Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Ecuador (Ratification: 1954)

1. Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention. In previous comments the Committee has referred to the Compulsory Military Service Act which includes among the objectives of military service "cooperation in the social and economic development of the country through the implementation of mixed military programmes as indicated by the Ministry of National Defence" (section 3(c) of the Compulsory Military Service Act of 1977).

The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the effect given in practice to section 3(c) of the Compulsory Military Service Act, in particular as regards the definition and content of mixed military programmes and the measures that have been taken to ensure that the Convention is observed in this respect.

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government to the effect that the mixed military programmes referred to in the Compulsory Military Service Act are not designed for any specific persons or enterprises and that their purpose is the rendering of civic service to the nation.

The Committee recalled that for the purposes of the Convention, work performed with the objective of economic development is not considered to be strictly military and that, in addition, compulsory labour for this purpose is contrary to Article 1(b) of Convention No. 105 which has also been ratified by Ecuador.

The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that any work or service exacted from conscripts shall be of a purely military character in conformity with Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention, except in the case of force majeure.

2. The Committee notes section 90 of the Armed Forces Personnel Act of 5 April 1991 which, in conjunction with section 79(b) of the same Act, provides that discharge upon voluntary application shall not be granted where service requirements so dictate pursuant to a resolution of the competent Council.

The Committee draws the Government's attention to the incompatibility with the Convention of provisions whose effect is to convert a contractual relationship based on the agreement of the parties into a service imposed by law, and to the need, in order to secure observance of the Convention, to guarantee that the personnel of the armed forces are free to leave their employment on their own initiative, within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or by giving the requisite notice.

The Committee asks the Government to supply information on the practical effect given to section 90, in connection with section 76(b) of the Armed Forces Personnel Act, so that it can determine the scope of the notion "service requirements" contained in the above provision and to provide copies of any resolutions that have been adopted under this provision.