyghur Forced Labor Database

December 9, 2022

Washington, D.C. – Today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognized two companies with the State Department’s prestigious Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) with well-known and extensively-documented ties to Uyghur forced labor. Human rights groups, including Jewish World Watch and Uyghur Human Rights Project, condemn the decision. Nominated by the U.S. missions in Costa Rica and India, the companies, Intel and Gap, Inc., respectively, have facilities in Xinjiang, China, the region where the Department’s own genocide determination was focused.

With these known implications, Jewish World Watch and the Uyghur Human Rights Project are calling on Secretary Blinken to rescind Friday’s awards to Intel and Gap, Inc.

“The parent companies of two awardees, Intel and GAP, kept up business ties with Chinese companies even when it was clear they were participating in Uyghur forced labor and total government surveillance,” said Omer Kanat, Uyghur Human Rights Project Executive Director. “How can they be good corporate citizens?”

Read the full article: https://jww.org/site/corporate-excellence/