Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Burkina Faso (Ratification: 1960)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. The Committee noted in previous comments the promulgation of Act No. 029-2008/AN of 15 May 2008 to combat the trafficking of persons and similar practices. It asks the Government to provide information on the practical effect given to the Act.

The Committee notes that, according to the Government, campaigns to raise public awareness were organized in conjunction with NGOs and international organizations and included workshops, the projection of films with discussions, stage performances and seminars. These activities involved more than 20,000 people in the course of 2010. One thousand copies of the Act to combat the trafficking in persons were circulated countrywide to the police and customs, and in October 2010 a three-day training course was held in coordination with Interpol on the fight against trafficking. As part of the course, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Social Action conducted sessions for 100 law enforcement officers in the Cascades region, a transit area for traffickers transporting children to Côte d’Ivoire. Furthermore, programmes on combating the trafficking of persons were broadcast over the national radio and television network. National troops also received training on the subject before being deployed abroad on peace-keeping missions.

The Government further indicates that in 24 cases of trafficking in persons investigated in 2010, the evidence was insufficient to warrant criminal prosecution; two cases ended in acquittal, six in convictions and the others are still pending.

The Committee takes due note of the action undertaken by the Government in its fight against trafficking. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the application of Act No. 029-2008/AN to combat the trafficking of persons, and in particular to indicate the sanctions imposed on perpetrators. Please provide copies of relevant judicial decisions.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1). 1. Freedom of public servants to leave their employment. For a number of years the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the provisions of the national legislation the enforcement of which could restrict the freedom of public servants to leave their employment subject to a notice period of reasonable length. It referred in particular to sections 158 and 159 of Act No. 013/98/AN of 28 April 1998 establishing the legal framework for public service employment and public servants, under which public servants wishing to resign must apply in writing to the Minister of the Public Service two months before the presumed date of departure, the Minister having one month to notify his or her acceptance or rejection. Public servants who end their employment despite a refusal from the competent authority, before express acceptance of the resignation or before the date set by the authority, are dismissed on grounds of abandoning their duties.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the requirement of two months’ notice to be observed by public servants wishing to resign should be regarded not as an impediment to contractual freedom but rather as a means of ensuring legal certainty in labour relations. As to applications to resign, the administration as a rule allows the resignation at the date requested. Refusals are rare and are accounted for by the fact that the applicant has failed to fulfil his or her obligations (abandonment of post, refusal to perform duties assigned, breach of rules) or is the subject of disciplinary or judicial proceedings. The Committee notes the statistics in the Government’s report showing the number of applications for resignation filed by public employees between 2008 and 2010.

With regard to the procedure for resignation applying to officials in territorial communities, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the abovementioned rules likewise apply. It adds that owing to regional disparities and material constraints, it is unable to provide data on their applications to resign.

2. Punishment of vagrancy. In its previous comments the Committee emphasized that legislative provisions punishing vagrancy, if drafted in terms that are too general, may act as a direct or indirect compulsion to work. A possible case in point is section 246 of the Penal Code, under which any person found in a public place who is unable to show proof of known abode or means of subsistence and has no trade or occupation, is guilty of vagrancy and liable to a prison term of from two to six months. The Committee asked the Government to adopt a narrower definition of vagrancy so that persons deemed to be vagrants may incur a penalty of imprisonment only if they disturb the public order or resort to violence.

The Committee notes that according to the Government, a revision of the Penal Code, and hence of section 246, mentioned above, is scheduled for 2012. The Government also states that this provision is not strictly enforced.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on progress made in revising section 246 of the Penal Code to ensure that only persons who disrupt the public order or resort to violence are liable to a penalty of imprisonment.

Article 2(2)(a). Work or service exacted under compulsory military service laws: work in the national interest. In its previous comments the Committee noted that according to Act No. 009/98/AN of 16 April 1998 issuing general staff regulations for the national armed forces, any unmarried citizen of Burkina Faso of 18 to 25 years of age may undertake freely or be called up to serve in the national army. The obligation to serve is governed by sections 33 et seq. of the Act. The obligation involves a statutory period of 18 months’ active service devoted to civic and military instruction and to work in the national interest (section 36). The Government stated that work in the national interest in which conscripts may participate is strictly limited to cases of force majeure. Conscripts undergoing training may intervene in support of career members of the armed forces in certain exceptional situations in the event of imminent need. The Committee asked the Government to take the necessary steps, when the legislation is next revised, to provide expressly in the law that the work of national interest which may be assigned to conscripts in the context of their compulsory service in the army shall be strictly limited to cases of force majeure.

The Committee notes that in its report, the Government refers not to the work of national interest that may be assigned to conscripts in the course of their compulsory military service, provided for in section 36 of Act No. 009/98/AN of 16 April 1998 issuing general regulations for the national armed forces, but to national development service.

On the matter of national development service, the Committee points out that such service is not within the scope of the exception allowed by Article 2(2)(a) of the Convention. It refers the Government to its comments under the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105).

With regard to work of national interest that may be assigned to conscripts in the course of their compulsory service in the army, the Committee recalls that in order to be excluded from the scope of the Convention, work exacted under military service laws must be purely military in nature. The Committee hopes that when the legislation on military service is next revised, the Government will take the necessary steps to ensure that the law provides expressly that such work is strictly limited to cases of force majeure.

Article 2(2)(c). Work exacted as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that under section 102 of the Act of 1 December 1988 to organize and regulate prisons, convicts are required to work. Detainees accepted in the correctional division may be employed outside the prison: (i) in work sites, gardens and agricultural undertakings of the prison administration; (ii) in work of general interest carried out on behalf of public communities and administrations; and (iii) in private industrial or commercial enterprises (section 106). The Government specified that when the prison administration makes available to a private or public user a group of detainees for work outside the prison, it does so under the system of hiring for payment. Furthermore, in the context of the day-release regime, the Government specified that detainees placed outside the prison discuss their conditions of work and remuneration directly with the employer, prior to approval by the prison administration.

The Committee notes Act No. AN VI-103/FP/MIJ of 1 December 1988 to organize and regulate prisons, appended to the Government’s report. It notes that according to section 112 of the Act, the hiring of convict labour outside the prison is subject to a contract between the Head of the prison administration and the user that sets specific conditions pertaining, inter alia, to the numbers hired out, the duration of the contract and the fees payable. It also notes the Government’s statement that, in practice, no instances of convicts being required to work in private industrial or commercial enterprises have been reported.

However, in the absence of any indication as to the voluntary nature of work performed by prisoners hired out to private enterprises and their working conditions, the Committee again requests the Government to specify whether the prisoners’ prior free, formal and informed consent is required, and to provide particulars of the prisoners’ remuneration and working conditions. Please also provide any relevant legislative provisions.