Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Mozambique (Ratification: 1977)

The Committee notes that the Government's report contains no reply to previous comments. It must therefore repeat its previous direct request which read as follows:

1. Article 1(a) and (b) of the Convention. In previous comments, the Committee has referred to the Ministerial Directive of 15 June 1985 on the evacuation of towns, issued under the decisions of the Fourth Congress of the Frelimo Party, the aim of which is to combat hunger, underdevelopment and various forms of marginality and criminality. The Directive provides for the "unproductive" population to be moved from the towns to rural areas; "sorting posts" are responsible for checking persons suspected of being unemployed, vagrants, prostitutes or of belonging to other marginal groups (circular on the structure of "operation production"). Persons arrested and identified as "unproductive or anti-social" are sent to re-education centres or assigned to sectors of production (guide for mobilization brigades). Section 2 of the Directive provides for the use of "appropriate coercive means to oblige those who resist to observe the decisions of the Fourth Congress of the Frelimo Party". The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to ensure the observance of the Convention in this regard.

The Committee notes the Government's indication in its report that the re-education centres have been closed and that the persons sent to the centres have been freed.

The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to repeal the Ministerial Directive of 15 June 1985, thereby bringing national legislation into conformity with the Convention. It also requests the Government to supply information on any progress achieved in this respect.

The Committee notes that under the terms of sections 15 and 22 of Act No. 19/91, prison sentences involving the obligation to work can be imposed for illegal activities aimed at changing the institutions of the State (section 15) and for the offences of defaming, slandering and insulting the President of the Republic, the members of the Government, the judges of the High Court and the members of the Constitutional Council (section 22).

The Committee recalls that the Convention prohibits any recourse to forced or compulsory labour as a means of political coercion or education or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system.

The Committee also recalls that the protection afforded by the Convention is not restricted to activities that express or demonstrate differing opinions within the framework of established principles. Consequently, if certain activities aim to bring about fundamental changes in the institutions of the State, there is no reason for considering that they are not covered by the protection afforded by the Convention, as long as they do not involve the use of or incitement to violent methods as a means of achieving the ends sought.

The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the effect given in practice to the above provisions of Act No. 19/91, particularly with regard to sentences that have been imposed, and to supply copies of the appropriate judgements.

2. Article 1(c). The Committee referred to Act No. 5/82 of 9 June 1982 respecting the defence of the economy, the main purpose of which is to define and describe acts or omissions which conflict with the plan and are harmful to the economy. This Act prescribes penalties for behaviour that, directly or indirectly, jeopardizes economic development, prevents the carrying out of the plan or interferes with the material or spiritual welfare of the people. The Committee noted that:

(a) under section 10 of the above Act, a fine and imprisonment of up to 12 years may be imposed in the event of serious harm to the national economy on all who do not observe the procedures, orders or instructions governing the preparation or carrying out of the national state plan, territorial plans or plans for production units, with the intention of preventing the implementation of the established plans and standards;

(b) under section 12, any person who is directly responsible for disorganizing sectors of production or for the provision of services, or for the absence of management or auditing or for the disorganization of accounts with harmful consequences shall be sentenced to a fine and to imprisonment of up to two years;

(c) under section 13, imprisonment of up to two years is to be imposed on any person when harmful consequences result from his failure to observe the standards or instructions that must be observed in the performance of his duties to ensure that raw materials, manufactured products or other goods do not become deteriorated, vitiated, contaminated, unusable or lost;

(d) under section 14, any person who does not respect the obligations placed on him by his position or by the rules and instructions for technological discipline, or for the care and maintenance of machinery and equipment, may be sentenced to imprisonment for up to eight years where the infringement has harmful consequences.

The Committee also noted that under section 7, which defines negligence as including carelessness, lack of a sense of responsibility, lack of discipline and inexcusable ignorance, Act No. 5/82 also punishes unintentional acts resulting in an infringement of the standards of management and discipline. The above provisions seem to be applicable in a general way to any breach of the obligations or economic or technical standards in question.

The Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information on this matter.

The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures regarding the provisions of Act No. 5/82 to ensure compliance with Article 1(c) of the Convention, which provides that any form of forced or compulsory labour must be suppressed and not made use of (including compulsory labour imposed by judicial sentence) as a means of labour discipline.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate any progress achieved in this respect.

3. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide a copy of Decrees Nos. 58 and 59 of 1974 respecting prison labour and to indicate whether political prisoners are exempt from the obligation to work and, if so, to provide the texts which give statutory effect to this exemption.