Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

The Committee notes the comments of 17 January 1991 by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) on the application of the Convention and the information submitted in the annexed documents.

In its comments the ICFTU indicates that the practice of compulsory portering is widespread in the country and involves many thousands of workers: the majority of porters used by the army are forcibly recruited and harshly exploited; rarely, if ever, paid; inadequately fed and cared for; required to carry excessive loads; and exposed to acute physical hardship and danger. According to the documents there is no formal regulation or supervision of the conditions of work of porters, which are, in practice, determined at the discretion of local military commanders. As a result many of them die or are killed in the course of forced labour, some are used as human shields during military actions, others are shot when trying to escape or are killed or abandoned when as a result of malnutrition or exhaustion they are no longer able to carry their load.

The comprehensive documentation submitted by the ICFTU contains detailed and specific indications to back these allegations.

The Committee hopes that the Government will provide detailed comments on these allegations as well as full information on any meaures adopted or contemplated to ensure observance of the Convention.