Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Kuwait (Ratification: 1968)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Freedom of career military personnel to leave their service. Over a number of years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to supply details regarding the criteria applied in accepting or rejecting a resignation submitted by a person wishing to resign from the army in accordance with the requirements laid down by Law No. 32 of 1967 (sections 104 and 105). The Committee noted that the service is not automatically terminated upon delivery of a resignation which otherwise complies with the requirements of sections 104 and 105. It follows from the wording of the above sections that an application to resign may be either accepted or refused, but neither section 104 nor 105 establishes the criterion used for deciding whether a resignation presented in compliance with the conditions laid down in these provisions will or will not be accepted.

The Committee has noted the Government’s statement in the report that, before joining the army, a person should be well aware of his/her rights and obligations, including conditions and procedure of resignation. However, the Committee recalls that career members of the armed forces, who have voluntarily engaged in the armed forces, should not be deprived of the right to leave the service in peacetime within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals, or with previous notice (see, for example, the explanations provided in paragraphs 40, 46 and 96–97 of the Committee’s General Survey of 2007 on the eradication of forced labour). The Committee therefore hopes that the necessary measures will be taken with a view to amending the above sections 104 and 105, so as to bring them into conformity with the Convention. Pending such amendment, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of sections 104 and 105 in practice, indicating the number of cases in which such resignations were refused and the grounds for refusal, as well as the criteria applied in accepting or rejecting a resignation presented in conformity with these sections.