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The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to previous comments. It hopes that the next report will include full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request.

1. The Committee notes that, pursuant to section 246 of the 1996 Penal Code, anyone who is found in a public place and cannot show proof of known abode or means of subsistence and does not have a trade or profession is guilty of vagrancy.

In paragraphs 45-48 of the 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, the Committee indicated that laws on vagrancy which are drafted in such general terms that they may act as a direct or indirect constraint to work should be amended to make them conform with a less broad concept of vagrancy. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to redefine vagrancy in less strict terms so that only disturbers of the public order who not only habitually refuse to work but are also without any legal means of subsistence may incur any penalty. Sections 247 and 248 of the Penal Code provide for such cases.

2. Article 2, paragraph 2(c). The Committee notes the Government’s reply to its general observation on prisons to the effect that none of the situations mentioned by the Committee, either in law or in practice, exists in Burkina Faso. The Committee notes, however, that section 10 of Decree No. 97-275/PRES/PM/MFPDI/MJ/MEF of 7 July 1997 issuing the special status of prison security guards lays down that prison security assistants organize the work of prisoners both inside and outside the establishment. The Committee requests the Government to supply in its next report information on the practice followed in regard to the employment of prisoners and the legislative or regulatory texts on prison labour.

The Committee hopes that the Government will provide this information with its next report.