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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - El Salvador (Ratification: 1995)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. 1. National policy. With reference to the implementation of the National Policy to Combat Trafficking in Persons, the Committee notes the Government’s list in its report of various training and awareness-raising activities in relation to trafficking in persons, implemented under the prevention component of the National Policy, and intended for the personnel of the national police, the Office of the Attorney-General and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, migration officials, students in education establishments, and the personnel of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security who are responsible for dealing with victims. In 2018, training was provided to over 6,000 people in the various institutions, and in 2020 over 1,000 public officials received remote training.

With reference to the difficulties experienced by the various public officials in combating trafficking, the Committee notes that the Government refers principally to the need to ensure coordinated action by all the institutions responsible, and to create conditions for victims to be able to participate in the criminal proceedings, be informed of their rights and be able to develop a new life plan.

The Committee requests the Government to continue providing updated information on the implementation and evaluation of all the components of the National Policy to Combat Trafficking in Persons, and on the preparation and implementation of a national plan of action, in accordance with section 22 of the Special Act to combat trafficking in persons of 2014. It also requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the National Council to Combat Trafficking in Persons with a view to ensuring coordination between all the institutions responsible for combating trafficking and strengthening their capacities.

2. Protection and assistance to victims. The Committee takes due note of the provisions of the Special Act on migration and foreign nationality, adopted in 2019, establishing that victims of trafficking may opt for temporary residence for their recuperation or collaboration with the law enforcement services (section 138) and that their repatriation shall be voluntary and with their informed consent, following an evaluation of the risk and the provision of the necessary assistance (section 142).

With reference to the action undertaken by Immediate Response Teams, the Government indicates that their involvement depends on the complexity of the case, the existence of a high risk to health and the risk incurred by the identified victim. Since 2018, Immediate Response Teams have taken action in six cases. The Committee notes the Government’s further indications that: (i) the El Salvador Institute for Women’s Development provided support and psychological assistance to 55 people between 2018 and 2020; (ii) a total of 21 local units have been established to provide assistance to victims of trafficking; and (iii) the budget of the Victims of Trafficking Care Fund has been established.

The Committee also notes that, according to the information provided by the Government, difficulties have been identified in relation to the protection and assistance of victims, including: (i) the inadequate coverage of protection for women victims of trafficking in shelters; (ii) the lack of specialized shelters for men, boys and members of the LGBTI population; (iii) the absence of identity documents for victims; and (iv) the unfounded fear of victims towards the authorities which leads them to dissimulate and refuse the protection measures offered, with them running away from protection shelters in some cases.

The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to provide comprehensive protection and support for victims of trafficking in persons. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to strengthen the shelters for victims of trafficking in persons and to assist victims who do not have identity documents. Please also provide information on the operation of the Victims of Trafficking Care Fund, envisaged in section 51 of the Special Act to combat trafficking in persons of 2014.

3. Enforcement of penalties. The Committee takes due note of the detailed information provided on the criminal cases related to the crime of trafficking in persons initiated between 2017 and 2020 which have resulted in judicial decisions. According to the statistics of the Office of the Public Prosecutor, in 2019, 80 cases were initiated for this crime, of which three cases resulted in convictions and nine persons facing charges were convicted; in 2020, 40 cases were initiated, with four cases resulting in convictions and 12 persons facing charges were convicted; and between January and May 2021, 18 cases were initiated, with five cases resulting in convictions and 12 persons were convicted. The Government indicates that the National Council to Combat Trafficking in Persons reports that there are challenges in so far as those responsible for the prosecution of the crime require equipment, as well as strengthened capacities to carry out effective questioning and, more specifically, high technology police equipment and vehicles for investigation. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing updated information on the investigations carried out, the criminal prosecutions initiated and the convictions handed down under the Special Act to combat trafficking in persons. Please also provide information on the measures adopted to strengthen the capacities of those engaged in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for trafficking in persons for both labour and sexual exploitation (specialized units to combat trafficking in persons and related crimes of the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the National Civil Police).

Articles 1(1) and 2(1). Student social service. The Committee previously requested the Government to provide its comments in relation to the 2017 observations of the National Confederation of Salvadoran Workers (CNTS), in which it indicated that public and private educational establishments obliged students to carry out unpaid work for one or two years as a requirement to obtain their respective diplomas. In reply, the Government indicates that, in accordance with section 26 of the General Education Act, a Bachelor’s degree is granted to students who have completed and had the corresponding study plan approved, which includes the student social service. It also refers to Decision No. 15-0862 of May 2013, which contains the standards for the performance of student social service by middle and higher education students in the central offices and departments of the Ministry of Education. The Committee observes that, by virtue of introductory paragraph V of the above Decision, the objective of the student social service is to promote, among those with Bachelor’s degrees and professionals engaged in training, the development of values such as solidarity, service to others, mutual respect and team work, through the implementation of projects or activities with a social or educational purpose which contribute to the social development of the country. With a view to the performance of social service, education institutions have to submit a note to the Human Development Department of the Ministry with a request for students in the final years of their Bachelor degree studies or who are about to finalize their university studies to perform hours of social work in the units established by the Ministry of Education. The note must set out the hours during which the student performs vocational practice and the area of preference according to their studies (Part III, paragraph A, of the Decision). The Committee also notes that section 3 of the Regulations of the student social service for the middle level of 1994 provides that any person commencing their studies at the middle level shall automatically be included in the student social service, which may be performed during the three years of the Bachelor studies, and shall consist of the implementation of a project for the benefit of the community. Students are entitled to opt to carry out projects which correspond to their vocational interests, and they are not therefore imposed (section 5 of the Regulations).

The Committee recalls that a compulsory scheme of vocational training, by analogy with and considered as an extension of compulsory general education, does not constitute compulsory work or service within the meaning of the Convention. However, the various elements involved in the general context of a particular scheme of training have to be taken into account to determine whether such a scheme is unequivocally one of vocational training or on the contrary involves the exaction of work or services within the definition of forced labour (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 269, and 2017 General Survey on the eradication of forced labour, paragraph 36).

On the basis of the above-mentioned legislative provisions, the Committee observes that the student social service was designed as a means of contributing to the training of students and the promotion of social values within the framework of the implementation of projects for the benefit of society, which take into account the type of studies undertaken. However, the Committee observes that the legislation does not specify the maximum number of hours that students have to perform in the student social service, nor the type of activities that they have to undertake in practice as part of that service. Lastly, the Committee notes that, according to information from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, in 2017, the Student Social Service Commission embarked upon the revision of the regulations of the student social service and prepared a draft text of new regulations. In accordance with section 13 of the draft regulations, the minimum duration of the student social service is 150 hours. The Committee requests the Government to specify the average and maximum number of hours that students have to perform as student social service to obtain their Bachelor’s degree, and indicate the frequency and provide examples of the type of activities assigned to them as part of such service. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether new regulations exist for the student social service and to provide a copy with its next report.