Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Niger (Ratification: 1962)

Article 1(c) and (d) of the Convention. Imposition of prison sentences involving an obligation to work as a means of labour discipline or as a punishment for having participated in strikes. The Committee previously requested the Government to provide information on any cases involving recourse to the provisions of section 119(2) of the Penal Code, which provides that public servants found guilty of dereliction of duty, the aim or effect of which is to prevent or suspend the discharge of their tasks, shall be liable to imprisonment of one to three years. The Committee recalls that persons sentenced to imprisonment shall undertake compulsory labour except where sentenced for political offences (section 24 of the Penal Code, and sections 24 and 25 of Act No. 2017-08 establishing the fundamental principles of the prison regime).

The Government again indicates, in its report, that research conducted by the competent Ministry of Justice services indicates that no criminal court has issued rulings on any cases of dereliction of duty. The Government also states that a bill to amend the order regulating exercise of the right to strike has been formulated by the Ministry of Labour. The Committee duly notes this information and requests the Government to continue to provide information on all recourse in practice to section 119(2) of the Penal Code related to dereliction of duty. It also requests the Government to communicate a copy of the new legislation amending the order regulating exercise of the right to strike, once it has been adopted.