Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Comoros (Ratification: 1978)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Comoros (Ratification: 2021)

1. In earlier comments, the Committee referred to section 1 of Order No. 68-353 of 6 April 1968, under which labour is compulsory for all those detained in detention and disciplinary centres.

The Committee notes that, in its report, the Government indicates that there are no instruments which provide for exemption from compulsory prison labour for detained persons awaiting trial but that, in practice, work cannot be exacted from them.

The Committee refers to paragraph 90 of its General Survey of 1979 on the Abolition of Forced Labour and recalls that, in the terms of the Convention, work can only be exacted from a prisoner as a consequence of a conviction; prisoners awaiting trial or persons detained without trial may, at their own request, perform work on a purely voluntary basis.

Since section 1 of Order No. 68-353 as it now stands provides for compulsory labour for detained persons, which is contrary to the Convention, and since, according to the Government, work is not exacted from detained persons in practice, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to amend section 1 of Order No. 68-353 so that the legislation reflects the practice reported by the Government.

2. The Committee noted previously that section 7 of Order No. 68-353 of 6 April 1968 provides in its first subsection that the hiring out of prison labour, composed of convicted prisoners, to private individuals or enterprises for work outside the prison establishment shall be expressly prohibited and, in its second subsection, that prisoners whose behaviour is regarded as satisfactory shall be authorized to work for private employers with a view to their moral rehabilitation and readaptation to normal working life.

The Committee referred to paragraphs 97 to 101 of its General Survey of 1979 on the Abolition of Forced Labour, which concern the conditions governing the use of prison labour, and asked the Government to provide information on the practice of the use of prison labour by private individuals or associations.

The Committee noted the Government's indications that, since 1978, there has been no hiring out of prison labour to private individuals or associations and that all the legal texts concerning the work of detainees were being reviewed, which would enable the requirements of the Convention to be taken into account.

The Committee notes from the Governments indications in its report on the application of Convention No. 105 that it has not been possible to complete the project to review Order No. 68-353, but that the Government will take account of the Committee's comments during this review.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the state of progress of the above review and any texts that have been adopted.