Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Central African Republic (Ratification: 1960)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Requisitioning of labour and work in the public interest. The Committee notes the adoption of the Labour Code (Act No. 09-004 of 29 January 2009). It notes that section 7 prohibits recourse to forced labour and that the exceptions to forced labour stated in section 8 include “any work or service performed pursuant to a requisitioning order” and also “any work or service in the public interest performed with the consent of the persons concerned”. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any requisitioning order has been adopted and, if so, to provide a copy of it. The Government is also requested to send further information on work or service in the public interest, stating the conditions in which such work may be imposed on the population, the arrangements for the performance thereof and also the manner in which the population consents to it.

2. Freedom of military personnel to leave their employment. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that career military personnel may, on the occasion of periodic medical examinations, request unpaid leave for health or personal reasons before completion of their contractual commitment to 15 years of service. They can thus sever all contractual links with the army in peacetime without any risk of being prosecuted for desertion. The Committee notes this indication and requests the Government to supply statistics on the number of military personnel who have requested unpaid leave, indicating whether certain requests have been rejected and, if so, stating the grounds for rejection. The Committee again requests the Government to send a copy of the statutory provisions under which career military personnel may request unpaid leave before completion of their contractual period of service.

3. Trafficking in persons. The Committee notes the adoption of the new Penal Code (Act No. 10.001 of 6 January 2010), which contains provisions on trafficking in persons. It notes with interest that section 151 defines in detail what constitutes trafficking in persons and provides that any person found guilty of this offence shall be liable to five to ten years’ imprisonment. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the application of this provision in practice. It also requests the Government to indicate whether legal proceedings have been instituted on the basis of section 151 of the Penal Code and to specify the nature of the penalties imposed. The Government is also requested to provide information on the other measures it has taken to combat trafficking in persons in the Central African Republic, especially as regards action to raise the awareness of the public and of the authorities responsible for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons.

4. Exploitation of the labour of Aka indigenous populations (pygmies). In its previous comments the Committee referred to the 2008 report of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. This report recommended that the Government take the necessary measures to set up a national commission entrusted with the mandate to investigate suspected cases of servitude to which Aka indigenous populations are still exposed and to take all necessary steps to combat the impunity enjoyed by “pygmy masters” in abuses perpetrated vis-à-vis the Aka. In its latest report the Government indicates that the aforementioned national commission will be established in the near future. It explains that activities to raise awareness on the abuses committed against ethnic minorities and vulnerable population groups have been organized by non-governmental organizations and these have had a certain degree of success, since a significant decrease in these practices has been observed. The Committee notes this information and hopes that the Government will take all necessary measures to ensure that a national structure is established to investigate the situation of the Aka populations and, in particular, the suspected cases of servitude to which they are exposed, adopting the necessary measures to prosecute and punish the perpetrators.

The Committee further notes that the Central African Republic ratified the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), on 30 August 2010. The Committee welcomes this ratification, which demonstrates the Government’s will to protect and promote the rights of indigenous populations. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the measures taken to reinforce the protection of these populations and to ensure that they are not subjected to work to which they have not consented or for which they were not in a position to give valid consent.

Article 2(2)(c). Work imposed as the result of a court decision. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the implementing decree establishing the prison system and governing the enforcement of prison sentences, provided for in section 30 of the Penal Code, has been adopted and, if so, to send a copy of it.

The Committee notes that the new Penal Code has introduced the criminal penalty of “work in the public interest”. Under section 28 of the Penal Code, this sentence corresponds to unpaid work for the benefit of a community, a public establishment, an association, an organized public utility group or a district. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether national courts have already imposed sentences of work in the public interest and, in the affirmative, to send a copy of such decisions. Please also send a copy of the provisions governing the enforcement of such penalties.

Article 25. Application of adequate penalties. In its previous comments the Committee emphasized that the penalties established in the Labour Code for violations of the prohibition of the use of forced labour were not such as to be an effective deterrent and expressed the hope that the issue of truly adequate criminal penalties could be examined as part of the process of reforming the Penal Code. The Committee notes that the new Labour Code, adopted in 2009, prohibits the use of all forms of forced labour but does not lay down penalties for violations of this prohibition. It also notes that the new Penal Code, adopted in 2010, does not contain any provisions that apply in this respect, apart from section 151 thereof, which establishes criminal penalties for trafficking in persons. In view of the fact that the concept of forced labour is broader than that of trafficking in persons and encompasses other practices, section 151 of the Penal Code alone does not give full effect to Article 25 of the Convention, according to which really adequate penalties must be imposed for the exaction of any form of forced labour. The Committee regrets that the Government has not taken the opportunity provided by the adoption of the Labour Code and of the Penal Code to give effect to Article 25 of the Convention and hopes that the Government will take the necessary steps to introduce, as soon as possible, a provision into national law whereby any form of forced labour shall incur really adequate penalties.