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1. Article 1(c) of the Convention. Imposition of forced labour as a means of labour discipline. For the past few years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the need to amend the provisions of section 153(1), (4), (5) and (9) (read in conjunction with section 156), and sections 169, 186 and 188 of the Merchant Shipping Code (Act No. 10/63 of 12 January 1963) which provide for sanctions of imprisonment for certain breaches of discipline by seafarers. Under Act No. 22/84 of 29 December 1984 on prison labour, persons sentenced to imprisonment are obliged to work. The Committee notes that, in its last report, the Government indicates that these provisions of the Merchant Shipping Code are null and void and are not applied in practice. Given this, the Committee hopes that the Government will take all the necessary measures in order to amend the said provisions of the Merchant Shipping Code, having noted, in particular, that the Government has referred on several occasions to the fact that the Code was undergoing revision. The Committee once again expresses the hope that in the very near future and in accordance with Article 1(c) of the Convention, the draft texts that are under examination will ensure that sentences of imprisonment involving compulsory labour cannot be inflicted on seafarers for breaches of discipline that do not endanger the safety of the vessel or the life or health of persons.

2. Article 1(a). Imposition of prison sentences involving an obligation to work as a punishment for expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to section 2(2) of Act No. 22/84 of 29 December 1984 on prison labour, under which political prisoners sentenced at the same time for related offences under ordinary law are considered to be convicts under ordinary law and, by virtue of section 3 of the above Act, are obliged to work. The Government stated in this regard that political detainees are not considered as prisoners under ordinary law, even if they are sentenced at the same time for offences under ordinary law. However, the Government considered that the provisions of section 2 of Act No. 22/84 could be ambiguous and had therefore requested that a new draft of that section be studied. In its last report, the Government states that, in practice, this provision has no impact, given that there are no political detainees in Gabon. The Committee notes this information and requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged in this regard. In the meantime, it requests the Government to provide information on the application of section 2 of Act No. 22/84, including copies of the relevant court decisions, if available. Please state in particular what would be considered to be a political offence.