■在象牙海岸西部Gonate的倉庫裡，工人正疊放一袋袋的可可豆。（圖／路透）

情人節巧克力可能會成為新的血鑽石。正當巧克力製造商計畫迎接一年裡交易最熱絡的一週，人權運動者努力說服消費者，希望他們在依循往例於14日情人節購買巧克力給愛人當禮物前，能夠三思。

Valentine chocolates may become the new blood diamonds. As chocolatiers plan for one of their biggest sales weeks of the year, human rights activists are stepping up efforts to make consumers think twice before purchasing the traditional box of chocolates for their sweethearts for Valentine's Day on Monday.

一項網路運動正致力於提升民眾對於象牙海岸可可豆貿易的認識，現任總統巴波就是靠可可豆貿易來支撐搖搖欲墜的政權。其他重點則著重在終結西非可可栽種者使用童工的情形，西非佔全球可可豆產量的2／3。

One online campaign is aimed at raising awareness of the cocoa trade in Ivory Coast, which is helping to prop up the pariah regime of incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, while another focuses on ending the alleged use of child labor （1） by growers in West Africa, which produces about two-thirds of the world's cocoa.

揭露巧克力產業敗德一面的動力，是繼承一項行動主義傳統。該傳統將焦點放在生產食品及其他原料時所造成的嚴峻後果，而這個傳統可往回追溯自18世紀末期，英格蘭為反對奴隸製糖而進行抵制。

The push to expose the unsavory side of chocolate follows a tradition of activism to focus attention on the grim consequences of producing foodstuffs and other raw materials, dating back to England's anti-slavery sugar boycotts （2） of the late 18th century.

行動人士用照妖鏡檢視將巧克力企業的所作所為，並針對像是賀喜這類的大型巧克力製造商，引起民眾群起反對的公關緊張。即便如此，專家認為這很難讓一般大眾停止購買喜愛的商品，儘管知道自己的消費可能間接助長違反人權和虐待勞工。

Such efforts aim to put corporate practices in an unflattering light and create a public relations backlash for big chocolate makers such as Hershey Co. Still, experts say it is hard to make people stop buying things they love, even if they understand how they may be indirectly supporting human rights and labor abuses.

行動團體Green America呼籲消費者，寄送「情人節賀卡」給總部設在美國的賀喜，或直接寄發電子郵件給賀喜高層，要求他們採用「經過認證，在生產過程中絕無最糟形式的虐待童工」的可可豆。

Activist group Green America is urging consumers to send a "valentine" to U.S.-based Hershey, or e-mails directly to its executives, urging the use of cocoa that has "been certified to be free from the worst forms of abusive child labor."

至於情人節前，Green America則表示，已有超過1萬封電子郵件寄送給賀喜高層。「我們試著要讓來自全美國各地的民眾告訴賀喜，在他們的巧克力生產過程中，不應該有童工或是強迫勞動牽涉其中。」Green America的拉森表示。

As of Monday, Green America said over 10,000 e-mails had been sent to Hershey executives. "We are trying to get people from around the country to tell Hershey that there shouldn't be child labor or forced labor （3） in their chocolate," said Todd Larsen with Green America.

雖然拉森表示，賀喜正針對該倡議活動所關心的問題進行深入調查；但賀喜發言人薩維爾表示，他並不清楚這項運動，並補充說道，賀喜支持可可豆的栽種者。薩維爾說：「我們幫助當地可可生產者，發展更具有生產力的方法，並協助建立教育及社區資源，並消除剝削性的勞動情形。」

While Larsen said Hershey was looking into its concerns, company spokesman Kirk Saville said he had no information about the campaign, adding that Hershey supports cocoa growers. "We have helped develop more productive agricultural practices, helped build educational and community resources and helped eliminate exploitative labor practices," Saville said.

美國國務院2010年的《人口販運報告》指出，象牙海岸是「最多兒童和女性被販運前往的目的地……來自迦納、馬利和布吉納法索的男孩，被賣到象牙海岸，成為農業部門的強制勞工，投入可可豆、咖啡、鳳梨和橡膠的種植生產。」

The U.S. State Department's 2010 "Trafficking in Persons Report" described Ivory Coast as mostly a "destination for children and women subjected to trafficking ... Boys from Ghana, Mali, and Burkina Faso are subjected to forced labor in the agricultural sector, including on cocoa, coffee, pineapple, and rubber plantations."

這份報告指出：「全球各地大多數農業和礦業中的現代奴隸，還有在棉花、巧克力、鋼鐵、橡膠、錫、鎢、鈳鉭鐵礦、糖和海產等領域中都經常可見強迫勞動。無論是穿衣、開車上班、講電話或吃飯，根本不可能不碰觸到與強迫勞動沾邊的商品。」

"With the majority of modern slaves in agriculture and mining around the world - and forced labor prevalent in cotton, chocolate, steel, rubber, tin, tungsten, coltan, sugar, and seafood - it is impossible to get dressed, drive to work, talk on the phone, or eat a meal without touching products tainted by forced labor," the report said.

