Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Viet Nam (Ratification: 2007)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Work exacted in drug rehabilitation centres. The Committee previously noted that the Decree on regulating in detail the implementation of the law to amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on drug prevention regarding post-rehabilitation management (No. 94/2009/ND-CP) states that persons in drug rehabilitation centres must actively participate in labour and production and complete assigned target volume and quality of work (sections 26(2) and 34(1)(b)) and that the director of the centre has the authority to apply coercive measures against those failing to comply with the centre’s rules and regulations regarding education, learning and labour (section 43(1)(a)). Noting that work is part of the treatment in these centres, the Committee requested information on how persons enter these centres.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that persons staying at drug rehabilitation centres are involved in production. The Government states that this is not forced labour, that this work helps drug addicts to realize the value of their labour and to recover their work skills, and that no sanction shall be applied to those who do not wish to work. However, the Government also states that those who are healthy enough are allocated a certain amount of product to produce, and that persons with low labour discipline will be criticized or reprimanded. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that section 28 of the Law on drug prevention states that the sending of drug addicts into compulsory drug rehabilitation establishments shall be implemented by a decision of the President of the People’s Committees in districts, towns and cities.

With reference to paragraph 52 of its 2007 General Survey on the eradication of forced labour, the Committee reminds the Government that Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention provides that work can only be exacted from a person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law. In this respect, it recalls that compulsory labour imposed by administrative or other non-judicial bodies or authorities is not compatible with the Convention. Therefore, noting that persons are sent to drug rehabilitation centres following an administrative decision, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures, in both law and practice, to ensure that persons detained in drug rehabilitation centres who have not been convicted by a court of law may not be subject to the obligation to perform work. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on how, in practice, the free and informed consent to work of persons in drug rehabilitation centres is formally obtained, free from the menace of any penalty and taking into account the situation of vulnerability of such persons.

Article 2(2)(a). Compulsory military service. The Committee previously noted that article 77 of the Constitution provides for compulsory military service and participation in building a national defence among citizens’ obligations. The Government indicated that compulsory military service is purely of a military character in order to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, and that the use of labour and services exacted from persons in military duty for economic purposes for any organization or individual is strictly prohibited. However, the Committee noted that, pursuant to the Ordinance on militia and self defence forces 2004, all Vietnamese citizens were obliged to serve for five years in the militia or self-defence force, and that this service included the active implementation of socio-economic development programmes in localities.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that all citizens have the obligation to participate in the military service or the militia and self-defence forces, and participation in one service will exempt a person from the obligation to serve in the other. Between July 2010 and December 2012, the militia and self defence forces had 163,124 enlisted persons who worked 2,508,812 public working days. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that the Ordinance on militia and self-defence forces of 2004 has been replaced by the Law on militia and self-defence forces of 2009. Section 8(3) of the Law on militia and self-defence forces of 2009 states that the tasks of the militia and self-defence forces include, inter alia, protecting forests and preventing forest fires, protecting the environment and the construction and socio-economic development of localities and establishments. The Government indicates that this work includes dredging canals, building roads, supporting the economic development of households, planting trees and contributing to reducing and eliminating poverty.

In this regard, the Committee observes that these tasks do not appear to be work of a military character, and once again recalls that, under Article 2(2)(a) of the Convention, work or service exacted by virtue of compulsory military service legislation which is not of a purely military character is incompatible with the Convention. Taking note of the Government’s indication that such service is obligatory, the Committee requests the Government to take measures, in law and practice, to ensure that persons working by virtue of compulsory military conscription laws, including in the militia and self-defence forces, only engage in work of a military nature. It requests the Government to provide information on measures taken in this regard, in its next report. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide a copy of the Law on military service 1981 with its next report.

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