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Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Albania (RATIFICATION: 1997)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments initially made in 2015.

Repetition

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for expressing political or ideological views opposed to the established system. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that penalties of imprisonment involve compulsory prison labour. It observed that it follows from section 34 of Act No. 8328 on the rights and treatments of prisoners of 16 April 1998 that prisoners who are not expressly excluded from the obligation to work (such as disabled persons, pregnant women), have to perform labour if asked to do so by the prison administration. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the application in practice of the following provisions of the Criminal Code which allow for the imposition of penalties of imprisonment in circumstances which might fall within the scope of Article 1(a) of the Convention:

• (a) section 262 (organizing public assembly without prior permission of the competent authority or participating in unlawful assembly);
• (b) section 265 (inciting national, racial or religious hatred, or preparing and propagating of writings with that content);
• (c) section 267 (propagating false information or false news, in words or in writing);
• (d) section 240 (defamation towards a public official acting in the execution of a state duty); and
• (e) section 241 (defamation towards the President of the Republic).

The Committee notes that, following the adoption of Law No. 23/2012 on certain additions and amendments to the Penal Code (March 2012), sections 240 and 241 were repealed and consequently only financial penalties may be imposed for defamation of public officials (section 120). The Committee also notes the statistics provided by the Government on the number of cases brought to courts and the penalties imposed under the abovementioned sections of the Penal Code for the period of 2010 to 2014. Recalling that sanctions involving compulsory labour fall within the scope of the Convention where they enforce a prohibition of peaceful assembly or peaceful expression of views or of opposition to the established political, social or economic system, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide, in its next reports, information on court decisions issued under sections 262 and 267 of the Penal Code, indicating in particular the facts that gave rise to the convictions and the sanctions applied.

Article 1(c). Work imposed as a means of labour discipline. The Committee once again requests the Government to supply copies of provisions governing labour discipline in merchant shipping, so as to enable the Committee to ascertain their conformity with the Convention.