Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request:

1. Supply of legislation. The Committee again requests the Government to supply, with its next report, copies of the legislation in force governing public assemblies, meetings and demonstrations, as well as a full updated text of the Law on political parties and copies of any provisions governing labour discipline in merchant shipping, so as to enable the Committee to ascertain their conformity with the Convention.

2. Compulsory prison labour. As regards the prisoners’ obligation to perform labour, the Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that, under section 80 of the General Prison Rules adopted by the Council of Ministers’ Decision No. 96 of 9 March 2000, convicts can be asked to work in accordance with their physical and psychological capacities. It also notes that section 34 of Act No. 8328 on the rights and treatment of prisoners of 16 April 1998 excludes from the obligation to work only disabled persons, pregnant women, persons who fulfilled conditions for retirement and other persons unable to perform labour for health reasons. It follows from the above provisions that prisoners who are not expressly excluded from the obligation to work, have to perform labour if asked to do so by the prison administration.

The Committee refers in this regard to the explanations provided in paragraph 144 of its General Survey of 2007 on the eradication of forced labour, where it indicated that the exclusion of prison labour from the scope of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), does not automatically apply to the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), which was designed to supplement the 1930 Convention. Though, in most cases, labour imposed on persons as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law will have no relevance to the application of Convention No. 105, on the other hand, if a person is in any way forced to work because he holds or has expressed particular political views, has committed a breach of labour discipline or has participated in a strike, the situation is covered by the Convention. The Committee has therefore considered that any sanctions involving compulsory labour, including prison sentences involving compulsory prison labour, are covered by Convention No. 105 in so far as they are imposed in the five cases specified by the Convention.

3. Article 1(a) of the Convention. Political coercion and punishment for holding or expressing political views opposed to the established system. The Committee notes that penalties of imprisonment (which involve compulsory prison labour) may be imposed under the following provisions of the Criminal Code in circumstances which might fall within the scope of Article 1(a) of the Convention:

(a)    section 262 (organizing public assembly without prior permission of the competent authority or participating in unlawful assembly);

(b)    section 265 (inciting national, racial or religious hatred, or preparing and propagating of writings with that content);

(c)    section 267 (propagating false information or news for panic, in words or in writing);

(d)    section 240 (defamation toward a public official acting in the execution of a state duty);

(e)    section 241 (defamation toward the President of the Republic).

The Committee recalls that Article 1(a) of the Convention prohibits the use of forced or compulsory labour as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. It refers in this connection to paragraph 154 of its General Survey of 2007 on the eradication of forced labour, where it observed that the Convention does not prohibit punishment by penalties involving compulsory labour of persons who use violence, incite to violence or engage in preparatory acts aimed at violence; but sanctions involving compulsory labour fall within the scope of the Convention where they enforce a prohibition of peaceful expression of views or of opposition to the established political, social or economic system, whether such prohibition is imposed by law or by a discretionary administrative decision.

As regards the issue of unlawful assemblies, the Committee refers to the explanations contained in paragraph 162 of the same General Survey, where it observed that, since opinions and views ideologically opposed to the established system are often expressed at various kinds of meetings, if such meetings are subject to prior authorization granted at the discretion of the authorities and violations can be punished by sanctions involving compulsory labour, they come within the scope of the Convention.

The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide, in its next report, information on the application of the above penal provisions in practice, including copies of the court decisions defining or illustrating their scope, as well as information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure the conformity with the Convention in this regard.