Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Algeria (Ratification: 1962)

Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Civic service. Since 1986, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the incompatibility with the Convention of sections 32, 33, 34 and 38 of Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984 on civic service, as amended and supplemented by Act No. 86‑11 of 19 August 1986 and by Act No. 06‑15 of 14 November 2006, under which it is possible to require persons who have completed a course of higher education or training to perform a period of civic service ranging from one to four years before being able to exercise an occupation or obtain employment.

The Government indicated in a previous report that civic service is a statutory period of work performed for a public administration, body or enterprise in local communities by persons to whom such an obligation applies. It represents a contribution of such persons to the economic, social and cultural development of the country. According to the Government, persons liable to perform civic service have the same rights and obligations as the workers governed by the legislation respecting the general conditions of service of workers, including the right to receive remuneration from the employing entity in accordance with the law. Furthermore, the years of civic service performed are taken into account for purposes of seniority, promotion and retirement, and also in the contract period during which the person concerned is bound to a public body by a training contract. The Government further indicated that persons obliged to perform civic service are assigned exclusively to the specialized branch or discipline in which they were trained.

The Committee noted these explanations. However, it also pointed out that, under sections 32 and 38 of the Act, any refusal to perform civic service and the resignation of the person concerned without valid reason results in the prohibition on their exercising an activity on their own account, and that any infringement will incur the penalties laid down in section 243 of the Penal Code (imprisonment ranging from three months to two years and/or a fine of between 500 and 5,000 DA). Similarly, under sections 33 and 34 of the Act, all private employers are required to satisfy themselves before engaging any workers that applicants are not subject to civic service or can produce documentation proving that they have completed it. Furthermore, any private employer knowingly employing a citizen who has evaded civic service is liable to imprisonment and a fine. Hence, even though persons liable to civic service benefit from conditions of work (remuneration, seniority, promotion, retirement, etc.) similar to those of regular public sector workers, they discharge this service under threat because, in the event of any refusal, they are denied access to any self-employed occupational activity or employment in the private sector. This means that civic service falls within the concept of compulsory labour within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Convention. Furthermore, since it consists of a contribution by the persons concerned to the economic development of the country, this compulsory service violates Article 1(b) of Convention No. 105, which has also been ratified by Algeria.

In its report of 2008, the Government explains that civic service currently in force in Algeria may be regarded as an opportunity, given in particular to persons who have completed higher education, to familiarize themselves with the world of work and facilitate their integration into working life. While noting the willingness expressed by the Government in its report to take account of the Committee’s comments, until the removal of the ambiguities resulting from the application of the law has been achieved, the Committee reiterates the hope that the Government will take the necessary steps to repeal or amend the provisions concerned in the light of Conventions Nos 29 and 105 and that the Government will soon be in a position to report on the measures adopted in this respect.

The Committee further noted that under section 2 of Ordinance No. 06‑06 of 15 July 2006, civic service may be performed in private-sector health establishments in accordance with arrangements set forth by regulation. The Committee reminds the Government that, according to Paragraph 3(3) of the Special Youth Schemes Recommendation, 1970 (No. 136), the services of participants should not be used for the advantage of private persons or undertakings. Since the Government has not supplied any information on this point, the Committee reaffirms the hope that the Government will take this into account and again requests it to indicate whether regulations have been adopted to specify arrangements under which civic service may be performed in private-sector health establishments and, if so, to provide a copy. It also again requests the Government to indicate whether, in practice, persons subject to the civic service obligation perform such service in private-sector health establishments, and to supply any other information allowing the extent of this practice to be assessed (number of persons and establishments concerned, length of service, etc.), together with information on the conditions of work of the persons concerned.

Article 2, paragraph 2(a). National service. The Committee has been referring for a number of years to Ordinance No. 74-103 of 15 November 1974 issuing the National Service Code and the Order of 1 July 1987, under which conscripts are required to take part in the running of various sectors of the economy and administration. The Committee noted that they are further required to perform civic service for a period ranging from one to four years, as referred to above. The Committee recalled that, under the terms of Article 2(2)(a), of the Convention, compulsory military service is excluded from the scope of the Convention only where conscripts are assigned to work of a purely military character.

The Government indicated in a previous report that the civic form of national service had not been used since 2001. The Government explained that this de facto suspension would be reflected in law as soon as the reform of the National Service Code was placed on the agenda. As the Government has not provided any information on this point, the Committee again requests it to provide information on any developments in this matter showing that the national legislation has been aligned with practice and hence with the provisions of the Convention, and to provide copies of the relevant texts.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.