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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Lebanon (Ratification: 1977)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report, due since 2018, has not been received. In light of its urgent appeal launched to the Government in 2021, the Committee proceeds with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal.

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. The Committee recalls that section 586.2 of the Penal Code, introduced by the Act No. 164 of 2011 on the punishment for the crime of trafficking in persons, criminalizes trafficking in persons and establishes penalties of imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine. It previously requested the Government to provide information on the investigations and prosecutions related to cases of trafficking in persons, and the penalties applied to those convicted, as well as information on measures adopted in order to prevent trafficking in persons and ensure the protection of victims.

The Committee notes that, in its 2020 report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Government indicates that the Ministry of Justice, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has drawn up a draft law to eliminate loopholes from Act No. 164 of 2011, which was submitted to the Cabinet on 10 May 2018. It notes, in that regard, that the draft amendment to Act No. 164 of 2011 provides for the creation of a national commission to combat human trafficking and victim assistance and protection (CEDAW/C/LBN/6, 27 July 2020, paragraph 14 and Annex 1, p. 7). The Committee notes that training activities were organised, in collaboration with the IOM, in order to build capacity of the Human Trafficking Repression and Morals Protection Bureau within the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces on how to investigate cases of trafficking in persons and identify tools for specialized investigations. It also notes that, in its 2022 concluding observations, the CEDAW expressed specific concerns at the fact that hundreds of foreign women are recruited by traffickers every year (as many as 3,000 in 2019) through the “artist visa scheme” and subsequently forced into prostitution; and these women are prosecuted under section 523 of the Penal Code and deported if they are found to have engaged in prostitution despite being entitled to protection under Act No. 164 (CEDAW/C/LBN/CO/6, 1 March 2022, paragraph 27). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the current status of the amendment process of the Act No. 164 of 2011 on the punishment for the crime of trafficking in persons, as well as a copy of the amended act once adopted. In the meantime, it requests the Government to provide information on the application of section 586.2 of the Penal Code in practice, including the number of investigations and prosecutions related to trafficking in persons, both for purposes of sexual or labour exploitation, as well as the nature of the penalties applied to perpetrators. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the Human Trafficking Repression and Morals Protection Bureau, as well as on the measures adopted in order to prevent trafficking in persons and ensure that all victims of trafficking, including those victims of forced prostitution, are provided with appropriate protection and assistance.

Article 2(2)(c). Work of prisoners for private individuals, companies or associations. The Committee previously noted that the Penal Code establishes various types of penalties which involve an obligation to work (sections 45 and 46). It also noted that, according to section 59 of the Decree No. 14310/K of 11 February 1949 on prison regulations, persons sentenced to detention or imprisonment may be required to work outside the prison only for activities of public utility and with their consent.

The Committee recalls that, according to Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention, work exacted from convicted persons does not constitute forced labour on condition that prisoners are not hired to or placed at the disposal of private entities. The Committee has considered in this regard that work by prisoners for private entities can be held compatible with the Convention only where the necessary safeguards exist in order to ensure that the prisoners concerned accept such work voluntarily, without being subjected to pressure or the menace of any penalty, and that the conditions of such work approximate those of a free labour relationship. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate whether the work required from prisoners, under sections 45 and 46 of the Penal Code and section 59 of the Decree No. 14310/K of 11 February 1949, may be performed for the benefit of private entities, and to indicate the guarantees provided in such a case. It also requests the Government to indicate whether prisoners placed in the system of probationary release may be requested to work for private entities (section 87 of the Penal Code).

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2023.]