象牙海岸去年生產120萬噸可可豆，是世界上巧克力主要原料的最大生產地。象牙海岸的鄰國迦納、奈及利亞和喀麥隆也是可可豆的主要生產國，這讓西非成為全球巧克力熱愛人士的主要供應者。

Producing 1.2 million tonnes of cocoa last year, Ivory Coast is by far the world's biggest source of the main ingredient in chocolate. With neighboring Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon also major growers, Western Africa is the main supplier for the global chocolate craving.

推動抵制象牙海岸可可豆的行動團體Avaaz，將目標鎖定在美國最大的巧克力生產商賀喜，以及雀巢、卡吉爾和卡夫卡的吉百利等其它公司。這項抵制與總統巴波涉及的暴力事件有關，巴波在去年11月選舉失利後，國際壓力就要求巴波去職。

Hershey, the largest chocolate producer in the United States, is also one of several firms -- including Nestle, Cargill and Kraft's Cadbury -- targeted by Avaaz, an activist group pushing for a boycott of Ivorian cocoa. The boycott is related to violence said to be tied to President Gbagbo, who is under international pressure to step down after losing elections in November.

巴波的對手烏阿塔哈，要求實施一個月的可可出口禁令，以此施展壓力。隨後歐盟的制裁更加重這股壓力，禁令預計要到2月23日才會解除。除此之外，Avaaz也因為寄發25萬份訊息給可可產業製造商而獲得好評，該組織表示，這個議題已經在國際可可市場發酵，此舉更進一步引起消費者的關注。

Gbagbo rival Alassane Ouattara called for a month-long cocoa export ban to crank up the pressure, which has been further compounded by European Union sanctions. The ban is set to be lifted February 23. Still Avaaz takes credit for almost 250,000 messages sent to the cocoa industry, and says it has brought consumer attention to an issue that has already roiled international cocoa markets.

自從象牙海岸去年11月28日的選舉紛爭之後，可可豆的期貨價格已攀升20％。今年1月27日，美國可可豆期貨價格更來到每噸3,390美元，達到年度最高點。

Cocoa futures prices have risen more than 20 percent since the disputed November 28 election. U.S. cocoa futures reached a one-year top at $3,390 per tonne on January 27.

愛德華瓊斯投顧公司的分析師魯索表示，原料價格上漲會影響賀喜在全球銷售的利潤，但反巧克力的倡議活動就目前來看不太可能會抑制產品銷售量。「從地理上來看，巧克力的血汗事件是發生在非常遠的地方；況且（賀喜）的品牌名聲如此強大，我不認為倡議活動會造成多大衝擊。」魯索說。「這並不是說消費者完全忽略這個問題；不過，就對這項商品有興趣的消費者來說，我不認為會造成太大衝擊。」

While the spike in prices could eat into profits for the Hersheys of the world, the campaigns are unlikely for now to crimp sales, said Edward Jones analyst Jack Russo.　"It's so far away geographically, and (Hershey's) brand name is so strong, I don't think it's going to have much of an impact," Russo said. "It's not to say they totally overlook it, but for consumers interested in this product I don't think it's going to have much impact."

不過，在針對特定議題喚醒大眾的意識上，這種策略已擁有悠久的歷史傳統，並且帶來了改變。自18世紀末，英格蘭抵制糖，目的是終結蓄奴。暢銷書《埋葬鎖鍊：英國廢奴運動》的作者Adam Hochschild表示：「數十萬英國家庭停止使用由奴隸所生產種植的糖，並轉而向印度購買糖。」

Still, such tactics have a long tradition of raising public awareness about an issue and have ushered in changes, starting with the sugar boycotts in late 18th century England that were aimed at ending slavery. "Several hundred thousand British households stopped using sugar that was cultivated by slaves and they tried instead to buy sugar from India," said Adam Hochschild, author of the best-selling book "Bury The Chains: The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery."

從「血鑽石」的例子來看，鑽石工業勉強成立一個全球性的認證系統，讓衝突鑽石的市場上流通的數量從15％的減少到少於1％。不過這套認證系統在辛巴威和象牙海岸等國家有漏洞存在。

In the case of "blood diamonds", the industry scrambled to set up a global certification （4） system that reduced the flow of conflict stones to less than one percent of global volumes from as much as 15 percent -- but there have been holes in the system in countries such as Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast.

根據一項由美國提議的規定，為減少金錢流入剛果民主共和國武裝反抗軍，數千家公司將被迫出示金屬及礦石（像是鉭和鈳鉭鐵礦等廣泛用於電子裝置的礦物）的來源。

Under a proposed U.S. rule aimed at cutting the flow of money to armed rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of companies could be forced to reveal the source of metals and ores like tantalum, or coltan, used widely in electronic gadgets.

（路透Reuters）

1. child labor

(n.) 童工

2. boycott

(n.v.) 抵制、拒絕購買

3. forced labor

(n.) 強制性勞動

4. certification

(n.) 檢定、證明

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