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

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Gabon (Ratification: 1961)

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Imposition of a sentence of imprisonment involving compulsory labour as punishment for expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. For many years the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to section 2(2) of Act No. 22/84 of 29 December 1984 establishing the rules on prison labour, according to which political prisoners convicted at the same time for related offences under ordinary law are treated as ordinary prisoners and, by virtue of section 3 of the Act, are required to work. The Government previously recognized the need to amend this provision and, pending that amendment, took measures to prohibit prison labour.

The Committee also noted the 2010 study on the conformity of the national legislation with international labour standards, conducted in the context of the Programme to Support the Implementation of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (PAMODEC), which proposed that Act No. 22/84 of 29 December 1984 establishing the rules on prison labour should be amended.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that there have been no political prisoners in Gabon since 1990 and a draft act/ordinance aimed at amending Act No. 22/84 is being drawn up. It also indicates that, in the context of aligning its legislation to the provisions of the present Convention, Act No. 36/2010 of 25 November 2010 issuing the Code of Criminal Procedure has been promulgated. The Committee refers in this regard to its comments relating to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). It notes that section 527 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that persons held in pre-trial detention are not under any obligation to work, unless they explicitly request to do so, and that in any case they may not be employed outside the prison.

While noting these indications, the Committee expresses the strong hope that the draft act aimed at amending Act No. 22/84 of 29 December 1984 establishing the rules on prison labour will be adopted in the near future, so that political prisoners or prisoners of conscience convicted at the same time for related offences under ordinary law are not treated as ordinary prisoners and are consequently not obliged to work.