Intensify efforts to abolish forced labour practices.

At its 2023 session (November–December), the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) adopted a general observation on the application of the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105). The text of this observation is reproduced in this brochure. As part of the regular supervisory system on the application of ILO international labour standards, the CEACR is an independent body whose function is to provide an impartial and technical assessment of the application of these standards by ILO Member States. The CEACR is composed of 20 experts, eminent jurists from different geographical regions, legal systems and cultures. In addition to the comments directly addressed to Governments, the CEACR may decide to publish the so-called "general observations” on certain issues concerning the application of a Convention.

General observation on the application of the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)

 The Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), constitutes one of the ILO fundamental conventions. Its purpose is to supplement the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), by requiring States to suppress the imposition of any form of forced or compulsory labour in five situations specified in its Article 1: • as a means of political coercion or education or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system; • as a method of mobilizing, and using labour for purposes of economic development; • as a means of labour discipline; • as a punishment for having participated in strikes; and • as a means of racial, social, national or religious discrimination.

The Convention was inspired by the work of the ILO–UN Ad-Hoc Committee on Forced Labour, which was established in 1951 to conduct an impartial inquiry into the existence of systems of forced labour. The report issued by the Ad-Hoc Committee in 1953 revealed the existence of two principal systems of forced labour imposed by the State that seriously threaten human rights in contravention with the United Nations Charter. The first was the use of forced labour as a means of political coercion or punishment for holding or expressing political views. The second was the use of forced labour for important economic purposes. 1 The negotiation and further adoption of the Convention reflected the determination of the ILO to continue and intensify its efforts to abolish such practices that were so far not explicitly covered by Convention No. 29. 

More than 65 years have passed since the adoption of Convention No. 105. Nevertheless, there are still a considerable number of cases that have been examined by the Committee where compulsory labour continues to be imposed by the State in the different situations prohibited by the Convention. This is particularly the case when compulsory labour is used for economic development purposes or as a punishment for the exercise of civil and political liberties, particularly freedom of expression and assembly. Given the considerable number of situations raised by the Committee with regard to the latter, the Committee considers that it is timely and appropriate to recall the nature and scope of the prohibitions established under Article 1(a) and (d) of the Convention, as well as the Committee’s requests addressed to governments in this regard. These prohibitions refer to the use of compulsory labour as “a means of political coercion or education, or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social, or economic system” (paragraph (a)); and “as a punishment for having participated in strikes” (paragraph (d)). 2 It must be noted that in these two cases, forced labour usually takes the form of compulsory labour imposed in the context of a penal sanction pronounced for acts that relate to the exercise of civil liberties, including the right to freedom of expression and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, both of which are recognized in the ILO Declaration of Philadelphia (1944) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The Committee wishes to recall from the outset that the Convention does not constitute a revision of Convention No. 29 and was adopted to reinforce and complement the protection offered by Convention No. 29. At the same time, these instruments are independent of each other, so that countries which have ratified both must ensure their cumulative application

This is particularly true for the exceptions laid down in Article 2(2) of Convention No. 29, which do not automatically apply in the five specific situations covered by Convention No. 105.  Accordingly, while under Convention No. 29 work exacted as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law is an exception and does not constitute forced labour, Convention No. 105 prohibits the imposition of any form of compulsory labour in the situations mentioned under its Article 1, even if the work is imposed as a result of a conviction by a court of law. The Committee also considers necessary to clarify that, in the context of Convention No. 105, compulsory labour can take place either in the form of a sanction of imprisonment involving an obligation to work (compulsory prison labour) or as a specific sanction of community, public or correctional work to which the person has not given his or her consent. In this respect, one of the main questions analysed by the Committee when assessing compliance with the Convention by the country under examination is whether any of these forms of compulsory labour is contained in the national legislation