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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Syrian Arab Republic (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee has taken note of the information provided by the Government in reply to its earlier comments.

1. Article 2, paragraph 2(d), of the Convention. In the comments it has been making since 1964, the Committee has pointed out that certain provisions of Decree No. 133 of 1952 respecting compulsory labour, particularly those of Chapter I concerning compulsory labour for purposes of health, culture or construction, and sections 27 and 28 concerning national defence work, the social services and road work, allow inhabitants to be called up for periods of up to two months; these provisions prescribe forms of compulsory service that go beyond the exceptions authorized by the Convention.

The Committee has noted the Government's indications in the reports received in December 1994 and May 1996 that the Ministry of the Interior was requested to provide information on the status of the draft legislative decree which was intended to replace the above-mentioned Decree No. 133 of 1952 and on the progress made in this connection.

The Committee trusts again that the Government will take the necessary measures in the very near future in order to repeal or replace the above-mentioned Decree and to bring the legislation into full conformity with the Convention.

Freedom of persons in the service of the State to leave their employment

2. With regard to the conditions for the resignation of public servants and other state employees, the Committee noted in its earlier comments that, by virtue of Legislative Decree No. 46 of 23 July 1974 which amended section 364 of the Penal Code, a term of imprisonment of from three to five years and a fine may be imposed on any person who has left or interrupted his work as a member of the staff of a ministry, a public administration or establishment or other public body, a municipality, a municipal establishment or any authority of the public or mixed sector before the issuing of the document announcing the acceptance of his resignation by the competent authority; the same penalty may be imposed on any person deemed to have resigned by abandoning his work and interrupting it for a period of 15 days. Furthermore, any person evading his obligations to serve the same authorities shall be subject to the same penalty, whether the obligation derives from a mission, a scholarship or study leave. The personal goods and property of the person concerned shall be confiscated.

The Committee has noted the indications in the Government's report received in December 1994 that a letter has been sent to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers requesting it to consider the possibility of amending the above-mentioned Legislative Decree No. 46 of 1974 so as to enable civil servants to resign and leave their jobs at their own initiative, and to enable the recipients of education grants to resign from their jobs after having refunded the expenses borne by the Government to cover their studies. In the opinion of the Council of Ministers, which was reproduced in the Government's report, the contractual relationship between an employer and a worker, determined by the consent of both parties, does not permit an employer to terminate the employment of a worker arbitrarily where he wishes, and similarly does not permit to a worker to resign whenever he wants. The Government also states that the objective of an agreement between an employer and a worker to send the worker on a study course is to secure the necessary expertise requiring for the activity of the employer, which cannot be achieved by the reimbursement of the expenses of the study course.

In this connection, the Committee wishes to refer once again to paragraphs 67 to 73 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, in which it pointed out that the effect of statutory provisions preventing termination of employment of indefinite duration by means of notice of reasonable length is to turn a contractual relationship based on the will of the parties into service by compulsion of law, and is thus incompatible with the Conventions relating to forced labour. The Committee again observes that persons in the service of the State should have the right to leave the service on their own initiative within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with previous notice. Persons who have benefited from a mission, a scholarship or study leave, even where this has been granted as the result of a freely concluded agreement, should also have the right to leave the service on their own initiative within a reasonable period that is proportional to the length of the studies financed by the State, or through the reimbursement of the assistance that they have received.

The Committee trusts that the Government will not fail to take the necessary measures in order to ensure, both in law and in practice, that persons in the service of the State are free to leave their employment within a reasonable period. It asks the Government to provide, in its next report, information on any progress made in this regard.

3. In its earlier comments the Committee noted the Government's indication, with reference to Legislative Decree No. 53 of 1962, as amended, that the resignation of a member of the armed forces who has received a scholarship can only be accepted after ten years' service, if the scholarship lasted longer than one year. The Committee asked the Government to indicate whether persons who have received a scholarship are free to leave the service through the reimbursement of the costs incurred by the State.

The Committee has noted the Government's statement in the report received in September 1994 that the Ministry of Defence accepts the resignation of a person sent on a scholarship if that person refunds an amount double that of the expenses incurred by the State, because this constitutes a breach of the contract signed by the scholarship recipient under the above-mentioned Decree. With reference to paragraphs 33 and 72 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, the Committee wishes to point out that career military servicemen, who voluntarily entered into an engagement, should have right to leave the service in peacetime within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals, or with previous notice, subject to the conditions which may normally be required to ensure the continuity of the service; those who have benefited from a scholarship, even where it has been granted as the result of a freely concluded agreement, should also have the right to leave the service within a reasonable period that is proportional to the length of the studies financed by the State, or through the reimbursement of the costs incurred by the State. The Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures in order to ensure full conformity with the Convention on this point, both in law and in practice.

4. Legislation on vagrancy. In its earlier comments the Committee noted that section 597 of the Penal Code provides for sentences of imprisonment involving the obligation to work from one to six months for any person who is reduced to seeking public assistance or charity as a result of idleness, drunkenness or gambling. It has noted the information supplied by the Government in its report received in September 1995 on the number of sentences passed in application of section 597 of the Penal Code. As regards copies of the judgements, the Government refers to technical difficulties preventing it from retrieving them. The Committee has noted the Government's indication in its latest report received in May 1996 that the Ministry of Justice was asked to provide copies of the judgements concerning the application of the above-mentioned section of the Code. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will communicate them with its next report.