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Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Morocco (RATIFICATION: 1957)

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Observation

Direct Request

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Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Freedom of public servants to leave their employment. For a number of years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the provisions of section 77 of the Dahir of 24 February 1958 establishing the General Public Service Regulations, under the terms of which the resignation of a public servant only takes effect if it is accepted by the authority vested with the power of appointment, which may refuse the request to resign on account of the needs of the service or if it is impossible to replace the official who wishes to resign. The Committee noted the Government’s indication that if the resignation is refused by the administration, the person concerned may have recourse to the joint administrative committee, which then communicates its opinion to the competent authority.

The Government indicates in its report that in the context of the government programme for 2022–26, a reform of the legislative and regulatory framework of the public service, incorporating a revision of section 77, is under way. The Government also indicates that no request to resign has been brought to the attention of the relevant bodies. Noting that the Government has been referring to a project to reform the public service system for a number of years, the Committee trusts that steps will be taken in this context to ensure that, in law and in practice, officials have the right to leave the service, either at regular intervals or subject to a reasonable period of notice. In the meantime, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of resignation requests which have been refused and the grounds for these refusals, and to indicate the number of officials who have had recourse to the joint administrative committee and the outcome of such recourse.

2. Repression of vagrancy. Further to its previous request concerning the revision of section 329 of the Penal Code, which, by criminalizing vagrancy and defining it in broad terms, can constitute indirect compulsion to work, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that section 329 has been abolished as part of the revision of the Penal Code. The Government also indicates that between 2020 and 2021 a total of 3,233 persons of no fixed abode were provided with care at nine welcome centres to enable them to re-enter the labour market and society. The Committee welcomes this information and hopes that the draft revision of the Penal Code will be adopted in the near future so as to ensure that, in the absence of activity that threatens public order or safety, persons of no fixed abode or means of subsistence who do not exercise a trade or occupation cannot incur any penalty. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on progress made in this respect.

Article 2(2)(c). Prison labour. The Committee previously noted section 40 of Act No. 23-98, which provides that prisoners may work for a private individual or entity under a concession and an administrative agreement between the prison administration and the private entity determining, inter alia, the conditions of employment and remuneration. The Committee requested the Government to indicate the conditions, particularly in relation to remuneration, in which prisoners can work for the benefit of private entities.

The Government indicates that the General Delegation for the Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) has established an “Employment for prisoners” programme in order to reinforce the qualifications and skills of prisoners, and enable them to benefit from decent work during their imprisonment, with a decent wage. The Government explains that this programme is developed in the context of the employment programme in technical and artisanal production units. In this regard, the Committee notes that according to the 2021 DGAPR’s report, 416 prisoners benefited from the programme in prison production and training units in 2021. Most of these prisoners worked in units producing protective masks but some worked in other spheres such as livestock farming, carpentry, pottery, ceramics and leather goods.

The Government also refers to the development of a new “Productive prisons” project in 2021, which aims to involve the private sector in terms of benefiting from prisoners’ skills and from prison spaces. The project follows up on the recommendations of two studies on prison labour carried out in cooperation with the United Nations Development Fund.

The Committee recalls that work carried out by convicted prisoners for private entities is only compatible with the Convention if it is performed in conditions approximating to those of a free employment relationship, in other words with the formal, free and informed consent of the persons concerned, and with the guarantees and safeguards covering the essential elements of an employment relationship, such as wages, occupational safety and health, and social security. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that prisoners carrying out work for private entities (including within production units) do so in a genuinely voluntary manner, indicating how the formal, free and informed consent of prisoners is obtained and specifying their conditions of employment and remuneration. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide examples of administrative agreements concluded between prison administrations and private entities.