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Repetition

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Penal sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. For a number of years, the Committee has been referring to the following legislation:

• – the Public Order and Security Act, No. 20 of 1967, empowering the executive to restrict an individual’s association or communication with others, independently of the commission of any offence and subject to penalties involving compulsory labour; and
• – sections 54(2)(c), 55, 56 and 56(A) of the Penal Code, empowering the minister to declare any combination of two or more people an unlawful society and thus render any speech, publication or activity on behalf of, or in support of, such a combination, illegal and punishable with imprisonment (involving an obligation to perform labour).

The Committee notes an absence of information on this point in the Government’s report, but notes the information on the Government’s website that section 56 of the Penal Code is still applied in practice, as the Attorney-General issued the Declaration of Unlawful Societies Order in 2012. In this regard, the Committee once again recalls that Article 1(a) of the Convention prohibits all recourse to forced or compulsory labour, including compulsory prison labour, as a means of political coercion or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views, or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. It also points out that the protection conferred by the Convention is not limited to activities expressing or manifesting opinions diverging from established principles; even if certain activities aim to bring about fundamental changes in state institutions, such activities are covered by the Convention, as long as they do not resort to, or call for, violent means to these ends. The Committee accordingly urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the abovementioned provisions of the Public Order and Security Act, No. 20 of 1967, and of the Penal Code, are amended or repealed so as to ensure that no prison sentence entailing compulsory labour can be imposed on persons who, without using or advocating violence, express certain political views or opposition to the established political, social or economic system. It requests the Government to provide information on measures taken in this regard with its next report.