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Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Ecuador (RATIFICATION: 1962)

Impact of sentences of imprisonment involving compulsory labour on the application of the Convention. The Committee previously noted that, pursuant to the provisions of the new Penal Code of 2014, labour no longer seemed to be compulsory for those serving a prison sentence. Under sections 701 et seq. of the Penal Code, work constitutes a fundamental element for the rehabilitation and social reintegration of convicts. Prison labour, which is not a penalty or corrective measure, is remunerated. The Committee requested the Government to provide further information on how the work of convicts is organized, so as to enable it to ascertain the voluntary nature of prison labour. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government regarding the adoption in 2015 of the Regulations on the national system of social reintegration and the Regulations on dependent work by persons serving a prison sentence (MDT-2015-0004). The Committee notes in particular that section 4 of the latter Regulations provides that detainees must freely and willingly express their consent to work and that such consent must be expressly set out in the individual contract of employment.

The Committee also notes that section 60 of the Penal Code establishes compulsory community work as a non-custodial penalty. To the extent that this penalty seems to constitute an alternative to a custodial sentence, the Committee requests the Government to indicate, first, whether compulsory community work can be imposed by a judge without the consent of the convicted person and, second, to specify the offences for which compulsory community work can be applied.