Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Honduras (Ratification: 1957)

The Committee notes that no report has been received from the Government. It must therefore repeat its previous observation on the following matters:

Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention. In the comments that it has been making for some years, the Committee has referred to the situation concerning the non-military work that conscripts can be required to perform. Article 274 of the Constitution of the Republic (formerly article 320) provides that the armed forces shall co-operate with the executive branch in the fields of literacy campaigns, education, agriculture, conservation of natural resources, road construction, communications, health, land reform and in emergency activities. The Committee asked the Government to adopt the necessary measures to ensure that conscripts may be called upon to perform only work or services of a purely military character, except in cases of emergency, in conformity with Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention. The Committee noted that the Secretariat of Labour and Social Insurance submitted in 1981 to the Permanent Committee of the sovereign Congress of Deputies draft amendments to the Labour Code with the aim of rectifying a number of incompatibilities between the national legislation and the Conventions that have been ratified by the Honduras. The Committee noted that in May 1987 the comments of the Committee of Experts were transmitted to the Congress of Deputies so that they could be taken into account in the discussions of the draft amendments to the Labour Code. The Committee observed that the provision that has been the subject of its comments with regard to Convention No. 29 is section 274 of the National Constitution. Recalling also the indications supplied by the Government to the effect that in practice the co-operation of the armed forces is sought only in exceptional cases, the Committee hopes that, in order to bring the legislation into conformity with the provisions of the Convention and with practice, the necessary measures will be adopted to explicitly provide that only in emergency situations may non-military work be required of persons performing their compulsory military service.

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The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.