Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Turkmenistan (Ratification: 1997)

The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government in its first report on the application of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide, in its next report, additional information on the following points:

Communication of texts. The Committee requests the Government to supply, with its next report, copies of the following legislation: Law on Compulsory Military Service; Criminal Procedure Code; Law on the Execution of Sentences; Code of Administrative Offences, 1984; Law on the Legal Regime Governing Emergencies, of 23 August 1990; Law on the Prevention and Liquidation of Emergency Situations, 1998; Law on Preparation for and Carrying out Mobilization in Turkmenistan, of 10 December 1998; as well as a copy of the new Criminal Code, 2010.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Freedom of civil servants to leave their service. Please indicate any provisions governing the right of civil servants to leave the service, at their own request, as well as the procedure for their resignation.

2. Freedom of career military personnel to leave their service. Please indicate any provisions applicable to military officers and other career members of the armed forces, as regards their right to leave the service, in time of peace, at their own request, either at certain reasonable intervals or by means of notice of reasonable length.

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25. Trafficking in persons. The Committee notes the provisions of the Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons, 2007, which sets forth basic concepts and establishes the policy framework to combat trafficking in persons. The Committee also notes section 129 of the new Penal Code, 2010, which punishes with penalties of imprisonment trafficking for the purpose of sexual and labour exploitation. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons in practice. Please also provide information on any legal proceedings instituted under section 129 of the new Criminal Code, supplying sample copies of the relevant court decisions and indicating the penalties imposed.

Article 2(2)(a). Compulsory military service. The Committee notes that section 8(1) of the Labour Code, 2009 excludes from the prohibition of forced labour any work exacted in virtue of compulsory military service laws. It also notes that, under article 41 of the Constitution, military service is compulsory for all male citizens. The Committee requests the Government to indicate what guarantees are provided to ensure that services exacted under compulsory military service laws are used for purely military ends.

Article 2(2)(b) and (e). Normal civic obligations and minor communal services. The Committee notes that, under sections 8(2) and 8(7) of the Labour Code, 2009, the term “forced labour” does not include any work or service which is part of the normal civic obligations of citizens or which is exacted as minor communal services in the direct interest of the community. Please specify the types of work or services which may be exacted as normal civic obligations of citizens, including information on consultation with the local community or its representatives regarding the need for such work or services. Please also provide information regarding the possibility of refusal by the persons concerned to perform such work or services, including information on any sanctions applied in case of refusal.

Article 2(2)(c). Prison Labour. The Committee notes that, by virtue of section 8(5) of the Labour Code, 2009, the term “forced labour” does not include any work or service required as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law. It also notes, from the Government’s report, that section 44(e) of the Criminal Code, 1997, provided for a penalty of corrective labour, which could be imposed for a period from two months to two years and could be performed, according to the court decision, at the work place of the convicted person, or “at places within the convict’s district of residence” (section 50). Please indicate whether the new Criminal Code of 2010 contains similar provisions. In the affirmative, please indicate whether corrective labour shall be performed in enterprises belonging to the executive penal system or in other state-owned enterprises, and what guarantees are provided to ensure that convicted persons are not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies and associations. Please also supply copies of provisions governing the work of persons serving a sentence of imprisonment.

The Committee notes that, according to section 8(6) of the Labour Code, 2009, the term “forced labour” does not include any work or service performed as a penalty for breach of administrative law. It also notes the Government’s indication in the report that, under section 23 of the Code of Administrative Offences, certain administrative penalties, including corrective labour, may be imposed by a municipal court or judge for administrative offences. According to section 30 of the same law corrective labour shall be performed at the regular workplace of the offender, for a period from fifteen days to two months, and up to 20 per cent of the offender’s earnings shall be withheld by the Government. The Committee requests the Government to provide, in its next report, information on the application of the above provisions of the Code of Administrative Offences in practice, indicating, in particular, whether corrective labour is performed in enterprises belonging to the executive penal system or in other state-owned enterprises, and what guarantees are provided to ensure that convicted persons are not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies and associations.

Article 2(2)(d). 1. Cases of emergency. The Committee notes the Government’s statement in the report that, in the vital interests of the country, workers might be recruited for work in emergency situations. It also notes that any work exacted in cases of emergency is excluded from the prohibition of forced labour under section 8(4) of the Labour Code, 2009. The Committee further notes from the Government’s report that, according to section 5 of the Law Concerning Preparation for and Carrying out of Mobilization in Turkmenistan, of 10 December 1998, the President of Turkmenistan has the authority to decide on the general direction of the work to be done in preparing for and carrying out mobilization. Under section 11 of the same Law, citizens have the obligation to report to military commissariats when called up during a period of mobilization and in wartime, for the purpose of determining their liability for military service. The Government further indicates in its report that during a period of mobilization and in wartime, citizens are required to carry out work for the defence and security of the State, and are therefore enrolled in special units in the prescribed manner. The Committee asks the Government to indicate, in its next report, what guarantees are provided to ensure that the power to call up labour during a state of emergency is limited to what is strictly required by the exigencies of the situation and that work exacted in case of emergency shall cease as soon as the circumstances that endanger the population or its normal living conditions no longer exist.

2. Mobilization and use of labour for purposes of economic development. The Committee notes from the Government’s first report on the application of the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) that, according to section 7 of the Law on the Legal Regime Governing Emergencies, of 23 August 1990, in order to mobilize labour for the needs of economic development and to prevent emergencies, state and government authorities may recruit citizens to work at enterprises, institutions and organizations, and also to prevent or eliminate the effects of emergencies and ensure safety at work. The Committee recalls that the concept of emergency, as indicated by the enumeration of examples in Article 2(2)(d) of the Convention, involves a sudden, unforeseen, happening calling for instant countermeasures. The notion of “needs of economic development”, referred to in the above provision, does not seem to satisfy these criteria and is thus incompatible both with Article 2(2)(d) of the present Convention and with Article 1(b) of Convention No. 105, which prohibits the use of forced or compulsory labour “as a method of mobilizing and using labour for purposes of economic development”. The Committee therefore hopes that the necessary measures will be taken in order to limit the above provision to a strict minimum allowed by the Convention, so that recourse to compulsory labour under emergency situations does not develop into mobilization for purposes of economic development, and that the legislation will be brought into conformity both with the present Convention and Convention No. 105. The Committee requests the Government to provide, in its next report, information on the action taken in this regard.