Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention. Prison labour. Penal labour of general interest. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, under the terms of sections 22 and 26 of the Penal Code, the conditions of work and employment of persons convicted to a sentence of imprisonment (for a criminal act) or of detention (for an offence) were to be determined by decree issued on the basis of a report by the Minister of Justice. Furthermore, section 34 includes penal labour of “general interest” among the lesser penalties. The procedures for the employment and surveillance of persons sentenced to perform this type of work are also to be determined by order of the Minister of Justice. Noting that none of the texts envisaged under the Penal Code had been adopted, the Committee reminded the Government of the provisions of Article 2(2)(c), of the Convention, under which, on the one hand, only persons convicted in a court of law may be subjected to compulsory labour and, on the other, such persons may not be hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations within or outside prison establishments. The Government confirmed on that occasion that detainees who have not been convicted in a court of law are not obliged to perform any work, with the exception of the cleaning of their cells, and that no form of privatization of prison labour exists in Togo. The Government indicated to the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2009, that the programme for the reform and modernization of the judicial system includes the formulation and adoption of texts to be issued under sections 22, 26, and 35 of the Penal Code, which will be communicated to the office once they have been adopted.

The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate whether sentences of penal labour of general interest (the penalty envisaged in section 34 of the Penal Code) have been imposed and, if so, to provide information on the manner in which these penalties are given effect in practice. It also requests the Government to provide copies of the regulations issued under sections 22, 26 and 35 of the Penal Code, as soon as they are adopted.

Powers of requisitioning in the event of a strike. The Committee noted previously that section 7 of the General Conditions of Service of Public Officials (Ordinance No. 1 of 4 January 1968) authorizes the Government to limit the exercise of the right to strike by public officials by means of collective or individual requisitions. The Government indicated in a previous report that the text regulating the right to requisition had not been adopted. The Government indicated at the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2009 that no use had been made of the right to requisitioning. It also indicated that a reform was envisaged in the General Conditions of Service of Public Officials, which would include the right to requisitioning.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any new developments in this respect, and particularly on the progress made in the reform of the General Conditions of Service of Public Officials and its consequences in relation to the power of requisitioning in the event of a strike.

Trafficking in persons. The Committee noted previously that, in its concluding observations concerning Togo, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed its concern with the fact that “trafficking in women for the purpose of forced prostitution and of non-consensual labour of domestic servants persists” (E/C.12/1/Add.61 of 21 May 2001). During the discussion in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2009, the Government referred to Act No. 2005-009 of 3 August 2005 respecting the trafficking of children in Togo. It also indicated that the specific case of women would be included in the overall process of reforming and modernizing the judicial system.

Having noted that the Government has not provided any information in reply to the Committee’s general observation of 2000, the Committee once again requests the Government to refer to the general observation and to provide detailed information on the measures adopted with a view to preventing, suppressing and punishing trafficking in persons for the purposes of exploitation and on the difficulties encountered by the public authorities in this respect.

The Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will be in a position to provide the requested information in its next report.