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The Committee notes the Government’s first report. With reference to its comments concerning the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and in so far as Article 3(a) of the Convention provides that the term "the worst forms of child labour" comprises "all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour", the Committee considers that the problem of the trafficking of children for the purposes of exploitation may be examined more specifically under the present Convention. It therefore requests the Government to provide information on the following points.

Article 3(a) of the Convention. All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. The sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes that Gabon has undertaken to carry out the work of harmonizing the legislation prohibiting the trafficking of children, in the context of the Subregional Project to combat the trafficking of children for the exploitation of their labour in West and Central Africa (IPEC/LUTRENA), which commenced in July 2001. The Committee notes that the Penal Code was amended in 2001 to prohibit and penalize the sale of persons (section 275) and the trafficking of children (section 278bis). As a result, section 278bis of the Penal Code prohibits organizing or facilitating the trafficking of children, or participating therein, among other means by the transport, entry onto the national territory, reception, accommodation, sale or illicit employment of such children. The Committee also notes that a Bill on the prevention and repression of the trafficking of children for labour exploitation is before Parliament for examination. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the age up to which a person is considered to be a child under the terms of section 278bis of the Penal Code. It also requests the Government to provide a copy of the Act on the prevention and repression of the trafficking of children for labour exploitation when it has been adopted.

Article 5. Mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the provisions giving effect to the Convention. The Committee notes that, in the context of the Subregional Project to combat the trafficking of children for labour exploitation in West and Central Africa (IPEC/LUTRENA), a Project Steering and Evaluation Committee was established in 2003. The Government adds that the role of this committee remains limited due to the lack of adequate human and material resources and the shortcomings of the technical training of its members. The Committee of Experts encourages the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the operation of the IPEC/LUTRENA Project Steering and Evaluation Committee.

Article 6. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The Committee notes that, according to a survey carried out by ILO/IPEC in 1999-2000 in nine countries in the West and Central African subregion (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Togo), the trafficking of children in this region is on the increase. Children from Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana are the victims of trafficking to Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Gabon.

The Committee notes that Gabon is participating in the second phase of the IPEC/LUTRENA project, the objective of which is to improve understanding of the problem of the trafficking of children, particularly through the availability of recent statistical data on this subject. It also notes that, according to the information provided by the Government to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (GAB/1, 13 July 2001, page 14), the Ministry of Social Affairs is currently establishing, in collaboration with the European Union, a project with the principal objective of combating the trafficking of children. Non-governmental organizations, embassies of the countries of origin of the child victims of trafficking and the Ministries of Health, National Education, People’s Education, Foreign Affairs, Justice and the Interior are participating in the project. Noting that the second phase of the IPEC/LUTRENA project was completed in February 2004, the Committee requests the Government to provide information, including statistical data, on the trafficking of children. It also requests the Government to provide information on the practical measures taken, in the context of the collaboration between Gabon and the European Union, to combat the trafficking of children.

Article 7, paragraph 1. Sanctions. The Committee notes that the Ordinance of the Council of Ministers of 13 August 2001 amended the Penal Code by adding new section 278bis-1 which penalizes persons who have organized, facilitated or participated in the trafficking of children, among other means through the transport, entry onto the territory, reception, accommodation, sale, illicit employment of children, or who have drawn any gain therefrom whatsoever, making them liable to a sentence of criminal detention and a fine of between 10 and 20 million francs. It also notes that new section 252 of the Penal Code, as amended in 2001, provides that any person who has organized the sale of persons or participated therein shall be liable to a sentence of imprisonment of between five and ten years and a fine of from 1 to 10 million francs. The sentence is increased where the victim is a child under 16 years of age. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of these sanctions in practice.

Article 8. International cooperation. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that a system of dialogue is in operation between Gabon and sending countries of child workers with a view to the elimination of the trafficking of children. It also notes that a Joint Benin-Gabon Commission was established in March 1999 in the context of bilateral cooperation and is responsible, among other matters, for proposing practical measures to combat the trafficking and labour of children from Benin to Gabon (CRC/C/41/Add.10, paragraphs 266-268). The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on the system of dialogue established between Gabon and the countries of origin of child victims of trafficking, and particularly on whether exchanges of information have led to the identification and cessation of networks of child traffickers. It also requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved by the Joint Benin-Gabon Commission.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (GAB/1, 13 July 2001, page 12), 25,000 children work in Gabon, of which between 17,000 and 20,000 are the victims of trafficking. The report adds that 95 per cent of these children are used in the informal economy, 40 per cent are under 12 years of age and 71 per cent work in the tertiary sector, particularly as domestic workers. Furthermore, the Government indicates that, according to a UNICEF study, 582 girls were street hawkers in Libreville in March 1998; 54 per cent of them were nationals of Benin and 46 per cent of Togo. The Committee notes that, according to the information available in the report of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of the Commission on Human Right (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/30, July 2001, paragraphs 35-38), 86 per cent of the children sent to Gabon in 1999 were girls to be employed as domestic workers, while the boys were employed in agriculture. Moreover, the Committee notes the case of The Etireno, a vessel on board which around 40 children were discovered in April 2001 who were being brought to Gabon.

The Committee expresses concern at the situation described above and requests the Government to report in detail on the measures adopted and those that it envisages taking to bring the situation in practice into compliance with the law.

A request on other matters is also being addressed directly to the Government.