Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

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

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Civic service. For several years, the Committee has been noting the incompatibility with the Convention of sections 32, 33, 34 and 38 of Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984 concerning civic service, as amended in 1986 and 2006. Under the aforementioned provisions, it is possible to require persons who have completed a course of higher education or training in branches or specializations considered a priority for the economic and social development of the country to perform a period of civic service ranging from one to four years before being able to exercise an occupation or obtain employment. The Committee noted that currently the only category concerned is that of doctors specializing in public health. Civic service may also be performed in private sector health establishments (section 2 of Ordinance No. 06-06 of 15 July 2006).

The Committee noted the Government’s indication that civic service is a national and moral duty of specialized doctors vis-à-vis the population groups living in the regions of the far south, the south and the High Plateau. The Government also stated that the medical specialists concerned enjoyed an attractive system of compensation ranging from 100 to 150 per cent of their principal remuneration along with other advantages. Under Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984, any refusal to perform civic service and the resignation of the person concerned without a valid reason results in that person being banned from self-employment, from setting up business as a trader, artisan or promoter of private economic investment, any offence being punishable under section 243 of the Criminal Code (imprisonment of between three months and two years and/or a fine). In addition, private employers are required to ensure, prior to engaging any workers, that applicants are not subject to civic service or that they can produce documentation proving that they have completed it, and are liable to imprisonment and a fine if they knowingly employ a citizen who has evaded civic service. The Committee therefore urged the Government to take the necessary steps to repeal or amend Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984 in order to bring it into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee notes with regret that, once again, the Government has not provided any information on this matter in its report. The Committee recalls that Article 2(1) of the Convention defines “forced or compulsory labour” as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily”. Referring to the 2007 General Survey concerning the elimination of forced labour, the Committee specifies that the penalty in question might take the form of a loss of a right, such as access to new employment (paragraph 37). The Committee notes that the provisions contained in Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984 concerning civic service, require specialized doctors to perform their activity within a period of one to four years in remote regions, and punish any refusal with a penalty consisting of a ban against self-employment and private sector employment. Furthermore, as regards obligations of service in relation to training received, which sometimes apply to a narrow range of professions, in particular young doctors, dentists and pharmacists, who may be required to exercise their profession for a certain period in a post assigned to them by the authorities, the Committee has pointed out in this connection that, where such service obligations are enforced by the menace of any penalty, they may have a bearing on the observance of the forced labour Conventions (paragraphs 94 and 95). The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary steps without delay to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention by repealing or amending sections 32, 33, 34 and 38 of Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984 concerning civic service in order to remove the requirement of civic service and the penalties that correspond with a refusal to perform this service.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.