Volkswagen asks for more time in Brazil human rights probe

The minutes showed lawyers representing the carmaker said at the hearing that the company needed more time to analyse the documentation given this was the first meeting it was participating in on the matter, but that it was treating the case in a serious and committed manner. Volkswagen was summoned by public prosecutors in May to attend an administrative hearing in Brasilia on June 14 regarding documentation gathered by priest Ricardo Rezende and a working group at Brazil's Ministry of Labour on its treatment of workers hired via external agencies at the farm in Brazil's Amazon region between 1974-1986.


Reuters | Updated: 15-06-2022 22:44 IST | Created: 15-06-2022 22:44 IST
Volkswagen asks for more time in Brazil human rights probe

Volkswagen asked for more time to analyse documentation alleging human rights violations on a farm it owned in Brazil between 1974-1986, according to minutes of an administrative hearing on the matter in Brazil seen by Reuters.

A second meeting between the carmaker and the working group at Brazil's Public Ministry of Labour was scheduled for Sept. 29. The minutes showed lawyers representing the carmaker said at the hearing that the company needed more time to analyse the documentation given this was the first meeting it was participating in on the matter, but that it was treating the case in a serious and committed manner.

Volkswagen was summoned by public prosecutors in May to attend an administrative hearing in Brasilia on June 14 regarding documentation gathered by priest Ricardo Rezende and a working group at Brazil's Ministry of Labour on its treatment of workers hired via external agencies at the farm in Brazil's Amazon region between 1974-1986. The ministry first received reports and testimonials from people who worked on the farm from Rezendes in 2019. It then independently investigated the claims, collecting its own testimonials from workers who are still alive, according to the minutes of the June 14 meeting.

"The stories are very strong, reporting situations of intense and long-lasting violence, of very serious nature… the situations depicted are some of the most serious which the Ministry of Labour has come to know of in relation to modern slavery," the minutes said. Examples of situations reported in testimonials included reiterated illness of malaria among workers, terrible accommodation conditions, debt systems, differentiated treatment to workers in the headquarters.

Volkswagen was not immediately available for comment.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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