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Articles 1 (paragraph 1), and 2 (paragraph 1), of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on any legal proceedings initiated to punish those responsible for trafficking in persons for the purpose of exploitation, specifying the legal basis of the proceedings and convictions and providing a copy of the relevant court decisions.

The Committee notes that, in its latest reports, the Government mentions cases involving the trafficking of children which have given rise to criminal court proceedings. Noting this information, the Committee requests information on the steps taken by the Government to combat the trafficking of adults for the purpose of exploitation, since the specific problem of the trafficking of children is examined under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). It hopes that the Government will be able to provide full information in its next report on the steps taken or envisaged to prevent, suppress and punish the trafficking of persons, including detailed information on the court decisions handed down in this regard, specifying the provisions of the national legislation on which these decisions are based. Recalling also that the Government has still not provided the information requested in its general observation of 2000, the Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide that information in its next report.

Article 2, paragraph 2, subparagraphs (a) and (d). In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, under section L6(2) of the Labour Code, “work required in the public interest by legislative provisions on the organization of defence, the creation of a national service or participation in development” is not regarded as forced or compulsory labour. It also noted that requisitioning in situations other than mobilization or wartime is allowed under section 25 of Act No. 87-48 AN-RM on the requisitioning of persons and property, the objective of which is to determine the conditions governing the right to requisition in the cases envisaged by the Acts on the general organization of defence and state of emergency. In order to be able to assess the effect of these provisions on the application of the Convention, the Committee requested the Government to provide copies of the legislation on the organization of defence, national service and state of emergency. The Government indicated that it would provide a copy of the legislation on national service and state of emergency, but that it did not have the legislation on the organization of defence. The Government also reiterated that it no use had ever been made of the provisions of section L6(2) of the Labour Code. It further stated that persons are requisitioned only in exceptional circumstances, namely in cases of force majeure or any circumstances that endanger or threaten to endanger the lives or normal living conditions of the whole or part of the population.

The Committee notes that, in its latest report, the Government indicates difficulties encountered in obtaining and providing all information relating to national defence. It notes that the Government reiterates its commitment to provide this information as soon as it is available. The Committee hopes that the texts requested will be attached to the Government’s next report, including the Act on the organization of defence, so that the Committee may assess their effect on the application of the Convention.

Article 2, paragraph 2, subparagraph (c). Work in the general interest. The Committee notes the adoption of Decree No. 06-036/P-RM of 31 January 2007 determining the procedures for the application of the penalty of work in the general interest (established by sections 7 and 14 of the Penal Code). Under section 4 of the Decree, the presiding judge shall, before announcing the ruling, inform the defendant of the manner in which the penalty would be carried out and of his right to refuse work in the general interest and shall obtain his reply. Section 5 provides that the execution and supervision of the penalty of work in the general interest shall be the responsibility of the National Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Education. Under section 6(2), work in the general interest shall be carried out in placement institutions in the place of sentencing or in any other place appointed by the implementing authority in the interest of rehabilitating the convicted person. Work in the general interest may involve any public utility work (section 7). The execution record for the penalty of work in the general interest shall contain the conviction and a form drawn up by the competent services of the National Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Education, which shall indicate, in particular, the institution appointed for the placement of the convicted person and the nature of the work to be carried out (section 8). Finally, the Decree stipulates that the Public Prosecutor or the Justice of the Peace with extended jurisdiction shall supervise the application of the penalty of work in the general interest (section 14).

The Committee recalls that, under these provisions of the Convention, the term “forced or compulsory labour” shall not include any work or service exacted from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law, provided that the said work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority and that the said person is not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations. The Committee has, however, acknowledged that, where a penalty of work in the general interest is handed down as an alternative to imprisonment, the person who has agreed to that alternative penalty may carry out the work for private associations or other institutions or entities of a non-profit nature and recognized to be of public interest. In such cases, guarantees are required to ensure the non-profit making character of the private institutions or entities concerned and to ensure that any work carried out for them really benefits the community.

The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide the list of placement institutions referred to in section 6 of the Decree of 31 January 2007 and to provide further information on the expression “any other place appointed by the implementing authority”. It requests the Government to indicate, if necessary, the steps taken to ensure that any private institutions or entities authorized to employ persons sentenced to a penalty of work in the general interest are non-profit making and that the work carried out for them really benefits the community. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether penalties of work in the general interest have already been handed down by Malian courts and, if so, to provide a copy of the forms mentioned in section 8 of the Decree. It further requests the Government to provide information on the type of work carried out by persons sentenced to a penalty of work in the general interest. Please also provide further information concerning the methods of supervision carried out by the implementing authority mentioned in section 6(2) of the Decree, as well as the supervision carried out by the Public Prosecutor and the Justice of the Peace with extended jurisdiction.

Slavery-like practices and hereditary servitude. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to the concluding observations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee following the consideration of the second periodic report of Mali in which the Committee regretted that Mali had not given a clear response to reports of slavery-like practices and hereditary servitude in the north of the country. While domestic law does not authorize such practices, the Committee expressed serious concern about their possible survival among the descendants of slaves and the descendants of slave-owners and invited Mali to conduct a careful study of the relations between the descendants of slaves and the descendants of slave-owners in the north of the country, with a view to determining whether slavery-like practices and hereditary servitude still continued (see report CCPR/CO/77/MLI, 16 April 2003, paragraph 16). The Committee recalled that slavery-like practices and hereditary servitude, if they were proven still to exist, would constitute a serious breach of the Convention. It requested the Government to provide detailed information on the situation in the north of the country, indicating, in particular, whether any investigations had been conducted in this region, and, if so, the results achieved and the measures taken by the Government. The Committee notes that the Government’s latest report refers to the conclusions of a 2003 ILO study on forced labour in Mali, of which it was already aware. The Committee hopes that the Government will be able to provide the information requested in its next report.