Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Morocco (Ratification: 1957)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Trafficking in persons. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the absence of provisions in the legislation explicitly criminalizing trafficking in persons and that, according to the Government, a decree on the repression and criminalization of trafficking in persons had been approved by the Council of Ministers on 7 May 2009.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it acceded to the Palermo Protocol on 25 April 2011 and that Act No. 02-03 of 11 November 2003 respecting the entry and residence of foreign nationals, emigration and irregular immigration offers real protection for the rights of foreign migrants, and enumerates all of the violations and penalties inherent to the offences and crimes relating to trafficking in persons.

With regard to protection measures for victims of trafficking, the Government cites referral to diplomatic representations, facilitating assisted voluntary return and the possibility of granting temporary residence permits. The Government adds that between 2003 and 2009, a total of 2,500 networks specializing in trafficking were dismantled and that in 2007 a total of 27 cases of sexual exploitation of women by networks were referred to the courts, including four cases of forced emigration, 21 cases of sexual exploitation of children by networks and 1,124 cases of exploitation of children through begging. The Government also reports the establishment of a national strategy to combat trafficking in persons based on three priorities: prevention, combating networks, and protection and assistance.

The Committee notes the joint study by the Ministry of Justice, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2009) which describes exhaustively the phenomenon of trafficking in persons in Morocco and provides a number of recommendations, including the importance of adopting comprehensive legislation to combat trafficking in persons, comprising adequate penalties and specific measures to protect victims.

The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the adoption of comprehensive legislation to combat trafficking in persons, including adequate penalties and specific measures to protect victims. Please also indicate whether the Decree of 7 May 2009, to which the Government referred in its previous report, has been promulgated and has entered into force. Noting that no penal sanctions against trafficking networks were mentioned in the Government’s report, the Committee requests the Government to provide copies with its next report of court rulings referring to the penalties incurred by the perpetrators of trafficking.

2. Freedom of public servants and career members of the armed forces to leave their employment. For several years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the incompatibility with the Convention of section 77 of the Dahir of 24 February 1958 establishing the general conditions of employment of the public service, under the terms of which the resignation of an official does not come into effect unless it is accepted by the authority vested with the power of appointment, and that the authority may refuse an application to resign in light of the needs of the service or the impossibility of finding a replacement for the official who is resigning. The Committee requested the Government to restrict the possibility of preventing an official from leaving his or her employment to emergency situations and to ensure the freedom of officials to terminate their employment by giving reasonable notice.

The Committee once again notes the Government’s indication that an official whose resignation has been refused may appeal to the joint commission, which shall provide a reasoned opinion, and that no application to resign was refused during the period covered by the report.

The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the legislative text referred to above so as to ensure that if a resignation request is turned down on the grounds of the requirements of the service or the impossibility of finding a replacement, the competent authority may not keep the official in her or his employment beyond a reasonable deadline. The Committee requests the Government to provide, in its future reports, information on any application to resign that has been refused and the circumstances prompting such refusal.

3. Persecution of vagrancy. In the comments that it has been making for a number of years, the Committee has emphasized the need to amend section 329 of the Penal Code, under the terms of which a vagrant, who is liable to a prison sentence of from one to six months, is defined as “any person without a fixed abode or means of subsistence who does not normally exercise an occupation or trade, despite being able to do so, and who is unable to show evidence of having sought employment, or who has refused paid work when it has been offered”. It observed that this section contains a definition of vagrancy that is too broad and may accordingly constitute an indirect means of forcing a person to work.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that vagrancy is only a matter for intervention by the police services when it is associated with other more serious forms of delinquency, namely begging, violence and public and manifest inebriation, or at least pilfering and theft.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the amendment of section 329 of the Penal Code, to which it referred in its previous report, is still under way. The Committee reiterates the hope that measures will be taken to ensure that, in the absence of problems of public order or safety, homeless persons without means of subsistence, who do not exercise any trade or occupation, are not liable to penalties.

Article 2(2)(c). Prison labour. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the General Delegation of the Prison Administration and Reintegration, as it has not received any offers meeting the legal requirements for the recruitment of prisoners or the provisions respecting their health and safety, has not made use of section 40 of Act No. 23 98, under the terms of which no prisoner may work for a private individual or company unless this is under a concession and an administrative agreement determining the conditions of employment and remuneration, among other matters. The Committee requests the Government to provide copies in future reports of any administrative agreements for the hiring of prison labour concluded between the General Delegation of the Prison Administration and Reintegration and a private enterprise, once they have been adopted.