Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

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

Tanganyika

The Committee notes that no report has been received from the Government. It must therefore repeat its previous observation on the following matters:

1. In previous comments, the Committee noted that forced or compulsory labour may be imposed in circumstances falling within Article 1(a), (c) and (d) of the Convention under the following legislative provisions: Article 1(a) of the Convention. Under section 25 of the Newspaper Act, 1976, the President may, if he considers it necessary in the public interest or in the interest of peace and order, prohibit the further publication of any newspaper. Any person who prints, publishes, sells or distributes in a public place such a newspaper may be punished with imprisonment (involving, by virtue of Part XI of the Prison Act, 1977, an obligation to perform labour). Article 1(c). Under section 284A of the Penal Code, any employee of a "specified authority" (i.e. the Government, a local authority, a registered trade union, the Tanganyika African National Union or any body affiliated to it, any publicly owned company, etc.) who causes pecuniary loss to his employer or damage to his employer's property, by any wilful act or omission, negligence or misconduct, or failure to take reasonable care or to discharge his duties in a reasonable manner, may be punished with imprisonment for up to two years (involving an obligation to work). Under section 176(9) of the Penal Code, any person employed under lawful employment of any description who is, without lawful excuse, found engaged in a frolic of his own at a time he is supposed to be engaged in activities connected or relating to the business of his employment may be punished with imprisonment (involving an obligation to work). In addition, under section 26 of the Human Resources Deployment Act, the Minister shall make such arrangements as will provide for a smooth and co-ordinated transfer or any other measure which will provide for the rehabilitation and full deployment of persons chargeable with or previously convicted under section 176 of the Penal Code. Article 1(c) and (d). Under section 145(1)(b), (c) and (e) and section 147 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1967, various breaches of discipline by seamen are punishable by imprisonment, involving an obligation to perform labour. Under section 151, any seaman who deserts from a foreign ship may be forcibly conveyed on board ship or delivered to the master, mate or owner of the ship or his agent. Article 1(d). Sections 4, 8, 11 and 27 of the Permanent Labour Tribunal Act, 1967, which contain general provisions for compulsory arbitration in labour disputes, make it possible in practice to render all strikes illegal and punishable with imprisonment (involving compulsory prison labour). In earlier reports, the Government has stated that consultations on proposals for the revision of these legislative provisions have been completed and a report has been submitted to the competent authority for decision. In its reply to the Committee's 1987 observations, the Government once again expressed its desire to bring the above-mentioned provisions into conformity with the Convention, but stated that there have been unavoidable delays in the conclusion of proposals for the revision of the relevant legislative provisions to bring them into conformity with the requirements of the Convention. In its latest report, the Government points out that the labour laws of the country are under revision, that a first draft of a consolidated labour code was submitted in September, 1988 and discussions centred on the draft were held with people from different institutions, and that it was hoped that a second and final draft would be submitted in December, 1988 and would do away with all the existing statutory provisions which are not in line with international labour standards. The Committee takes due note of these indications. Recalling that these matters have been under consideration for a number of years and that the statutory provisions conflicting with the Convention are to a large extent contained in legislation outside the normal purview of a labour code, the Committee hopes that the draft legislation now referred to by the Government will indeed provide for the repeal of all provisions which are incompatible with the Convention, and that the Government will soon indicate that the necessary action has been taken. In a direct request, the Committee once again requests the Government to furnish information on the practical application of a number of legislative provisions which the Committee has been requesting for many years, and which the Government is still seeking to obtain. Zanzibar 2. In its previous observation, the Committee noted the Government's indication that the Afro-Shirazi Party Decree, 1965, by virtue of which the Afro-Shirazi Party was declared the sole political Party and all other political parties, organisations or societies were declared unlawful and membership therein was made punishable with imprisonment (involving an obligation to perform labour) had been superseded and was no longer in force since the creation of the Revolutionary Party (Chama cha Mapinduzi) of Tanzania, that the United Republic of Tanzania is a one-party democratic State and Chama cha Mapinduzi is the ruling Party governed by its constitution. The Committee notes from the text of the constitution of Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) supplied by the Government that a joint national conference of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) assembled in Dar es Salaam on 21 January 1977 resolved and proclaimed the dissolution of these two parties and the simultaneous establishment of CCM as a new and sole political Party for the whole of Tanzania. Under section 1 of its constitution, this Party shall exercise final authority in respect of all public affairs; under section 5(4), the Party is to maintain and carry forward the ideological line of the founding fathers of TANU and ASP bequeathed to it in the various documents of those parties; under section 6, every member of TANU and ASP shall, unless he wishes otherwise, become a founder-member of Chama cha Mapinduzi. The Committee also notes that the Constitution of Zanzibar of 1984, the Swahili text of which has been communicated by the Government, pays tribute to the standard-setting work of the ASP and provides in section 5 that CCM is the single Party in Tanzania and that all institutions are under the authority and responsibility of this Party. In view of the organic links between CCM as the present sole political Party and the Afro-Shirazi Party as one of its two parent organisations, the Committee hopes that on an appropriate occasion, the Afro-Shirazi Party Decree, 1965 and in particular all penal provisions punishing membership in political organisations other than the sole political Party with penalties involving compulsory labour will be formally repealed. 3. In its previous comments, the Committee also had referred to a number of other statutory provisions having a bearing on Article 1(a), (c) and (d) of the Convention. The Committee notes with interest the Government's statement in its report that measures are being taken with a view to re-examining the situation, and to ensure that prisoners covered by the Convention should be exempted from prison labour. The Committee is addressing a direct request to the Government on these matters.

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The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.