Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

1. Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention. Work of purely military character of performed in virtue of compulsory military service laws. For many years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the need to amend Act No. 83-007 of 17 May 1983 governing civic patriotic, ideological and military service. Persons who are subject to this compulsory civic and military service, assigned to a production unit in accordance with their occupational aptitudes, may be compelled to perform work which is not of a purely military character, contrary to the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention. In its previous report, the Government indicated that, in practice, the Act had not been applied since 1985 and that the legislation governing military service was Act No. 63-5 with respect to recruitment of 26 June 1963.

The Committee notes that, under the terms of Act No. 63-5, military service, which is compulsory for men and women, is divided between a period of activity, a period of availability and a reserve period. By virtue of section 35 of the Act, the purpose of active military service is, firstly, to provide conscripts with military instruction and instruction intended to develop their civic sense and, secondly, to further their instruction and employ them, inter alia, in specialized units of the army to participate in the work of national construction. The Committee recalls that, under the terms of Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention, work exacted in virtue of compulsory military service laws must be of a purely military character if it is not to be considered as forced or compulsory labour within the meaning of the Convention. It therefore requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 35 of Act No. 63-5 on military recruitment, with an indication of the nature of the work performed in army units as participation in the work of national construction.

Finally, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would confirm that Act No. 83-007 of 17 May 1983 respecting civic, patriotic, ideological and military service, referred to above, has formally been repealed.

2.  Trafficking in children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the information contained in the report "Combating trafficking in children for labour exploitation in West and Central Africa, 2001" of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), to the effect that in Benin many young children fall victim to trafficking to other countries, such as Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon and Cameroon, for the exploitation of their labour. It requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken to eliminate trafficking in children, ensure that means of redress are available to the victims of trafficking and that penalties are imposed on the culprits.

The Committee notes that in 2001 the Government ratified the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), and provided the first report on its application in 2003. This Convention provides in Article 3, paragraph (a), that the worst forms of child labour comprise all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that the protection of children is reinforced by the fact that Convention No. 182 places the obligation upon the States which ratify it to take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to refer to its comments on the application of Convention No. 182.

3. Article 2, paragraph 2(d). The Committee notes that Ordinance No. 69-14/PR/MFPRAT of 19 June 1969, on which it has been commenting for many years, was repealed by Act No. 2011-09 of 21 June 2002 respecting the exercise of the right to strike. The Committee notes with interest that this Act confines the power of requisitioning to cases of strikes in which public officials and employees have not organized a minimum service in essential public, semi-public or private establishments the total stoppage of which would seriously jeopardize the health and safety of the population. Under the terms of section 14 of the Act, essential services are considered to be those relating to health, safety, energy, water, air transport and telecommunications, with the exception of private radios and television stations.