Volkswagen was summoned to a labor court in Brazil on June 14 and faces charges of using “slavery practices” and “human trafficking” in the country between 1974 and 1986.
The automaker was notified by the courts in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 19, reports the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The German giant said it takes these accusations very seriously.
“We can assure you that we take the possible events at the Fazenda Rio Cristalino, to which the investigation by the Brazilian authorities in charge of the investigation refers, very seriously,” Volkswagen told Reuters. “Please understand that we are not commenting further due to possible legal action in Brazil.”
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Volkswagen is accused of having been complicit in “systematic violations of human rights”, during a period in Brazilian history when the country was ruled by a military dictatorship. According to documents made up of testimonies and police reports consulted by the German outlet, the automaker was working on a large agricultural site on the edge of the Amazon basin for the meat trade.
Hundreds of day laborers were recruited to clear 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) of land through intermediaries but, outlets said, likely with the consent of VW management.
Workers at the site were reportedly subjected to abuse and violence, perpetrated by armed guards and others. There are also allegations that workers who tried to flee were mistreated or disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
A woman has claimed her child died as a result of violent abuse, according to Agence France Presse. Another was allegedly sexually assaulted as punishment. Others, meanwhile, were reportedly subjected to inhumane working conditions at the site, with some dying of malaria and buried on site without their families being informed.
“It was a form of modern slavery,” Rafael Garcia, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, told the media. “VW had obviously not only accepted this form of slavery, but also encouraged it, because it was cheap labour.”
Former VW employees have been seeking compensation for years, and in 2020 the automaker signed an agreement with federal prosecutors in Brazil to pay 36 million reais ($6.4 million at the time) in compensation for its part in the military dictatorship and its role in identifying left-wing opponents and union leaders, who were subsequently detained and tortured.
