Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Cameroon (Ratification: 1962)

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Imposition of sentences of imprisonment involving the obligation to work as punishment for expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. In its previous comments the Committee asked the Government to ensure that certain provisions of national law (referred to below) are not used as the basis for imposing prison sentences (and hence compulsory prison labour) on persons who express certain political views or opposition to the established political, social or economic system. Since sentences of imprisonment involve the obligation to work (section 24 of the Penal Code and section 49 of Decree No. 92-052 establishing the prison system), the provisions of national law which provide for imprisonment as a punishment for activities through which persons express political views may affect the application of the Convention. The following provisions are concerned:

• -section 113 of the Penal Code, under which any person issuing or propagating false information that may be detrimental to the public authorities or national unity shall be liable to imprisonment of three months to three years;
• -section 154(2) of the Penal Code, under which any person guilty of incitement, whether in speech or in writings intended for the public, to revolt against the Government and the institutions of the Republic shall be liable to imprisonment of three months to three years;
• -section 157(1)(a) of the Penal Code, under which any person guilty of incitement to obstruct the enforcement of any law, regulation or lawfully issued order of the public authority shall be liable to imprisonment of three months to four years;
• -section 33(1) and (3) of Act No. 90-53 concerning freedom of association, under which board members or founders of an association which continues operations or which is re-established unlawfully after a judgment or decision has been issued for its dissolution, and persons who have encouraged the assembly of members of the dissolved association by allowing continued use of the association’s premises, shall be liable to imprisonment of three months to one year. Section 4 of the Act declares that associations founded in support of a cause or for a purpose contrary to the Constitution, or associations whose purpose is to undermine, inter alia, security, territorial integrity, national unity, national integration or the republican nature of the State, shall be null and void. Furthermore, section 14 provides that the dissolution of an association does not prevent any legal proceedings from being instituted against the officials of such an association.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that it respects the principle of freedom of association and expression, as evidenced by the large number of associations, newspapers and accredited media. The Government adds that it does not have any data relating to journalists who have been imprisoned for propagating false information and are subjected to compulsory labour. The Committee observes that, in the report of the Ministry of Justice on the situation of human rights in Cameroon in 2012, one section covers the prosecution of journalists. This information reveals that there are many cases before the criminal courts concerning journalists who are being prosecuted for defamation or propagation of false news. The Committee also observes that, in its concluding observations on the third periodic report of the Republic of Cameroon, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights of the African Union expressed serious concern at “the maintenance of legal provisions penalizing press offences” and recommended that the Government should “amend the provisions of the Penal Code with the aim to decriminalize press offences” (15th Extraordinary Session, March 2014).

The Committee notes this information with concern and recalls that where an individual is, in any manner whatsoever, compelled to perform prison labour as punishment for expressing certain political views or opposition to the established political, social or economic system, this falls within the scope of the Convention. The Committee therefore expresses the firm hope that the Government will review the abovementioned provisions of the Penal Code and Act No. 90-53 concerning freedom of association, taking account of the explanations provided regarding the scope of the protection afforded by the Convention, in such a way that no prison sentence, which in Cameroon entails compulsory labour, can be imposed on persons who, without using or advocating violence, express certain political views or opposition to the established political, social or economic system. In the meantime, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any court decisions issued on the basis of the abovementioned provisions of the Penal Code and of the Act concerning freedom of association.