Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2016, Publicación: 106ª reunión CIT (2017)

Repetition

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Imposition of compulsory labour for purposes of economic development. For many years, the Committee has been expressing its concern at the institutionalized and systematic compulsion to work established in law at all levels, in the national Constitution, acts of Parliament and district by-laws, in contradiction with the Convention. The Committee has referred in this connection to the following legislative provisions:

• – article 25(1) of the Constitution, which provides that every person has the duty to participate in lawful and productive work and to strive to attain the individual and group production targets required or set by law; article 25(3)(d) of the Constitution, which provides that no work shall be considered as forced labour if such work forms part of: (i) compulsory national service in accordance with the law; or (ii) the national endeavour at the mobilization of human resources for the enhancement of society and the national economy and to ensure development and national productivity;
• – the Local Government (District Authorities) Act, 1982, the Penal Code, the Resettlement of Offenders Act, 1969, the Ward Development Committees Act, 1969, and the Local Government Finances Act, 1982, under which compulsory labour may be imposed, inter alia, by the administrative authority for purposes of economic development; and
• – several by-laws adopted between 1988 and 1992 under section 148 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act, 1982, entitled “self-help and community development”, “nation building” and “enforcement of human resources deployment”, which provide for an obligation to work.

In this regard, the Committee noted the Government’s statement that it hoped to take measures to bring the provisions of the relevant legislation into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that, in practice, there is no government authority permitted to impose forced labour, or an obligation to work, under the umbrella of self-help and community development or nation building. It indicates that the Committee’s comments concerning the Local Government (District Authorities) Act, the Resettlement of Offenders Act, the Ward Development Committees Act and the Local Government Finances Act have been brought to the attention of relevant ministries. Similarly, the Committee’s comments concerning articles 25(1) and (3) of the Constitution have been communicated to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, to ensure that such comments are addressed during the ongoing constitutional review process. Moreover, the social partners have been urged to engage in the ongoing consultative meetings on the Constitution to ensure that the issues of forced labour are well articulated in the new Constitution, and to give effect to the provisions of the Convention.

The Committee notes that a draft Constitution was presented by the Constitutional Review Commission on 3 June 2013. It observes with concern that article 48 of this draft appears to contain wording similar to article 25 of the current Constitution, and does not address the issues raised by the Committee in this regard. Recalling that the Committee has been raising this issue for more than two decades, the Committee urges the Government to ensure that the draft Constitution currently under consideration is revised, to achieve conformity with the Convention. Particularly, it requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that article 48(1) of the draft Constitution is revised to remove the duty on persons to participate in lawful and productive work and to strive to attain the individual and group production targets required or set by law. It also requests the Government to take measures to limit the scope of exceptions to the definition of forced labour in article 48(3) to the limited exceptions provided for in Article 2(a)–(e) of the Convention, particularly by removing article 48(3)(d) of the draft Constitution. The Committee also requests the Government to pursue its efforts to repeal or amend the legislative provisions which permit compulsory labour to be imposed by an administrative authority or which provide for an obligation to work for the purposes of “self help and community development”, “nation building” and “enforcement of human resources deployment”, to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention and the indicated practice. It requests the Government to provide information on progress made in this regard with its next report.