Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Cabo Verde (Ratification: 1979)

The Committee notes the Government’s reports and requests the following information.

1. Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that by virtue of section 43 of Legislative Decree No. 25-88 of 26 March 1988 (general standards on the application of prison sentences), the General Directorate of Prison Services may authorize a prisoner, upon the proposal of the director of the establishment, to exercise a remunerated occupational activity outside prison. Section 44 of the same Legislative Decree provides that authorization for remunerated work of community interest may also be given by the General Director of Prison Services, at the request of the public, central or local administration. The Committee noted in this respect the Government’s indication that the provisions of section 44 above have not been applied in practice as the Directorate General of Prison Services has never signed an agreement to this effect. As regards the occupational activities carried out under section 43 of the above Legislative Decree, the Government indicated that prisoners undertake occupational activities outside the prison establishment at their own request and on the reasoned proposal of the prison director. Such services are generally carried out by prisoners in private enterprises and private properties, but do not involve any formal contract between the parties, even though they are performed under the responsibility of the employer and the prisoners are guaranteed the payment of a monthly wage, but not social security benefits.

The Committee recalls that under the terms of the Convention any work exacted from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law has to be carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority and that the prisoner must not be hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations. As the Committee emphasized in paragraphs 112 to 125 of its General Report to the 86th Session of the International Labour Conference (1998), only when performed in conditions approximating a free employment relationship can work by prisoners for private companies be held compatible with the explicit prohibition set forth in Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention; this necessarily requires the voluntary consent of the person concerned, as well as further guarantees covering the essential elements of a free labour relationship, such as the payment of normal wages and social security, etc.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the situation concerning the remunerated work of prisoners remains unchanged and that no new measures have been taken. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide in its next report information on the manner in which the prisoner’s services are officially requested and in which the consent of the prisoner is given and may be withdrawn; the relationship between the remuneration paid to the prisoner and the normal wage for the same work, and any measure adopted to ensure that the respective level of such wages is comparable; any measure taken to include prisoners working for private employers in the various social security schemes covering free workers and in the scope of the labour legislation regulating, inter alia, occupational safety and health and other conditions of employment and the role of the labour inspection services.

2. Noting that the Government has not provided any of the information requested by the Committee in its general observation of 2000 concerning the measures taken or contemplated to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons for the purpose of exploitation, it requests the Government to provide this information with its next report.