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

1. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to:

- the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 62-17 of 15 August 1962, under which any male person who without just cause refuses to work may be directed to rehabilitation through work on state worksites;

- the provisions of Act No. 78-22 of 8 March 1978 to establish civic service, under which any Tunisian between 18 and 30 years of age who cannot show that he has a job or is registered in an educational or vocational training establishment may be assigned, for one year or longer, to economic and social projects or rural or urban development projects, under penalty of compulsory rehabilitation through work in the event of refusal or desertion.

The Committee noted that an interdepartmental committee was due to meet in order to draw up proposals for the amendment of the above texts in order to bring certain of their provisions into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee notes the Government's indication in its report that information on the outcome of the work of the above committee will be supplied in due time. Noting that the above texts have been the subject of its comments for more than 20 years, the Committee trusts that the Government will report in the very near future on amendments made to bring these texts into accordance with the Convention.

2. The Committee noted previously that under the provisions of Act No. 86-27 of 2 May 1986, conscripts could be assigned to development units in the administration or in enterprises, and that under the terms of implementing Decree No. 87-1014 of 2 August 1987, they were subject to military conditions of service. With reference to Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to ensure the observance of the Convention in this regard.

The Committee notes that Act No. 89-51 of 14 March 1989 respecting national service, which repeals Act No. 86-27 of 2 May 1986, does not change the substance of the provisions that were the subject of its previous comments. The Committee notes that following a basic military training and once the requirements of the units in the armed forces have been satisfied, conscripts may, by virtue of section 3 of the Act No. 89-51, be assigned collectively to the internal security forces and to development units, or be assigned individually to the public administration, to enterprises or to technical co-operation activities. Citizens who are not subject to national service obligations may be called up individually as civilian conscripts, except in cases of absolute physical incapacity, to be employed in cases of necessity in the administrative, economic, social and cultural services. The Committee also notes that, in its report dated April 1989 on the application of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Government states that conscripts who are not placed in the armed forces are assigned to development units to participate in projects that form part of the national development plans.

The Committee once again draws the Government's attention to Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention, under which only military service limited to work of a purely military character is not included in the scope of the Convention. Work exacted from recruits within the framework of national service, including work related to the development of the country, is not of such purely military character. Furthermore, Article 1(b) of the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), which has also been ratified by Tunisia, specifically prohibits the use of compulsory labour for purposes of economic development. The Committee refers in this connection to paragraphs 24-33 and 49-62 of its 1979 General Survey on the Abolition of Forced Labour in which it examined the obligations following from the Conventions in this respect and described the problems arising from the use of recruits for non-military purposes. The Committee requests the Government to indicate all measures that have been taken or are contemplated to ensure the observance of the Convention in this respect.