Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Sudan (Ratification: 1957)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Sudan (Ratification: 2021)

Abolition of slave-like practices

1. For several years, the Committee has been examining, in relation to the application of the Convention, information concerning the practices of abduction, trafficking and forced labour affecting thousands of women and children in the southern regions of the country where an armed conflict is under way, but also in regions under government control. In its last observation, the Committee requested the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken with a view to eliminating the exaction of forced labour. It requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that, in accordance with the Convention, penal sanctions are imposed on persons convicted of having exacted forced labour, and to provide copies of the court decisions made. The Committee requested that the Government supply full particulars to the Conference at its 89th Session and to report in detail in 2001.

Conference Committee on the Application of Standards

2. In its conclusions adopted in June 2001, the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards expressed its profound concern at the serious situation in Sudan. It urged the Government to initiate systematic actions concomitant with the magnitude and gravity of the problem and to reply to the questions raised by the Committee of Experts, in particular with respect to the relevant preventive measures, identification of those responsible for exacting forced labour and the imposition of appropriate penal sanctions. The Conference Committee noted that the Government representative rejected the proposal that an ILO direct contacts mission should visit the country to work with the Government in finding solutions to eradicate the practice of forced labour, but had announced that it would consider that possibility. The Conference Committee decided to include this case in a special paragraph in its report as a case of continued failure to apply the Convention.

3. The Committee notes the information provided by a Worker member during the discussion of the Conference Committee, indicating that in October 2000 two representatives of Anti-Slavery International (ASI) visited Sudan to assess the impact of the work of the Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC), an institution set up in 1999 and attached to the Ministry of Justice. The ASI representatives interviewed members of the CEAWC, the Dinka Committee, the Dinka community living in northern Sudan and former slaves living in three transit centres managed by the CEAWC. The information provided by the Worker member indicated that the ASI representatives found that government officials and others did not consider abducted persons who are absorbed into the household of another family, whether by sale, false adoption, marriage, or as a result of the passage of time, to be victims of human rights violations, let alone victims of slavery.

4. The Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Worker member, the CEAWC has not pursued its mandate by prosecutions, but instead has chosen to adopt a procedure for identifying those who should be released and securing releases, which involves the participation of representatives of both the Dinka and the community holding them. However, this process has been unacceptably slow.

Special Rapporteur

5. The Committee also notes the information which a Government representative provided orally to the Conference Committee. The Committee notes that the Government representative pointed out that the April 1999 resolution of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations General Assembly, referred to "kidnappings" and "abductions", but not forced labour. According to the Government representative, his Government did not deny that kidnapping was taking place and was "particularly common" among certain tribes.

United Nations bodies

6. The Committee notes that in its resolution of April 2001 on the situation of human rights in Sudan (E/CN.4/RES/2001/18), the Commission on Human Rights once again expressed its deep concern about "the abduction of women and children to be subjected to forced labour or similar conditions". Similarly, in a resolution adopted in December 2000 by the General Assembly on the situation of human rights in Sudan (A/RES/55/116), the General Assembly expressed its deep concern at "the occurrence, within the framework of the conflict in southern Sudan, of cases of forced conscription", and "the abduction of women and children to be subjected to forced labour or similar conditions".

7. The Committee also notes the Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations on the situation of human rights in Sudan (UN document A/56/336), dated 7 September 2001.

8. The report of the Special Rapporteur includes the findings of his visit to Sudan from 9 to 14 March 2001, as well as an updating on the overall situation based on information collected since then. The Committee notes that in his conclusions and recommendations, the Special Rapporteur recognized that although some positive steps have been taken, he was of the opinion that there continues to be a need for a massive advocacy campaign. More specifically, the Special Rapporteur encouraged the Government of Sudan to take a public stand against abductions and in support of the CEAWC. He indicated that by the beginning of mid-2001, the CEAWC had only facilitated the return of approximately 550 abductees to their homes out of the total number waiting to be released, which was generally considered to between 5,000 and 14,000, although figures differed significantly, with some reports referring to much higher ones.

9. The Committee notes that the Special Rapporteur concluded that the Government needed to exercise all its influence on the Murahaleen. According to the Special Rapporteur, the Government shares responsibility, because the Sudanese army integrates the Murahaleen in its military action and in part finances, equips and deploys them. The Special Rapporteur believed that a clear and unambiguous policy on abductions would first of all avoid the recurrence of cases of abductions and allow the CEAWC to be more effective, particularly at the grass-roots level, thus facilitating the acceleration of the process of retrieval of abductees and the reunification of their families.

Comments from workers’ organizations

10. The Committee notes the observations provided by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in August 2001, which include information received from Anti-Slavery International (ASI). A copy of the ICFTU’s submission was forwarded to the Government on 18 October 2001 in order that it could make any comments thereon it considered appropriate.

