Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

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

Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention. Hiring of prison labour to private entities. In its previous comments the Committee noted that Decree No. 92-052 of 27 March 1992 issuing the prison regulations (sections 51-56) authorizes the hiring of prison labour to private entities and individuals. It noted that Order No. 213/A/MINAT/DAPEN of 28 July 1988 – which is still in force, according to the Government – establishes a number of conditions concerning the use of prison labour and fixes the rates for their hiring. Those rates include the cost of the daily allowance for a manual worker and a technician, and the surveillance costs. Noting that neither of these legislative texts requires informed, formal consent of the prisoner hired to private enterprises and/or individuals, the Committee has been asking the Government for several years to take the necessary steps to incorporate the requirement for consent into the legislation. The Committee further notes that the Government has already indicated its commitment to ensuring that the regulations implementing the 1992 Decree issuing the prison regulations establish the requirement for formal consent to be given by convicted prisoners before performing any work for private entities, even indicating in its 2009 report that the issue had been examined in conjunction with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization at the last session of the National Labour Advisory Commission.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its last report that the regulations implementing the Decree issuing the prison regulations have not been adopted, and it refers to an instruction from the Prime Minister for conducting discussions on the setting up of an agency for the operation of prisons which would take account of ILO concerns.

The Committee recalls once again that, in a setting of captivity, it is necessary to obtain the informed, formal consent of prisoners for work in cases where such work is performed for private individuals, enterprises or associations. The Committee further considers that certain factors are required in order to authenticate or confirm the giving of free and informed consent, and that the most reliable indicator of the voluntary nature of labour is that the work is performed under conditions which approximate to a free labour relationship. The Committee expresses its firm hope that the Government will take all the necessary steps in order to ensure, both in law and in practice, that free, formal and informed consent is given by convicts to work for private entities. To this end, it expects the Government to adopt, in the very near future, the regulations setting out the requirements for such consent and to ensure conditions which approximate a free labour relationship in terms of remuneration, hours of work and occupational safety and health.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.