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

1. Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention. Prison labour: prisoners hired to private enterprises or individuals. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, under section 3 of Act No. 22/84 of 29 December 1984 establishing the rules respecting prison labour, such labour is compulsory for all convicts, subject to penalties. Prison labour includes work within and outside the prison. In the context of the latter, prisoners may be hired to private individuals or associations on condition that their labour is not in competition with free labour (section 4). The conditions for the hiring of prisoners to private individuals are determined by section 10 of the Act. The rates for the hiring of prison labour are determined annually by order of the Minister of Territorial Administration. Prisoners who are hired to work for private individuals are granted a payment which is not a wage. Finally, employment accidents occurring to prisoners are notified and compensated, in accordance with the provisions of the Social Security Code (sections 13, 15 and 17).

In this respect, the Committee drew the Government's attention to the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention, under which prisoners may not be hired or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations. The Committee has, however, considered that prison labour performed for private companies under conditions approximating those of a free employment relationship may be compatible with the Convention. This necessarily requires the voluntary consent of the prisoner. It is also necessary to ensure certain other guarantees and safeguards covering the essential elements of an employment relationship, such as the existence of an employment contract, the application of labour legislation, the payment of a wage and social security coverage. The Committee considered previously that work performed under the terms of Act No. 22/84 in the context of the hiring of prison labour does not approximate a free labour relationship.

In its report, the Government indicates that it has noted the Committee’s observation and the conditions which must be fulfilled for prison labour to be hired to private individuals and that it undertakes to adopt all the necessary measures to adapt the law to the requirements of the Convention. The Committee notes this commitment and trusts, taking into account the number of years for which it has been making these comments, that the Government will now take action expeditiously to give effect to this undertaking. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would provide information on the use made in practice of the hiring of prison labour to private individuals.

2. Trafficking of children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the information contained in various reports, including those of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, describing the trafficking of children to Gabon for their exploitation. It requested the Government to provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure the effective application of the provisions of the national legislation intended to prevent, suppress and punish the trafficking of persons. The Committee observes that since it made its previous comments Gabon has ratified the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). As Convention No. 182 provides in Article 3(a) that the worst forms of child labour include "all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict", the Committee considers that the issue of the trafficking of children may be examined more specifically in the context of Convention No. 182. It therefore refers to the observation that it is making under that Convention.