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Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Gabon (RATIFICATION: 1960)

Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2(c), of the Convention. 1. The Committee refers to its previous comments, which concerned prison labour of convicts. It notes in this respect that, according to the Government's information, the Labour Code adopted in 1996 sets out in section 4 the absolute prohibition of any form of forced labour and that provisions have been adopted to prevent any further form of forced labour, including the hiring of prisoners to private parties. The Committee also notes that, according to the same report, sections 73 and 75 of the above Act determine the conditions governing such hiring and the tariffs. The Government also states that a text to repeal the provisions of section 3 of the above Act is still being prepared. In practice, according to the Government, prison labour is performed at the explicit request of the prisoner and the request may be approved after completion of half of the sentence. The Government also indicates that the Social Security Code contains provisions respecting the registration of detained persons in the context of prison labour, but that the resources available to the administration are insufficient to overcome shortfalls in this area.

2. With reference to paragraphs 89 to 96 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, the Committee recalls that work performed by convicted persons for private employers requires the formal consent of the person concerned and guarantees and protection relating to wages and social security. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the following points:

-- provisions adopted to prevent any form of forced labour, including the hiring of convicted prisoners to private parties;

-- measures taken to amend the provisions of Act No. 22/84 of 29 December 1984, particularly with regard to the hiring of convicted persons to private parties; and

-- measures adopted relating to wages and social security for work performed by convicted persons.

The Committee hopes that the Government will be able to take the necessary measures to bring its law and practice into conformity with the Convention.

3. The Committee notes that the comments of 20 May 1998 made by the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Gabon (CGSL) and communicated to the Government refer among other matters to circumstances of imprisonment. The Committee would ask the Government to indicate in its next report to what extent it has taken measures to guarantee that prison labour as mentioned above is labour for which the prisoners concerned have offered themselves voluntarily, when the only alternative is the poor circumstances referred to by the Confederation.