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Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Kiribati (RATIFICATION: 2000)

The Committee notes with regret 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 matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Communication of texts. The Committee requests the Government to supply, with its next report, copies of the legislation in force in the following fields: laws and regulations governing the execution of penal sentences; laws governing the press and other media; laws governing political parties and associations; laws governing assemblies, meetings and demonstrations; and any provisions governing labour discipline in merchant shipping.

Article 1, subparagraph a, of the Convention. Penal sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. The Committee notes that penalties of imprisonment (involving compulsory prison labour) may be imposed under the following provisions of the Penal Code:

–      section 60 (spreading false rumours, whether by writing or by word of mouth or otherwise, tending to create or foster public alarm, anxiety or disaffection, to disturb the public peace, etc.);

–      section 66 (uttering any seditious words; printing, publishing, selling, distributing, reproducing or importing any seditious publications);

–      section 69(1) (contravening a court order prohibiting the publication of a newspaper);

–      sections 70(3) and 78 (failure to deliver a prohibited publication to a police officer);

–      sections 75 and 76 (importing, publishing, selling, distributing, reproducing or possessing a prohibited publication).

The Committee points out, referring also to the explanations contained in paragraphs 152–166 of its General Survey of 2007 on the eradication of forced labour, that the Convention does not prohibit punishment by penalties involving compulsory labour of persons who use violence or incite to the use of violence, armed resistance or an uprising. But sanctions involving compulsory labour are incompatible with the Convention where they enforce a prohibition of the peaceful expression of non-violent views that are critical of government policy and the established political system. The Committee therefore hopes that the necessary measures will be taken with regard to the provisions of the Penal Code referred to above in order to bring legislation into conformity with the Convention, and that the Government will report on the action taken to this end. Pending the adoption of such measures, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of the above provisions in practice, supplying copies of the court decisions which could define or illustrate their scope.

Article 1, subparagraph d. Sanctions for participating in strikes. Referring to its comments addressed to the Government under Convention No. 87, likewise ratified by Kiribati, in which the Committee referred to broad restrictions on the right to strike imposed by the Industrial Relations Code, 1998, the Committee has noted that, according to section 30 of the Industrial Relations Code, sanctions against unlawful strikes include imprisonment of up to one year (which involves compulsory prison labour). Moreover, under section 37 of the Industrial Relations Code, similar sanctions may be imposed in cases where a strike might “expose valuable property to the risk of destruction, loss or serious injury”. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the explanations in paragraphs 182–189 of its General Survey of 2007 on the eradication of forced labour, in which it recalled that the imposition of restrictions on the right to strike enforceable with sanctions involving compulsory labour is only possible in essential services in the strict sense of the term (that is, services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population), or with respect to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, or in situations of force majeure. However, the provisions of the Industrial Relations Code impose restrictions on the right to strike (enforceable with penal sanctions involving compulsory labour) in a wider range of circumstances, which is not in conformity with the Convention.

The Committee therefore hopes that measures will be taken to ensure that the above provisions imposing restrictions on the right to strike enforceable with sanctions involving compulsory prison labour are limited in scope to essential services in the strict sense of the term, or to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, or to the cases of force majeure, and that no sanctions involving compulsory labour can be imposed for participation in peaceful strikes in other services. The Committee requests the Government to provide, in its next report, information on the progress made in this regard.