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Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Senegal (RATIFICATION: 1961)

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Imposition of sentences of imprisonment involving an obligation to work as a penalty for expressing political views or ideologically opposition. The Committee notes that several provisions of the Criminal Code provide for imprisonment for offences which could be associated with activities whereby persons express political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system, namely for:

• acts of such a nature as to give rise to political disturbances or cast discredit on political institutions and their functioning (article 80);
• participation in an unarmed gathering which may disturb the public peace (section 93);
• causing insult (sections 194 to 198);
• offending the President of the Republic by any public broadcasting medium (section 254);
• publication, display, circulation or reproduction, by any means, of false or misleading information (section 255); and
• defamation (section 259).

The Committee also notes that Ministerial Order No. 7580 of 20 July 2011 prohibits “protests of a political nature” in the centre of Dakar, the capital, and that section 97 of the Criminal Code provides for imprisonment for any person who participates in or participates in the organization of a prohibited protest. In this regard, the Committee notes that the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ruled, through a decision of 31 March 2022, that this Order violates the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and requested the authorities to repeal it. The Committee also notes that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern at the ongoing restrictions to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, leading especially to the arrest of more than 500 persons over three days of protests in June 2023 (press release of 13 June 2023).

The Committee recalls that Article 1(a) of the Convention prohibits the use of forced labour, including compulsory prison labour, as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. The range of activities which must be protected, under this provision, from punishment involving forced or compulsory labour thus comprises the freedom to express political or ideological views (which may be exercised orally or through the press and other communications media, or by the right of association, including by the establishment of political parties or societies). Certain limitations may be imposed by law on the rights and freedoms concerned, which must be accepted as normal safeguards against their abuse, examples being laws against incitement to violence, civil strife or racial hatred (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 302 and 303).

In this regard, the Committee notes that under the terms of section 692 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and section 32 of Decree No. 2001-362 of 4 May 2001 on the execution and organization of criminal sanctions, labour is compulsory for all persons sentenced to imprisonment for crimes or common law offences. The Committee therefore requests the Government to specify whether the violations of the Criminal Code referred to above fall under the procedures for crimes or common law offences – and would involve compulsory prison labour for all perpetrators of such violations – or any other procedures. The Committee also requests the Government to ensure that, in both law and practice, no one who, in a peaceful manner, expresses political views or opposes the established political, social or economic system, can be sentenced with sanctions involving compulsory labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of prosecutions brought on the basis of the above-mentioned provisions of the Criminal Code, the nature of the penalties imposed and the acts that resulted in legal prosecutions or convictions.