The new lawsuit has been filed by two French NGOs, Sherpa and the Ethique sur l’Étiquette collective, as well as by the European Uighur Institute and a Uighur plaintiff. The alleged offence relates to the concealment of four crimes: crimes against humanity, genocide, aggravated slavery and human trafficking by organised gangs.“The [NGOs] are calling for a judicial investigation to be opened, so that an investigating judge [the French equivalent of a prosecutor] can conduct an inquiry and shed light on the possible responsibility of apparel multinationals that are allegedly using Uighur forced labour to manufacture their products,” said the NGOs in a joint statement.

They also underlined that 20% of the world’s cotton output comes from China’s Xinjiang province, whe…