11. The information compiled by Anti-Slavery International and provided by the ICFTU was also submitted in June 2001 to the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery of the Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, of the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations. The Committee notes the indications of ASI that, although the number of women and children abducted and enslaved during raids has varied over the years since the civil war restarted in 1983, it is undoubtedly the case that slavery remains a reality in Sudan with thousands of people awaiting release and new abductions still taking place.

Government response

12. The Committee notes that in its report, received in November 2001, the Government indicates that in June 2000 a delegation from the CEAWC visited Pibor town in Jongli State to document 12 Dinka, Taposa, Nuer and Anyuak children who had been abducted by the Murie, a tribe from southern Sudan. The delegation returned to Khartoum in July 2000 and was able to document eight cases. The Government indicated that two abductees had been reunified in Bor town, and two brought to Khartoum for medical treatment. The Government indicated that in February 2001, the CEAWC reunited four children with their families in Wau town, and that with the cooperation of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, it managed to repatriate 118 Baggara abductees who had been held with the rebel movement in Yei town since 1997. These abductees reached Khartoum in March 2001.

13. The Committee further notes the response provided by the CEAWC, which appears to be on behalf of the Government, to Anti-Slavery International, concerning that organization’s report "Is there slavery in Sudan?". The CEAWC response, sent on 30 August 2001, indicated that abduction among tribes in the west and south of Sudan has existed as long as the tribes have, and that it has its deep roots in various economic, social and cultural conditions. Its growth has been fostered by geographic distance and weakness of infrastructure in those regions, and also by a lack of awareness, education and security among tribes. The CEAWC response indicated that rebellions leading to the civil war have played a large role in the reappearance and exacerbation of this phenomenon. According to the CEAWC, it has become difficult to use traditional mechanisms to resolve the problem of mutual abduction.

14. The CEAWC response indicated that abduction is made a crime under article 162 of the Criminal Code, not under article 161 which deals with enticement, and that abduction is punishable by ten years’ imprisonment. It also indicated that the slowness in procedures was the result of the more than ten years’ accumulated effect of the practice of abduction, and that the vastness of the targeted area and its distance from media prevented the Government from extensively disseminating a "culture" of human rights. The CEAWC stated that the number of abductees it documented was only 1,200, and that there were difficulties in documenting and treating cases other than abduction. The CEAWC pointed out that its objectives were to support peaceful coexistence through raising awareness, restoring trust, resolving tribal conflicts, and strengthening basic and developmental structures. The CEAWC indicated that when abductees were identified, the procedure followed was immediately to remove the abductees from the abductor and transfer them to peace centres. According to the CEAWC, it deals with special and complex cases and keeps the best interests of the abductee in mind. The final decision is left to the abductee in cases involving older children and married women.

15. The Committee notes the rejoinder of Anti-Slavery International to the comments of the CEAWC, which was communicated to the Government on 12 October 2001. ASI commented on the indication that there were only 1,200 abductees documented by the CEAWC, pointing out that this was in strong contrast to the estimate of the Dinka Committee that a total of some 14,000 people are believed to have been abducted since 1986. ASI observed that the number of abductees reported by the CEAWC was not appreciably greater than the number reported a year earlier, and it therefore emphasized its very considerable concern that the CEAWC appeared not to have been able to continue its work of releasing victims of abduction at a significant rate over the past year.

16. The Committee urges the Government to take a stronger stand to combat the practice of forced labour through kidnapping and abduction of women and children, which is conducted on such a massive scale in the country. This requires a firm and well-publicized approach by the Government in conjunction with official mechanisms for prevention, identification and penalizing such practices. The Committee trusts that the Government will soon be able to report on positive advancements in this respect.

Article 25 of the Convention

17. The Committee previously noted that the Government’s report did not contain information enabling it to ascertain compliance with the provisions of Article 25 of the Convention, under which "the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour shall be punishable as a penal offence, and it shall be an obligation on any Member ratifying this Convention to ensure that the penalties imposed by law are really adequate and are strictly enforced".

18. The Committee noted that sections 161, 162 and 163 of the Criminal Act, 1991, pertain to abduction, kidnapping and forced labour, and that the penalty envisaged for the exaction of forced labour is only one year of imprisonment.

19. In its previous observation the Committee requested the Government to indicate the procedures for bringing to trial persons having exacted forced labour. The Committee further requested that the Government take the necessary measures to ensure that, in accordance with the Convention, penal sanctions are imposed on persons convicted of having exacted forced labour, and that it provide copies of the court decisions made. The Committee strongly urges the Government to provide this information in its next report.