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Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Algeria (RATIFICATION: 1962)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Civic service. For several years the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the incompatibility with the Convention of sections 32, 33, 34 and 38 of Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984 concerning civic service, as amended in 1986 and 2006. Under the aforementioned provisions, it is possible to require persons who have completed a course of higher education or training in branches or specializations considered a priority for the economic and social development of the country to perform a period of civic service ranging from one to four years before being able to exercise an occupation or obtain employment. The branches in question were at first limited to medicine, pharmacy and dental surgery but now the only category concerned is that of doctors specializing in public health as a response to the need to bring essential specialist care to the population of isolated regions. Under section 2 of Ordinance No. 06-06 of 15 July 2006, civic service may also be performed in private sector health establishments. The Government previously indicated that civic service represents the contribution of the persons on whom it is imposed to the economic, social and cultural development of the country, adding that it is a national and moral duty of specialized doctors vis-à-vis the population groups living in the regions of the far south, the south and the High Plateau. These specialists enjoy an attractive system of compensation ranging from 100 to 150 per cent of their principal remuneration along with other advantages and, as a result, many specialists volunteer to work in these regions.

The Committee also noted the Government’s indication that specialist doctors help to ensure the health protection of remote population groups, a mission that may be regarded as equivalent to responding to emergencies. It added that the question of civic service was examined at the national health meetings in June 2014, which brought together health sector stakeholders and the social partners. The Committee observed that, under sections 32 and 38 of Act No. 84 10, any refusal to perform civic service and the resignation of the person concerned without a valid reason results in that person being banned from self-employment, from setting up business as a trader, artisan or promoter of private economic investment, any offence being punishable under section 243 of the Penal Code. Similarly, under sections 33 and 34 of the Act, all private employers are required to ensure, prior to engaging any workers, that applicants are not subject to civic service or that they can produce documentation proving that they have completed it. Furthermore, any private employer who knowingly employs a citizen who has evaded civic service is liable to imprisonment and a fine. Hence, the Committee observed that although the persons required to perform civic service enjoy working conditions that are comparable to those of regular workers in the public sector (remuneration, seniority, promotion, retirement, etc.), they engage in this service under the threat of being denied access to any independent professional activity or to any form of employment in the private sector in the event of their refusal. Therefore the Committee asked the Government to take the necessary steps to repeal or amend the Act concerning civic service.

The Committee notes the lack of information on this matter in the Government’s report. The Committee recalls that the Convention defines “forced or compulsory labour” as all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily. Referring to its 2007 General Survey, Eradication of Forced Labour, the Committee emphasizes that compulsory civic service activities and other non-military national service activities should be restricted to cases of emergency or be solely performed by volunteers. As regards obligations of service in relation to training received, which sometimes apply to a narrow range of professions, in particular young doctors, dentists and pharmacists, who may be required to exercise their profession for a certain period in a post assigned to them by the authorities, the Committee has pointed out in this connection that, where such service obligations are enforced by the menace of any penalty, they may have a bearing on the observance of the forced labour Conventions (paragraph 94 and 95). Hence, by obliging specialist doctors to exercise their profession for a period of one to four years in remote regions or otherwise face the penalty of being denied access to self-employment, the provisions of Act No. 84-10 of 1984 are incompatible with the Convention. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to repeal or amend Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984 concerning civic service in order to bring it into conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the steps taken or contemplated to abolish the compulsory character of civic service and the penalties that accompany it.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.