Ikea furniture is alleged to have been produced by prisoners in penal colonies in Belarus under forced labor conditions, according to a new report by the French nonprofit investigative journalism network Disclose.

Disclose also alleges that at least ten of Ikea's subcontractors in Belarus "had links to penal colonies over the past ten years," according to accounting records and witness interviews, including with former detainees.

Disclose said in its report: "These are particularly brutal forced labor camps, known for practicing torture as well as deprivation of food and healthcare, which is contrary to the values proudly claimed by the Swedish company."

Also, one of the subcontractors identified by Disclose, Mogotex, is alleged to have worked with "at least four Belarusian penal colonies" to produce "curtains and towels" for the Swedish manufacturer.

Disclose said other Ikea suppliers resorted to forced labor from prisoners in the IK-15 penal colony in Belarus and the IK-2 juvenile prison, adding in an email statement to CNN that Ikea takes the report "seriously and never accepts human rights violations" in its supply chain.

"We are clear in all markets where we operate that human rights violations have no place in our business... In June 2021, we decided to stop all new business development due to human rights challenges in Belarus and the unpredictable environment," Ikea said, adding that the war in Ukraine accelerated its June 2022 decision to leave Belarus and terminate all contracts with suppliers there.

Also, Belarus annually produces Ikea goods worth about 83 million US dollars under a strategy called "Go Belarus," where the volume of products manufactured by Belarusian companies registered an annual growth of 50%, according to a 2019 statement by the Belarusian ambassador to Sweden.

At that time, the ambassador, Dmitry Mironchik, said Ikea was "planning to double the volume of purchases from Belarus" in 2020, "which is more than Belarus's exports to other major European countries."

Ikea was previously accused of using political prisoners in what was then known as the German Democratic Republic in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2012, the Swedish company acknowledged this fact and expressed deep regret for it.