Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1995, publiée 82ème session CIT (1995)

1. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to section 1 of Order No. 68-353 of 6 April 1968, under which labour is compulsory for all those detained in detention and disciplinary centres.

The Committee noted that, according to the Government, there are no instruments which provide for exemption from compulsory prison labour for detained persons awaiting trial but that, in practice, work is not required from them.

Referring to paragraph 90 of its 1979 General Survey on the Abolition of Forced Labour, the Committee recalled that, under the terms of the Convention, work can only be exacted from a prisoner as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law; prisoners awaiting trial or persons detained without trial may, at their own request, perform work on a purely voluntary basis.

Since section 1 of Order 68-353 as it now stands provides for compulsory labour for detained persons, which is contrary to the Convention, and since, according to the Government, work is not exacted from detained persons in practice, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to amend section 1 of Order No. 68-353 so that the legislation reflects the practice reported by the Government.

2. The Committee noted previously that section 7 of Order No. 68/353 of 6 April 1968 provides in its first subsection that the hiring out of prison labour, composed of convicted prisoners, to private individuals or enterprises for work outside the prison establishment is expressly prohibited and, in its second subsection, that prisoners whose behaviour is regarded as satisfactory are authorized to work for private employers with a view to their moral rehabilitation and readaptation to normal working life.

The Committee referred to paragraphs 97 to 101 of its 1979 General Survey on the Abolition of Forced Labour, concerning the conditions governing the use of prison labour, and asked the Government to provide information on the practice of the use of prison labour by private individuals or enterprises.

The Committee noted the Government's indications that, since 1978, there has been no hiring out of prison labour to private individuals or associations and that all the legal texts concerning the work of detainees were being reviewed, which would enable the requirements of the Convention to be taken into account.

The Committee also noted from the information contained in the Government's report on the application of Convention No. 105 that it had not been possible to complete the project to review Order No. 68-353, but that the Government would take account of the Committee's comments during this review.

The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the state of progress of the above review and any texts that had been adopted.

The Committee notes that, according to the Government's report, the political instability of the Federal Assembly is at the origins of the delay in finalizing the projects to review old texts. It also notes that the Government once again states that it intends to amend Order No. 68-353.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary measures in the very near future.