Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

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

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. The Committee noted previously that Tunisia has become a transit country for migrant workers, often in an irregular situation, from sub-Saharan Africa and also from other countries of the Maghreb. These migrant workers are in a vulnerable situation, which exposes them to labour exploitation, and are therefore at greater risk of falling victim to trafficking. Furthermore, the Committee noted Basic Act No. 2016-61 of 3 August 2016, on the prevention and combating of trafficking, which establishes penalties of up to ten years’ imprisonment for trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation or forced labour. The Committee noted the establishment of the National Authority for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons, the responsibilities of which include coordinating with the services concerned to provide medical assistance to trafficking victims. In addition, a National Action Plan to prevent and combat trafficking in persons was drawn up in 2015. The Committee therefore requested the Government to provide information on the content and application in practice of the National Action Plan and on the application in practice of Act No. 2016-61.

The Government indicates in its report that, in 2018, 131 victims of trafficking for economic or sexual exploitation were identified. The Committee notes, however, that according to the report of the National Authority for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons for 2018, 403 victims of trafficking over the age of 18 years were identified, 372 of whom were trafficked for forced labour and 31 for sexual exploitation. Furthermore, the Committee notes that according to an International Organization for Migration (IOM) report on victims of trafficking in persons around the Mediterranean (entitled “Victims of trafficking in the central Mediterranean route: Focus on women from Côte d’Ivoire, from the trafficking in Tunisia to the risk of re-trafficking in Italy”), large numbers of women from Côte d’Ivoire are victims of trafficking for domestic labour and forced labour in Tunisia. These women work long hours with little rest and are frequently victims of abuse and sexual abuse.

The Committee further notes that in its report on the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), the Government indicates that in 2017, the IOM developed a “Manual on the trafficking in persons law in Tunisia”, with a view to facilitating the work of the various stakeholders engaged in combating trafficking in persons in Tunisia. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report of 28 June 2019 to the Human Rights Committee, that the National Authority for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons provided training to numerous stakeholders, including judges, members of the internal security forces, staff at social care centres and inspectors, on mechanisms for the identification of victims of trafficking in persons (CCPR/C/TUN/6, paragraph 192). The Government also indicates that the National Authority for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons developed the National Strategy to Combat Trafficking in Persons for the period 2018–23, as well as a plan of action for the period 2017–19 to raise public awareness of the Strategy’s themes. The aims of the National Strategy to Combat Trafficking in Persons include the adoption and implementation of protection measures and mechanisms to assist victims and the establishment of a database on trafficking in persons (CCPR/C/TUN/6, paragraphs 188 and 189). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities carried out in the context of the National Strategy to Combat Trafficking in Persons 2018–23 and the results achieved, including with regard to protecting trafficking victims. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions as well as the penalties imposed in trafficking in persons cases under Act No. 2016-61 on the prevention and combating of trafficking.

Article 2(2)(a). Purely military nature of work performed in the context of compulsory military service. For a number of years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to amend its legislation on compulsory national service, the objective of which is to prepare citizens to defend the country and participate in its overall development (Act No. 2004-1 and Decree No. 2004-516 of 2004). Under this legislation, conscripts may, at their request, be assigned to non-military work in units of the internal security forces, administrations or enterprises. The Committee has underscored in this regard that, although the legislation grants conscripts the possibility of opting for work of a non-military nature in the context of national service, this choice is made within the context and on the basis of compulsory national service as provided for by law. The existence of such a choice is not sufficient to obscure the fact that the persons concerned are mobilized for one year in the framework of a statutory national service obligation, without necessarily performing work related to the need to ensure national defence, which is at the basis of the exception envisaged by Article 2(2)(a).

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it will provide the requested information to the Office as soon as possible. The Committee wishes to recall that in order to fall within the scope of the exception to forced labour envisaged under Article 2(2)(a) of the Convention, compulsory national service must not constitute a means of contributing to the country’s economic and social development. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that work carried out in the context of compulsory national service is limited to work of a purely military nature, in accordance with Article 2(2)(a) of the Convention. Meanwhile, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of persons who perform their national service in armed forces units each year and the number of persons performing their national service outside such units, indicating, for the same reference year, the number of persons who applied to the Ministry of National Defence to perform national service outside armed forces units.

Article 2(2)(c). Community service. The Committee noted previously that a sentence of community service is an alternative to imprisonment, which must be handed down in the presence of the convicted person, who has the right to refuse the community service. It noted that the entities within which the work may be performed include charitable or aid associations, associations of benefit to the nation and environmental protection associations. The Committee asked the Government to provide information on the associations authorized to receive persons sentenced to community service and on the types of work carried out by those persons.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the sentencing court is free to determine the establishment in which the community service will be carried out, provided that it is a public establishment, a local community, charitable or aid association, an association of benefit to the nation or an environmental protection association, under the terms of section 17 of the Penal Code. There is no predefined list of associations. The Committee requests the Government to provide examples of associations that have already received persons sentenced to community service and examples of the work carried out by those persons for those associations.