Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

1. Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Forced labour by indigenous communities. In the observations that it has been making for many years, the Committee has referred to the existence of forced labour practices (slavery, debt bondage or actual bondage) affecting members of indigenous communities, particularly in the Atalaya region, in sectors such as agriculture, stock-raising and forestry.

The Committee noted in its observation in 1993 the final report of the Multisectoral Committee (established by Decision No. 083-88-PCM, and composed of various bodies of the Ministries of Labour, Justice, Agriculture and the Peruvian Institute on Indigenous Questions), which was supplied by the Government. The report indicated that "the indigenous communities in Atalaya, who are known as ‘captives’, are subject to servitude in large and medium-sized stock-raising and/or timber estates, providing free or semi-free labour under the system of ‘advances’ (‘habilitacion’ or ‘enganche’). This system consists of advances provided by an employer to an indigenous worker in the form of work utensils, meals or money, in order to obtain the wood with which, in theory, he can subsequently repay the initial debt and obtain income. Thus, obliged to repay the original advance, as well as interest on it, the indigenous workers are caught in a vicious circle of exploitation and poverty which becomes their permanent condition." According to the report, 17 estates were denounced and found to be engaging in slavery and servitude. With regard to conditions of work, the report indicated that the indigenous workers "work between 10 and 12 hours every day, which is made worse by the fact that they are not paid the minimum living wage and are certainly not compensated for overtime", nor are the provisions of the labour legislation observed with regard to social security and occupational safety and health. The report further described "the difficulty or impossibility for the indigenous workers to move freely outside the estate or camp and their imprisonment for debt in improvised prisons in the estates". The report concluded that the situation in the Atalaya region "merits urgent action by the State".

In 1998, the Committee noted the comments of the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), which also referred to the subjection of the Ashaninka indigenous communities to forced labour under the conditions described above.

In its observation in 2003, after noting the Government’s indications that administrative and penal sanctions had been imposed on those responsible for exacting forced labour, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the number of complaints lodged, the proceedings under way and copies of judicial rulings imposing sanctions for the exaction of forced labour.

The Committee now notes the document entitled "Forced labour in the extraction of timber in Peruvian Amazonia", published in 2004 in the context of the ILO special action programme to combat forced labour. In this document, which has been validated by the Government, the various allegations concern the "existence of forced labour, particularly in work related to the unlawful extraction of timber in various regions of the Peruvian Amazon basin. At the present time, the two departments most affected by such forms of labour are Ucayali and Madre de Dios. The number of persons affected is reported to be around 33,000, mainly belonging to various ethnic groups of Peruvian Amazonia." The document also confirms the practice of the system of "habilitacion/enganche" and describes the situation of workers in areas near to the indigenous communities and in timber camps. In extreme cases, which are less frequent, indigenous workers are captured and forced to work in timber camps, although in most cases they are found in two types of situations.

In the first situation under the system of "habilitacion", the worker who cuts down timber is separated from the industrial wood producer who finances the activity through a series of intermediaries. The advance (in the form of cash, manufactured products, etc.) is provided to an indigenous community in exchange for a certain quantity of timber to be delivered during the timber extraction period or at the end of the harvest. In many cases, the financial value of the timber is not specified. The process of indebtedness begins with this "enganche". The workers are deceived, and are told that they are not complying with the terms of the agreement, by undervaluing the quantity or quality of the timber that is felled, so that the community must cover the "debt" either by providing more timber, or by sending workers to a timber camp. In this manner, the "outstanding debt" can be used to maintain the indigenous workers as peons for decades or generations.

In the second situation there is the transfer of workers to a timber camp in a distant region. In general, workers are transferred from Puno, Cuzco or Puerto Maldonaldo. In the camps, the workers incur a series of expenses (subsistence goods, work tools), the prices of which may be 100 to 200 per cent higher than the prices in urban areas, so that they are unable to repay such expenses. If workers opt to escape from the camp before the end of the harvest, the means used to prevent them doing so may include violence. At the end of the harvest, the workers have debts which are higher than their wages and are forced to return the following year or to cover their debt through the provision of more timber.

The document also reports that the financing of timber extraction activities is provided by major international corporations and powerful timber industry groups.

Measures taken by the Government. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that, after examining the document "Forced labour in timber extraction in the Peruvian Amazonia", it undertook to adopt the necessary measures to eradicate forced labour. The Committee notes the establishment of the National Intersectoral Commission for the Eradication of Forced Labour (Supreme Decision No. 028-2005-TR) to investigate and examine the problem and formulate a plan of action. The Committee notes with interest that a draft National Plan of Action for the Eradication of Forced Labour has been prepared and that its social validation phase, which will end after 90 working days, was approved by Supreme Decision No. 056-2005.

The Committee observes that the grave problems which persist merit energetic and sustained action by the authorities and it hopes that the action taken will make it possible to combat effectively practices through which many workers are subjected to forced labour. The Committee hopes that the Government will provide information on the validation and implementation of the Plan of Action for the Eradication of Forced Labour.

Article 25 of the Convention. Penalties for the exaction of forced labour. The Committee notes that, in reply to its previous observation, the Government indicates that it has not received denunciations concerning the exaction of forced labour. In view of the fact that the existence of such situations has been confirmed, the absence of penalties is indicative of the incapacity of the judicial system to prosecute such practices and penalize those who are guilty. The Committee recalls that, in accordance with Article 25 of the Convention, the Government is under the obligation to ensure that the penalties imposed on those found guilty of the exaction of forced labour are really adequate and strictly enforced, and it hopes that the Government will take all the necessary measures to ensure that effect is given to this Article. The Committee trusts that in its next report the Government will be able to provide information on the number of cases of forced labour which have been denounced, the progress made in the investigation of these cases, and particularly the percentage of denunciations which have given rise to prosecutions and the number of convictions obtained.

2. Forced labour by young persons in the gold mines and washeries of Madre de Dios. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the action taken by the Government to eradicate the process of the migration of the rural population in the departments of Cuzco and Puno to the department of Madre de Dios, in the context of which the phenomenon had been observed of young workers engaged in mining centres under conditions of forced labour. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on any other measure adopted with a view to the complete eradication of forced labour by young persons in this area.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the Directorate of Labour and Employment Promotion of Madre de Dios has decided to implement campaigns to identify the work performed by young persons in the various informal gold-producing areas located along the rivers Inambari and Madre de Dios. It also indicates that it is planning various operations on the rivers Tambopata and Malinoski.

With regard to forced labour by young persons, the Committee notes that Peru has ratified the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), and has provided its first report on the application of this Convention. As Article 3(a) of Convention No. 182 provides that the worst forms of child labour include "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 considers that issues relating to the forced labour of children can be examined more specifically in relation to Convention No. 182. The protection of children is being intensified by the fact that Convention No. 182 requires States which have ratified 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. The Committee therefore requests the Government to refer to the comments that it is making on the application of Convention No. 182.