Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

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

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. 1. Trafficking in persons. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the steps taken to combat trafficking and to indicate whether judicial proceedings have been instituted on the basis of section 151 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes trafficking in persons.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the measures taken to raise public awareness of trafficking in persons are mainly in the form of radio broadcasts, posters and meetings. Awareness-raising and training activities for the public authorities responsible for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons are also organized by the Government and national and international NGOs. The Committee notes that, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), trafficking in persons is widespread in the Central African Republic, which is identified as a country of origin, transit and destination for child victims of forced labour and sexual exploitation, for women victims of forced prostitution and for adult victims of forced labour. The Committee notes that the IOM held two consecutive training workshops to strengthen the capacities of police officers, representatives of the judiciary and members of civil society to help victims of trafficking and to deal with cases of trafficking in the country. While noting the awareness-raising and training measures taken by the Government, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure the application in practice of the provisions of section 151 of the Penal Code. It also requests the Government to indicate whether judgments have already been handed down by the criminal courts and penalties imposed on persons convicted of this crime.

2. Repeal of legal texts. Idleness, active population and imposition of compulsory activities. For many years, the Committee has been asking the Government to take the necessary steps to formally repeal the following provisions of the national legislation, which are contrary to the Convention inasmuch as they constitute a direct or indirect compulsion to work:

• -Ordinance No. 66/004 of 8 January 1966 on the suppression of idleness, as amended by Ordinance No. 72/083 of 18 October 1972, under which any able-bodied person between 18 and 55 years of age who cannot prove that he or she is engaged in a normal activity providing for his or her subsistence or engaged in studies shall be considered to be idle and shall be liable to imprisonment of one to three years;
• -Ordinance No. 66/038 of June 1966 on the supervision of the active population, under which any person between 18 and 55 years of age who cannot prove that he or she belongs to one of the eight categories of the active population shall be called up to cultivate land designated by the administrative authorities and shall also be considered a vagabond if apprehended outside his or her sub-prefecture of origin and shall be liable to imprisonment;
• -Ordinance No. 75/005 of 5 January 1975 obliging all citizens to provide proof of the exercise of a commercial, agricultural or pastoral activity and rendering any person in breach of this provision liable to the most severe penalties;
• -section 28 of Act No. 60/109 of 27 June 1960 on the development of the rural economy, under which minimum areas for cultivation are to be established for each rural community.

The Committee notes that the Government indicates its firm intention to take the necessary steps to repeal the abovementioned legal texts. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary steps to formally repeal this legislation and to bring it into conformity with the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on all progress made in this regard.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Exploitation of the labour of Aka indigenous communities. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to provide information on the measures taken to protect Aka indigenous communities from being subjected to forced labour, as well as the steps taken to enable them to assert their rights.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that awareness-raising campaigns aimed at the public authorities have been conducted in order to enhance the protection of Aka communities. Moreover, several projects to strengthen the capacities of these communities have been launched, including the project to promote the rights and culture of indigenous peoples in the heart of the Congo Basin. The Committee also notes the project supporting the promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples in the Central African Republic, which was developed in partnership with the ILO and launched in 2012.

2. Requisitioning of labour and work in the public interest. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the exceptions to forced labour specified in section 8 of the Labour Code 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 requested the Government to provide a copy of the decree regulating requisitioning once it had been adopted and to provide information on arrangements for carrying out work or service in the public interest.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, as a result of the recurring crises in the country, the decree regulating requisitioning has not yet been adopted. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the conditions in which work in the public interest may be requisitioned, as well as the arrangements for carrying out such work. The Committee also requests the Government to provide a copy of the decree regulating requisitioning once it has been adopted.

3. Freedom of military personnel to leave their employment. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to provide a copy of the statutory provisions under which career military personnel may request unpaid leave before completion of their contractual period of service.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that military personnel are governed by special conditions of service within the exclusive remit of the President of the Republic, and that the Government is not privy to some of these conditions. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that career military personnel, who have voluntarily enrolled in the armed forces, cannot be denied the right to leave their employment, in time of peace, within a reasonable time frame, for example by means of notice of reasonable length, regardless of the reasons for their resignation (see General Survey of 2012 on the fundamental Conventions concerning rights at work, paragraph 290). The Committee therefore requests the Government once again to provide information on the provisions regulating the right of members of the armed forces to end their contractual period of service on their own initiative, in time of peace, whether at certain regular intervals or by means of notice of reasonable length.