forced labor

(Newser) - China's first step toward the reform promised by new leader Xi Jinping : The country will reform its forced labor camp system, state media reported today. The long-standing, controversial "re-education through labor system" allows police to jail petty criminals for up to four years without going through the court...

(Newser) - Swedish furniture giant Ikea expressed regret today that it benefited from the use of forced prison labor by some of its suppliers in communist East Germany more than two decades ago. The company released an independent report showing that East German prisoners, among them many political dissidents, were involved in...

(Newser) - A US recruitment company lured 400 Thai laborers to the US, confiscated their passports, tore up their contracts, and forced them to work, according to a federal indictment filed yesterday. The indictment names six people, four from Global Horizons Manpower Inc.—including the CEO—and two recruiters based out...

(Newser) - A dozen years of prosecutions against Florida slave-holders still hasn't convinced Gov. Charlie Crist to back the cause—but he better, Barry Estabrook writes in Gourmet. Advocacy groups, who have tried for 2 years to meet with him, now threaten to re-enact slavery abuses in the state’s capital. Such...