Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Repetition

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Imposition of prison sentences involving compulsory labour as a punishment for expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to indicate whether persons who are sentenced to imprisonment may be subjected to compulsory labour. The Committee notes the Government’s confirmation that the legislation does not specify whether or not prison labour is compulsory and that the special status accorded to political prisoners does not refer to the issue of work (sections 3, 23, 24, 42 and 43 of Act No. 144/AN/80 of 16 September 1980 issuing the Prison Code and section 10 of Order No. 2011-0845/PR/MJDH issuing the internal rules of prisons). Noting the Government’s indication that the prison administration exercises unilateral power to organize prison work, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether in practice the prison administration requires, in one way or another, detainees to perform work and, if so, the consequences that would arise if detainees refused to do so.

While awaiting this clarification, the Committee hopes that, as it undertook to do in its last report, the Government will provide information on the manner in which the provisions referred to below are applied by the courts, the frequency with which they are applied, the circumstances which constitute violations and the nature of the penalties imposed (including examples of court rulings):

• – Section 19 of Act No. 1/AN/92/2eL of 15 September 1992 on political parties under which whomsoever, in breach of the Act, founds, directs or administers a party of whatever form or denomination shall be liable to a penalty of imprisonment of from six to 12 months and a fine, or one of these two penalties. Under the same section, a prison term of from one to five years and a fine are envisaged for any person directing, administering or belonging to a political party that is maintained or reconstituted while it is suspended or after it has been dissolved.
• – Sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Act on freedom of communication (Act No. 2/AN/92/2eL) establishing as criminal offences and setting penalties for libel and slander, contempt towards the President of the Republic (prison sentences of between three months and one year), and the publication, dissemination or reproduction by whatever means of false information (prison sentences of between one and three years).
• – Sections 182, 188(1), 189 and 427 of the Penal Code, which envisage prison sentences in a number of circumstances: the organization of a demonstration in a public place without notice or in breach of a prohibition, or the filing of an incomplete or inaccurate application likely to be misleading concerning the purpose or conditions of the planned demonstration (section 182); contempt towards the President of the Republic (section 188(1)); contempt towards a member of the Government, a deputy, a magistrate, a magistrate’s assistant or a juror, a public officer or a law enforcement agent, or a person responsible for performing a public service (section 189); public slander or libel against: (1) a member of the Government, a deputy, a magistrate, a magistrate’s assistant or a juror, a public servant, a person exercising public authority or a person responsible for performing a public service; (2) the courts, the army, constitutional bodies or public administrations (section 427).

In this regard, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 19 November 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expresses its concern at the restrictions on freedom of the press, the threats, harassment and intimidation suffered by human rights defenders and journalists, as well as the severity of the penalties for defamation, including imprisonment (CCPR/C/DJI/CO/1, paragraph 12). The Committee recalls that the Convention prohibits the imposition of work, including compulsory prison labour, on persons who express political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. That could be the case where national legislation provides for penalties of imprisonment to punish peaceful acts through which people express a political opinion. The Committee therefore requests the Government to ensure that the provisions of the national legislation referred to above are not used to punish persons who express political opinions or who peacefully oppose the established political, social or economic system through the imposition of sentences of imprisonment under the terms of which forced labour may be imposed.