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News Index Search for news: Advanced Search	Re: Attack On Rugmark Founder And Anti-Child Labor Activist, Kailash Satyarthi 16 June, 2004 Dr. Manmohan Singh Honorable Prime Minister Government of India South Block New Delhi-110001 Fax: 91 11 23016857 RE: ATTACK ON RUGMARK FOUNDER AND ANTI-CHILD LABOR ACTIVIST, KAILASH SATYARTHI Dear Dr. Singh: I am writing to seek your assistance on a matter of great urgency. It has come to our attention that this past Monday, June 14, Kailash Satyarthi, the founder of Rugmark, and an internationally recognized anti-child labor activist, was brutally attacked during a raid of The Great Roman Circus in Colonelganj, District Gonda, India. We are writing to urge you to take all necessary action to ensure his safety, and the safety of his colleagues. Domini Social Investments LLC is a socially responsible mutual fund manager based in New York City. We manage more than $1.8 billion for individual and institutional investors, and are best known as the manager of the Domini Social Equity Fund, the world's oldest and largest socially responsible index fund. We manage money on behalf of a growing number of investors that apply social and environmental criteria to their portfolios. Our shareholders are deeply concerned about the use of child labor to manufacture the goods they purchase, and wish to avoid investment in U.S. corporations that source products made with child labor. As you may be aware, Rugmark is a global nonprofit organization working to end child labor in the handmade rug industry and offer educational opportunities for children in India, Nepal and Pakistan. Domini Social Investments has worked with Rugmark to encourage American corporations to purchase Rugmark certified rugs. We greatly admire Rugmark's work and achievements. In our view, Rugmark stands as the most viable effort to combat child labor in the handmade rug industry. Their certification system provides American consumers with a reliable assurance that the rugs they purchase were not made by children. We strongly encourage all American corporations that sell rugs from these regions to participate in the Rugmark program. Mr. Satyarthi is internationally renowned for his work against child labor. In addition to Rugmark, he is the founder of the Global March Against Child Labor, a network of over 2000 non-governmental organizations and trade unions around the world (http://www.globalmarch.org/index.php), as well as the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude. He has served on the boards of numerous international organizations devoted to labor rights, education and child welfare, and has written and spoken widely on these issues. He has received many prestigious humanitarian awards, and been honored by civil and political leaders, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton. We understand that Mr. Satyarthi and his team were acting on information that hundreds of children were being exploited by The Great Roman Circus when a local magistrate alerted the circus management to their presence. We have been informed by Rugmark that the circus owner and several of his associates then attacked Mr. Satyarthi, his son, a female photojournalist, and several other members of his team, beating them with iron rods, knives, and guns. The injured parties were subsequently transferred to Lucknow for medical treatment, where we have heard they are currently in stable condition. In light of these events, we are greatly concerned about the future safety of Mr. Satyarthi and his colleagues. We urge you to ensure that they are provided with adequate security during their stay in the hospital, and that their assailants are promptly brought to justice. A public investigation into collaboration between the local authorities and these assailants should also be opened immediately. In addition, we urge you to investigate the situation of the children held at the Great Roman Circus, and to obtain their release. We will continue to follow this matter closely, and would appreciate your keeping us informed of all developments. I thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Adam Kanzer General Counsel and Director of Shareholder Advocacy cc: Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam Honorable President of India Fax. 91-11-23017290 & 23017824 Mr. Shivraj Patil Honorable Home Minister Government of India North Block New Delhi-110001 Fax 91 11 23794843 Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh Fax. 91-522-22239283 Principal Secretary, Home, Government of Uttar Pradesh Fax. 91-522-2239279 Chief Minister, Government of Uttar Pradesh Fax. 91-522-2239234, 2230002 Colin Powell, United States Secretary of State (by email via State Dept. website) James Sellvers, Political India Desk Officer United States Department of State Fax: (202) 312-9845 Nina Smith, Executive Director, RUGMARK Foundation Fax: (202) 347-4885 Terry Lundgren, Chairman, President & CEO Federated Department Stores Fax: (212) 494-1838 Robert Nardelli, Chairman, President & CEO Home Depot Fax: (770) 431-2685 Sean Harrigan, President Calpers Fax: (916) 326-3410 Ken Sylvester, Office of New York City Comptroller ksylves@comptroller.nyc.gov Rev. David Schilling, Program Director Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, New York dschilling@iccr.org Timothy Smith, President Social Investment Forum, Washington, DC tsmith@bostontrust.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Adam Kanzer General Counsel & Director of Shareholder Advocacy Domini Social Investments LLC 536 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10012-3915 Direct: 212-217-1027, Main: 212-217-1100, Fax: 212-217-1101 Shareholder Information Line: 800-582-6757 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Read more from our News:* http://www.asria.org/news/press/1087372987