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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Cameroon (Ratification: 1960)

1. Prison labour. With reference to its observation on this Convention and the explanations given in paragraphs 97 and 98 of its General Survey of 1979 on the Abolition of Forced Labour, the Committee hopes that, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention, the necessary measures will be taken rapidly both to prohibit the labour of convicted persons being hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations, and to ensure that work carried out by prisoners in the service of private individuals or associations is performed under conditions of a free employment relationship, i.e. that it should depend on the consent of the persons involved and be subject to the existence of corresponding guarantees, particularly regarding wages and social security. The Government is requested to indicate the measures adopted to this end.

2. Communal services in the general interest. For many years, the Committee has been drawing the Government's attention to section 2, paragraph 5(e), of the Labour Code which exempts from the prohibition of forced labour communal services in the general interest as defined by the administrative or municipal authorities. According to indications provided by the Government in the past:

(1) there is no text defining communal services in the general interest;

(2) the communal services that are determined and carried out by each community are classified in order of priority, with the administration playing only a supervisory role and supplying technical assistance, and each community has drawn up by-laws under which the participation of each member of the community in the performance of the work is compulsory.

On numerous occasions the Committee has expressed the hope that the necessary legislative measures will be taken or regulations issued to limit the scope of the work that may be imposed and to define the respective roles of the administrative and municipal authorities. It has also requested the Government to supply copies of municipal orders organising communal works in the general interest. None have yet been received.

The Committee recalls that in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 2(e) of the Convention, only minor communal services are excluded from the scope of the Convention and that paragraph 37 of its 1979 General Survey specifies the criteria which limit this exception. In the absence of more detailed indications concerning the amendment that may be made to section 2 of the Labour Code within the framework of the updating that is still under way, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the appropriate measures, for example in the form of regulations issued under the Code, in order to ensure observance of the requirements set forth in Article 2, paragraph 2(e), of the Convention. It once again requests the Government to supply copies of municipal orders organising services in the general interest.

3. Freedom to leave the service of the State. The Committee has noted the information previously supplied by the Government concerning the length of the undertaking made by military personnel serving under contract and career military personnel. The Committee noted that under section 55 of Act No. 80/12 of 14 July 1980, members of the armed forces serving under contract give successive undertakings of varying lengths which do not exceed three years and career members of the armed forces commissioned as officers sign a ten-year undertaking which takes effect from the end of their training period. Officers who are recruited through competitions sign an undertaking of undetermined length, which means that in practice they are obliged to serve until they reach the age limit for their grade, since requests to resign are only accepted on exceptional grounds.

The Committee recalls that the Convention protects any person required to perform compulsory work or services, subject only to the exceptions appearing in Article 2, paragraph 2. With regard to restrictions on the freedom of members of the armed forces to leave the service, the Committee referred in the explanations given in paragraphs 67 to 73 of its 1979 General Survey to cases in which employment is originally the result of a freely concluded agreement. It noted that the worker's right to free choice of employment remains inalienable and that the effect of statutory provisions preventing termination of employment of indefinite duration by means of notice of reasonable length is to turn a contractual relationship based on the will of the parties into service by compulsion of law. Referring more particularly to career members of the armed forces, the Committee observed that the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 2(a), concerning compulsory military service, do not apply to career members of the armed forces. They may therefore not be invoked in order to deny persons who engaged voluntarily the right to leave the service in peacetime within a reasonable period of time, either at predetermined intervals or by giving notice, subject to the conditions that may normally be required in order to ensure continuity of service.

In the absence of information in the Government's most recent report on any measures taken or contemplated to ensure the observance of the Convention with regard to career members of the armed forces, the Committee requests the Government to supply in its next report full information regarding the criteria directing the choice of the military authorities when accepting or refusing resignations, on the types of disciplinary penalties incurred and on the channels of appeal available against decisions refusing a request to resign.