Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Rwanda (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes that no report has been received from the Government. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request:

With reference to its observation under this Convention and the information supplied by the Government in its report, the Committee previously noted that section 29 of the Constitution of 1991 provides that extra-penal forced labour is prohibited. It also notes that, by virtue of section 98 of the Constitution, the legislation remains in force unless it is amended, repealed or replaced by new laws or regulations.

In its earlier comments, the Committee noted that, in accordance with section 39 of the Penal Code and section 40 of Ordinance No. 111/127 of 30 May 1961 to organize the prison service in Rwanda, imprisonment involves the obligation to work. The Committee recalls that compulsory labour in any form, including compulsory prison labour, is covered by Convention No. 105 in so far as it is exacted in any of the five cases specified by the Convention.

Article 1(a) of the Convention

1. The Committee notes the Government's statement in its report for 1990-91 that Ordinance RV No. 111/29 respecting demonstrations in the streets and public meetings has been repealed and a new Act adopted.

The Committee requests the Government to supply the text of the Act in question and to provide full information on its application in practice.

The Committee requested the Government to supply information on the effect given in practice, including court decisions, defining or illustrating the scope of section 166 (which renders liable to imprisonment any person who makes use of the spoken, written or printed word to incite the population against the public authorities or to alarm the population).

In this respect, the Committee had noted the Government's statement that decisions have been handed down under section 166, but that it was not possible to supply copies of them. The Committee hopes that the Government will be able to supply copies of these decisions.

With regard to section 167 (which renders liable to imprisonment any person who impugns the binding force of the law), the Committee also notes that, according to the Government, no case of its application has been recorded up to now.

Article 1(b)

2. In its earlier comments, the Committee referred to community development work. It noted that this work, known as "umuganda", is not covered by any legal texts and that, according to the Government's statements, is undertaken at the initiative of the people and benefits the whole community, which determines the most important tasks to be performed.

The Committee notes the Government's statement that the current political situation has resulted in the institutionalization of community development work being taken off the agenda for the time being.

In earlier comments, the Committee noted the statements made by a government representative to the effect that the work in question involves tasks such as the planting of trees for firewood, the laying of water-pipes and electricity cables and the planting of coffee, and that citizens are called upon once a week to perform these tasks.

The Committee once again requests the Government to supply practical information on the above work, and in particular on the participation of the populations concerned in the elaboration of programmes and decisions relating to the priorities and characteristics of such work.

3. The Committee had noted that the re-education and production centres set up under Presidential Order No. 234-06 of 21 October 1975 are three in number, according to the Government's information, and that they accommodate approximately 450 persons, who are taught to organize themselves and to be productive, in particular by working in fields, and that these centres are intended to cope with vagrancy.

The Committee had noted the Government's statement that the persons accommodated in these centres have neither documents nor work and are picked up by the security forces in towns. Since the State does not have sufficient resources to pay for them, these persons contribute to their own maintenance through their work in agriculture or crafts.

The texts governing these centres, to which the Government referred, were not attached to the report. The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply copies of them. It also requests the Government to state the legal provisions under which the persons concerned are arrested by the police and sent to the centres in question.

Article 1(c)

The Committee noted previously that under section 29 of the Decree of 1 April 1983 to regulate contracts of engagement to work in river navigation, any worker so engaged is liable to imprisonment if, in the fulfilment of his contract of employment, he fails to comply with any obligations imposed by decree, by agreement or by custom. It also noted that under the terms of sections 13 and 14 of the Decree of 11 May 1921 establishing the disciplinary and penal code for river navigation, infringements in the form of repeated breaches of discipline, such as negligence, laziness and unwillingness to carry out orders, lack of respect towards superiors, absence without permission, smuggling aboard hemp or alcoholic beverages, insulting the captain or flat refusal to obey orders to assist in manoeuvring the vessel or keep it tidy are punishable by imprisonment.

Referring to paragraphs 117 and 118 of its 1979 General Survey on the Abolition of Forced Labour, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the measures that have been taken or are contemplated to ensure that the Convention is applied in this respect.