Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1999, publiée 88ème session CIT (2000)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. 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 comments: Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee raised the issue of the freedom of persons in the service of the State to leave that service. Referring once again to the explanations given in paragraphs 67 to 73 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, the Committee hopes that the Government will provide copies of Decree No. 89-062/PRE concerning the conditions of service of public servants, Decree No. 88-043/PRE setting out the general conditions of service of servicemen, and Decree No. 88-044/PRE setting out the conditions of service of officers, and that it will provide full information on the manner in which the abolition of forced labour is ensured with regard to the following:

(i) section 8 of Decree No. 91-029/PR/DEF concerning the conditions of service of doctors and pharmacists, who are required to work for the army for a period of 15 years;

(ii) section 109 of Act No. 72/AN/94/3eL setting out the conditions of service of the national police force, and section 50 of Act No. 48/AN/83/1 setting out the conditions of service of public servants, which stipulates that resignation must be accepted in accordance with regulations;

(iii) the practice described by the Government of requiring career service personnel to submit a request to the Supreme Military Council if they wish to resign, in particular if their studies have been financed by the armed forces. Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2, paragraph 2(c). 2. The Committee refers to its earlier comments concerning prison labour, particularly in cases where under the terms of Act No. 144/AN/80, to issue the Prison Code, prisoners are employed by private enterprises. The Committee refers once again to the provisions of the Convention on this point and to the explanations set out in paragraphs 97 and 98 of the abovementioned General Survey and in paragraphs 116 to 125 of its 1997-98 General Report, and requests the Government in its next report to provide the necessary information on the organization of work in prisons, with a copy of the model hiring contract used and details of the applicable conditions. 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.