Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Cuba (Ratification: 1958)

For a number of years, the Committee has been referring to the Social Service Act, No. 1254 of 2 August 1973, and its regulations issued under Decree No. 3771 of 5 June 1974, by virtue of which Cuban citizens who graduate in higher education or as middle-level technicians or through regular courses for primary- school teachers are obliged to perform social service, in accordance with the planning and priorities laid down by the Government in respect of development tasks; the duration of the service is three years and it is performed at the place and in the posts for which the graduate is intended, and his personal and family circumstances are taken into account.

The Committee observed that an unjustified refusal to perform social service entails temporary or permanent disqualification from working in the job for which he was trained, and which is recorded in the workbook of the person concerned. Furthermore, graduates who are disqualified are required to perform services during the three years of their disqualification which do not correspond to the responsibility of their professional work, under penalty of being considered for purposes of their application for rehabilitation to have failed to observe correct conduct.

In its previous reports, the Government stated that the provisions concerning temporary or permanent disqualification for the exercise of a profession are not applied. In its latest report, it states that it is continuing to examine the labour legislation to adapt it to the new conditions existing in the country.

The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary measures to bring the Social Service Act and its regulations into conformity with the Convention and that it will supply information on the progress made in this respect.