Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Cuba (Ratification: 1958)

Impact of penal sanctions that involve compulsory labour on the application of Article 1(a) of the Convention. The Committee previously noted that work performed by prisoners is voluntary (section 30(21) of the Penal Code, as updated in 2020). It noted that sections 32 and 33 of the Penal Code establish the penalty of correctional labour as an alternative to imprisonment, and that these provisions do not set out the need to obtain the consent of the prisoner for the application of this penalty. The Committee also observed that the crimes of the dissemination of false news (sections 103(2) and 115), insulting authorities or officials (section 114(1)), defamation (sections 204 and 318), libel (section 319) and slander (section 320) give rise to penalties of short-term imprisonment which could be substituted by the courts with correctional labour sentences. In this regard, the Committee previously recalled that Article 1(a) of the Convention protects persons who express political views or opposition to the established political, social or economic system against the imposition of any form of compulsory labour, including compulsory prison or correctional labour, and it requested the Government to indicate how a person sentenced to correctional labour can express consent to that penalty and the consequences of a refusal by a convicted person to carry out correctional labour.

The Committee notes the Government’s reiterated indication in its report, in relation to the penalty of correctional labour, with or without detention, that if the prisoner wishes to work, it is necessary to inform the collective leader, who forwards the request. The Government specifies that, in accordance with the Penal Code, if the convicted person refuses to comply with the requirements of the penalty of correctional labour or, during its performance, fails to carry it out or hinders its performance, or if the person is sentenced to imprisonment for another offence, the court will order the completion of the original sentence of imprisonment, which does not involve compulsory labour.