Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Niger (Ratification: 1961)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Niger (Ratification: 2015)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Slavery and similar practices. For many years, the Committee has been examining the question of the persistence of slavery-like practices in Niger and drawing the Government’s attention to the need to combine legislation criminalizing slavery with a comprehensive strategy for combating slavery that includes measures to raise awareness in society and among the competent authorities, as well as measures to reduce poverty and to assist and rehabilitate victims.

Institutional framework and strategy for combating slavery. The Committee previously considered that the setting up in 2006 of the National Committee for Combating the Vestiges of Forced Labour and Discrimination constituted an important measure. However, it expressed concern at the fact that this Committee lacked the resources to hold meetings and that it had been impossible to implement the national action plan for combating the vestiges of forced labour and discrimination. The Government indicates in its report that the necessary steps are being taken to relaunch the abovementioned Committee. It points out that the National Coordinating Committee for Action against Trafficking in Persons (CNCLTP) and the National Agency for Action against Trafficking in Persons (ANLTP) are carrying out a significant number of activities to raise awareness and provide information on trafficking in persons which also focus on slavery-like practices. The aim of these activities has also been to publicize the legislative instruments for combating trafficking in persons including slavery vis-à-vis the law enforcement authorities.

The Committee notes this information. It welcomes the fact that the activities performed by the bodies responsible for combating trafficking in persons have also resulted in a better understanding of slavery and in increased awareness in society and among the competent authorities. However, the Committee emphasizes that action against slavery-like practices calls for specific measures which are different from those required for combating trafficking in persons since the two practices have their own particular features and constitute different offences. Moreover, in view of the complex factors that cause the persistence of slavery-like practices, the Committee once again expresses the firm hope that the Government will take all the necessary steps to adopt a specific strategy to combat slavery which, on the basis of a prior evaluation of the situation, will determine the action to be taken and the precise objectives to be achieved and will be allocated sufficient resources for its implementation. The Committee trusts that, further to the measures taken by the Government, the National Committee for Combating the Vestiges of Forced Labour and Discrimination will be in a position to discharge its duties and coordinate measures to combat slavery. Lastly, recalling that awareness-raising among the population as a whole, including the religious authorities, is a vital component of this policy, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities carried out in this sphere. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the programmes specifically aimed at providing former slaves or descendants of slaves with adequate means of subsistence so as to prevent them from returning to a situation of dependence where they run the risk of labour exploitation.

Legislative framework and application of effective criminal penalties. The Committee previously referred to Act No. 2003-025 of 13 June 2003 incorporating into the Penal Code sections 270-1 to 270-5, which define the elements constituting the crime of slavery and slavery-related offences and lay down the applicable penalties. It emphasized that it was essential that victims of slavery should have access, in practice, to the police and judicial authorities in order to assert their rights and that perpetrators of the crime of slavery or slavery-related offences should be brought to justice.

The Government indicates that the Act of 2003 is applied with full force when recourse is had to the authorities. It adds that, in 2011, a law was adopted establishing the rules applicable to legal and judicial assistance and establishing the National Agency for Legal and Judicial Assistance. The components of this legal assistance include public awareness-raising with regard to rights and justice, promoting access to the bodies responsible for the implementation of these rights, assistance with the drafting of legal documents and taking steps to assert the rights concerned. The Government indicates that this assistance constitutes significant progress in ensuring the restoration of victims’ rights. It also refers to an order issued in May 2014 by the Birni Konni Criminal Court sentencing a man to four years’ imprisonment for the crime of slavery, plus a fine and the payment of damages and interest to the complainant NGO.

The Committee notes all the above information. However, it observes that since the adoption of provisions criminalizing slavery in 2003, very little information has been sent on prosecutions and penalties relating to the perpetrators of slavery. It hopes that the measures adopted to provide victims with legal assistance will enable the latter to assert their rights more effectively and without fear of reprisals. The Committee emphasizes that victims of slavery are in a highly vulnerable economic and psychological situation which calls for targeted action by the State. The Committee therefore firmly hopes that awareness-raising and publicity campaigns relating specifically to the legal provisions criminalizing slavery will be conducted in areas where slavery-like practices have been detected, and that such campaigns will target both the public and the authorities concerned. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the capacity-building measures taken in relation to law enforcement bodies and the prosecution and judicial authorities with the aim of better understanding, identification and suppression of slavery-like practices. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide information in its next report on the complaints filed, judicial proceedings initiated and court decisions handed down on the basis of sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code.

Lastly, the Committee notes the report published in July 2015 by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, further to her mission to Niger (A/HRC/30/35/Add.1). The Committee notes the Special Rapporteur’s observation that the Government is committed to eradicating slavery and similar practices but is facing a number of challenges “to address effectively the root causes of slavery, including poverty, inequality and customary norms that cause widespread discrimination against former slaves and their descendants and undermine efforts to create alternative livelihoods”. The Special Rapporteur underlines the need to improve the coordination and streamlining of anti-slavery efforts, ensure effective law enforcement, increase access to justice and enhance victim protection and empowerment. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to intensify its efforts to put an end to all slavery-like practices that deprive individuals of their free will and the freedom to choose their work. The Committee hopes that, to this end, the Government will continue to avail itself of technical assistance from the Office.

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