Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

The Committee notes with regret that no report has been received from the Government for the fifth year in succession. 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.

Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention. 1. The Committee notes the provisions of section 18 of the Act on the status of military personnel and section 64 of the Act on the general military duties of citizens, according to which military officers can leave the service at their own request for family reasons or other important reasons, after they have completed ten years of service. The Committee recalls that the provisions of the Convention exempting compulsory military service from the definition of forced labour do not apply to career servicemen. It also refers to paragraph 33 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, in which it is recognized that career servicemen cannot be denied the right to leave the service either at certain reasonable intervals or by means of notice of reasonable length. The Committee therefore asks the Government to state whether guarantees are provided, in the national legislation or practice, to ensure that military officers and other career servicemen can leave the service at their own request without indicating any specific reason, or that the reasons they put forward must be accepted by the authorities. Please also supply information on the application in practice of sections 18 and 64 referred to above.

Article 2, paragraph 2(c). 2. The Committee notes the provisions of section 56 of the correctional Labour Code, according to which all convicts must work, and such work shall be performed, as a general rule, at enterprises belonging to the executive penal system, but in some cases at enterprises of other ministries and departments. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate, in its next report, what guarantees are provided to ensure that convicted prisoners are not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations. Please also provide a copy of section 412 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended, concerning the work of accused persons placed under guard, to which reference was made in the report, as well as information on its application in practice.

Article 2, paragraph 2(d). 3. The Committee notes from the Government’s reports that the Act of the USSR on the state of emergency, 1990, is still in force in Kyrgyzstan. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would state, in its next report, what guarantees are provided to ensure that the power to call up labour during the state of emergency is limited to what is strictly required by the exigencies of the situation. Please also indicate whether there is an intention to adopt a Constitutional Law on this subject, to which reference is made in article 10 of the Kyrghyz Constitution.

Article 2, paragraph 2(e). 4. Please indicate whether minor communal services may be exacted, in the direct interest of the community, as normal civic obligations of its members, and if so, whether the members of the community or their direct representatives have the right to be consulted in regard to the need for such services.

Article 25. 5. The Committee notes that the Government refers in its report to sections 126 and 135 of the Criminal Code which provide for penal sanctions for "illegal deprivation of a person’s freedom" and for "a gross violation of the labour legislation". It would be grateful if the Government would supply information on the application in practice of these provisions, indicating, in particular, whether they are used to punish the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour. Please furnish information on any legal proceedings which have been instituted as a consequence of the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour and on any penalties imposed.

6. Referring to the general observation on the Convention made in its report to the 87th Session of the ILC (1999), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information as to the present position in law and practice as regards:

(i)  whether there are prisons administered by private concerns, profit-making or otherwise;

(ii)  whether any private prison contractors deploy prisoners to work either inside or outside prison premises, either for the account of the contractor or for that of another enterprise;

(iii)  whether private parties are admitted by the prison authorities into prison premises of any kind for the purpose of engaging prisoners in employment;

(iv)  whether employment of prisoners outside prison premises, either for a public authority or for a private enterprise, is allowed;

(v)  the conditions in which employment under any of the above conditions takes place, in respect of remuneration (indicating the level and comparing it with minimum wage normally applicable to such work), benefits accruing (such as pension rights and workers’ compensation), observance of occupational safety and health legislation and other conditions of employment (e.g. through labour inspection), and how those conditions are determined;

(vi)  what the source of any remuneration is (whether from public or private funds) and for what purposes it must or may be applied (e.g. for the personal use of the prisoner or if it is subject to compulsory deductions);

(vii)  for whose benefit is the product of prisoners’ work and any surplus profit deriving from it, after deduction of overheads, and how it is disbursed;

(viii)  how the consent of the prisoners concerned is guaranteed, so that it is free from the menace of any penalty, including any loss of privileges or other disadvantages following from a refusal to work.