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Repetition

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Penal sanctions involving compulsory labour for expressing political views opposed to the established system. Over a number of years, the Committee has been referring to sections 5(1) and (2), 6(4) and 8(5) of the Seditious and Undesirable Publications Act, 1968 (No. 16), read in conjunction with section 12(1) of the same Act, which contain provisions making various offences related to seditious acts or publications and prohibited publications punishable by imprisonment (which involves an obligation to perform labour under the Prison Rules). The Committee recalls, referring also to the explanations in paragraph 154 of its General Survey of 2007 on the eradication of forced labour, that the Convention does not prohibit punishment by penalties involving compulsory labour of persons who use violence, incite to violence or engage in preparatory acts aimed at violence; but sanctions involving compulsory labour fall within the scope of the Convention where they enforce a prohibition of the expression of views or of opposition to the established political, social or economic system.

As the Committee previously pointed out, the above provisions of the Seditious and Undesirable Publications Act, 1968, provide for the imposition of penalties involving compulsory labour in circumstances defined in terms which are broad enough to give rise to questions about their conformity to the Convention. The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply information on any cases of practical application of these provisions, including copies of relevant court decisions defining or illustrating their scope and indicating the penalties imposed, as soon as such information becomes available, in order to enable the Committee to ascertain whether they are applied in a manner compatible with the Convention.