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Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Burundi (RATIFICATION: 1963)

The Committee notes the observations of the Trade Union Confederation of Burundi (COSYBU), received on 30 August 2018.

Article 1(b) of the Convention. Compulsory civic service for the purposes of economic development. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 1/005 of 1 December 1996 establishing compulsory civic service. Under section 2 of the Legislative Decree, civic service consists of unpaid compulsory service for the State in areas of public interest or development, such as education, national defence, health, social welfare, the environment and reconstruction. The Committee also noted that any refusal to perform compulsory civic service is liable to punishment in the form of imprisonment with compulsory labour ranging from one month to one year (section 8). The Committee further noted that similar provisions are applicable to national defence, in particular Ministerial Ordinance No. 520/003 of 6 January 1997 concerning the organization of compulsory civic service in relation to national defence, and Legislative Decree No. 1/013 of 31 October 1997 issuing regulations governing persons engaged in compulsory civic service in the field of national defence. The Committee referred to the Government’s indication in its 2006 report that compulsory civic service has been discontinued since 2002. In this connection, it asked the Government to provide copies of the respective legislative texts. Lastly, the Committee noted the observations made by COSYBU in 2015, in which the union emphasized that the streets are closed every Saturday to make people perform community work. In this regard, the Government indicated that recruitment to the defence forces is voluntary. Consequently, there is no longer any compulsory conscription. However, the Committee recalled that civic service consisting of compulsory service in areas of public interest or development goes beyond the obligation of service in the defence forces. It asked the Government to indicate clearly whether the abovementioned provisions of the national legislation concerning compulsory civic service have been formally repealed.

The Committee notes the observations of COSYBU indicating that there has been some improvement regarding the organization of community work. COSYBU indicates that there is no longer any recourse to street closures with regard to those who have not performed community work.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that Legislative Decree No. 1/005 has not been repealed and is still in force. However, the Government indicates that the application of this Decree has been temporarily suspended since 2002. The Committee recalls that Article 1(b) of the Convention prohibits the use of forced or compulsory labour as a method of mobilizing and using labour for the purposes of economic development. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to take the necessary steps to formally repeal Legislative Decree No. 1/005 of 1 December 1996 establishing compulsory civic service so as to bring the national legislation into conformity with the Convention.