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Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Guinea-Bissau (RATIFICATION: 1977)

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The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous comments: Article 1(1) and Article 2(1) and 2(c) of the Convention. 1. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the prison system is said to be organized on the basis of political orientations formulated by the Government and requested the Government to supply copies of the texts that are in force relating to the prison system. The Committee notes from the Government's report that the Ministry of Justice submitted to the Council of Ministers a draft bill on the penitentiary regime in which prison labour is dealt with in Chapter V. The Government's report indicates also that prison labour is aimed at the vocational training of prisoners to help them in their future reinsertion into society. The Committee hopes that the Government will supply a copy of the draft bill under consideration by the Council of Ministers as soon as it is adopted. 2. The Committee notes that the Government has sent a copy of Decree No. 12-A-94 of 28 February 1994 respecting the conditions of service of employees in the public service in reply to its previous request. 3. Referring to the general observation on the Convention made in its report to the 87th Session of the ILC (1999), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information as to the present position in law and practice as regards:

(i) whether there are prisons administered by private concerns, profit-making or otherwise;

(ii) whether any private prison contractors deploy prisoners to work either inside or outside prison premises, either for the account of the contractor or for that of another enterprise;

(iii) whether private parties are admitted by the prison authorities into prison premises of any kind for the purpose of engaging prisoners in employment;

(iv) whether employment of prisoners outside prison premises, either for a public authority or for a private enterprise, is allowed;

(v) the conditions in which employment under any of the above conditions takes place, in respect of remuneration (indicating the level and comparing it with minimum wage normally applicable to such work), benefits accruing (such as pension rights and workers' compensation), observance of occupational safety and health legislation and other conditions of employment (e.g. through labour inspection), and how those conditions are determined;

(vi) what the source of any remuneration is (whether from public or private funds) and for what purposes it must or may be applied (e.g. for the personal use of the prisoner or if it is subject to compulsory deductions);

(vii) for whose benefit is the product of prisoners' work and any surplus profit deriving from it, after deduction of overheads, and how it is disbursed;

(viii) how the consent of the prisoners concerned is guaranteed, so that it is free from the menace of any penalty, including any loss of privileges or other disadvantages following from a refusal to work.

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