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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Argentina (Ratification: 1950)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Argentina (Ratification: 2016)

The Committee notes the observations made on the application of the Convention by the Confederation of Workers of Argentina (CTA Workers), received on 25 August 2014, and those of the General Confederation of Labour of the Argentine Republic (CGT RA), received on 1 September 2014.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Trafficking in persons for sexual and labour exploitation. The Committee noted previously that the numerous measures taken by the Government to strengthen its legal and institutional framework to combat trafficking in persons for labour and sexual exploitation evidences its commitment in this respect. It invited the Government to pursue its efforts and to strengthen coordination between the actors involved in combating trafficking in persons to ensure a better judicial response and better protection of victims. The Committee notes that the Government provides with its report a publication issued by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights entitled “Trafficking in persons: State policies for prevention and repression”, which contains detailed information on the measures adopted by the various state authorities to strengthen and adapt their action and achieve results in terms of awareness-raising, prevention, the training of public officials, protection, inter-institutional and international cooperation and repression.

(a) Legal and institutional framework.

The Committee notes with interest that Act No. 26.842 of 26 December 2012 amended Act No. 26.364 of 29 April 2008 on the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons and assistance to victims, thereby reinforcing the legislative and institutional framework in this field. The Act simplified the definition of trafficking in persons contained in section 145bis and ter of the Penal Code by removing the reference to the means used to commit the crime and by specifying that the consent of the victim is irrelevant. Deceit, fraud, violence, threats, abuse of authority or a situation of vulnerability are now aggravating circumstances resulting in an increase in the prison sentence that may be imposed from between four and eight years to between five and ten years (the sentence may be increased up to 15 years in cases where the victim is a minor). The Act also provides for the creation of the Federal Council to Combat Trafficking and the Exploitation of Persons and to Protect and Assist Victims, which is the standing framework for institutional action and coordination, and is responsible for designing the strategy to combat trafficking and exploitation of persons, as well as an executive committee with the same title which will be responsible for implementing the national programme to combat the trafficking and exploitation of persons. The Committee encourages the Government to ensure that the objectives set out in the Act for the national programme to combat trafficking in persons and exploitation are achieved. Please provide information on this subject, and particularly on the biennial plans of action adopted by the executive committee, and on its activity reports.

Action of the General Prosecution Service. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the crucial role played by the General Prosecution Service of the Nation in repressing the trafficking in persons. It notes the establishment in April 2013 of PROTEX, the special unit on the trafficking and exploitation of persons in the General Prosecution Service, which replaces UFASE, and continues to provide assistance to the various prosecution services in the country. The PROTEX website contains a summary of court rulings, jurisprudence and legislation, with a view to facilitating evidence gathering during the prosecution of trafficking cases. The Committee notes that the Act of 2012 referred to above also provides for the establishment in the General Prosecution Service of a synchronized complaint system for crimes of trafficking and exploitation of persons. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that PROTEX is allocated the resources and has the capacities to carry out action to combat trafficking in persons throughout the national territory. Please also indicate the impact of the new legislation on the work of PROTEX and provide information on the number of investigations and prosecutions initiated in cases of trafficking and labour exploitation.

Action by the police forces and allegations of corruption. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to conduct investigations and, where appropriate, ensure that penalties are imposed in cases of corruption and the complicity of law enforcement officials in cases of trafficking in persons. In this regard, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons recommended the Government to establish a zero-tolerance policy with regard to corruption and to ensure that any state agent involved in the crime of trafficking is duly prosecuted and severely punished (A/HRC/17/35/Add.4). The Committee regrets that the Government has not provided any information on this subject. It recalls that victims of trafficking are generally in a situation of vulnerability which prevents them from asserting their rights, and that it is therefore the responsibility of the public authorities to take action for their identification, protection and recognition as victims. The Committee emphasizes that any efforts made by the Government to combat trafficking in persons may be weakened if practices of corruption and complicity are present within the public authorities. The Committee urges the Government to ensure that investigations are duly conducted in cases of corruption and complicity of law enforcement officials, and that appropriate and dissuasive penalties are imposed.

Action by the labour inspectorate. The Committee previously requested the Government to indicate the measures adopted to ensure that the labour inspectorate has sufficient human and material capacity to carry out its work effectively throughout the territory. It notes the Government’s reference to the purchase of two utility vehicles by mobile inspection teams which can carry three inspectors and are equipped with work stations and a satellite aerial. The mobile teams carry out inspections and awareness-raising activities in remote areas of the country that are difficult to access and where the State’s presence is limited or absent. All inspectors are now provided with tablets through which they can check in real time whether workers are registered with the social insurance system and cross reference these data with the tax administration. The Government adds that violations identified during inspections, which could also involve crimes of trafficking or labour exploitation, are automatically reported to the competent federal jurisdiction. It adds that inspections in the textile sector have been reinforced and that between 2010 and 2014 inspections were carried out in 3,338 workplaces where, of the 24,352 workers present, 28.7 per cent were not registered. The Committee notes the emphasis placed by the CGT RA on the structural deficit of the labour inspection system. Although the situation has improved at the national level, particularly in the agricultural sector, with the recruitment of new officials, problems persist of coordination with the provinces due to the lack of a centralized and coordinated policy. Recalling that labour inspection is an essential element in combating trafficking in persons for the exploitation of their labour, the Committee encourages the Government to continue taking measures to reinforce the capacity of the labour inspection services for action, particularly in sectors where the incidence of forced labour is well known (agriculture, textiles, domestic work and sex work) and in the corresponding geographical areas.

(b) Article 25. Application of effective penal sanctions

The Committee noted previously that it is difficult to gather the evidence to bring offenders to court, and that the total number of convictions was fairly low compared with the number of victims assisted and persons arrested. The Committee notes from the annual report of the General Prosecution Service that, since the adoption of the 2008 Act and until the end of 2013, a total of 1,172 preliminary investigations were opened, of which 60 per cent resulted in prosecutions, and that 253 cases were referred to the courts, concerning 690 persons facing charges and 1,134 victims. Over the same period, 76 court rulings on the crime of trafficking were handed down. The Committee recalls the importance of imposing terms of imprisonment that constitute an effective deterrent on persons who imposed forced labour and it hopes that the new definition of trafficking in persons will contribute to an improved judicial response to these crimes. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the number and nature of the penalties imposed.

(c) Assistance to victims

The Committee notes that the National Programme of Assistance and Support for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, which has replaced the Bureau of the same name, is made up of a multidisciplinary team which assists in identifying victims and in the provision of psychological, medical and legal assistance. In this respect, in September 2012, a protocol of action was adopted establishing the guiding principles for such protection. The Programme also manages the free national telephone helpline established in 2012. Since 2008, and up to 30 June 2014, assistance was provided to 6,992 victims (54 per cent of them are foreign, 51 per cent victims of the exploitation of their labour and 48 per cent of sexual exploitation). The Committee requests the Government to continue reinforcing the resources available to the National Programme of Assistance and Support for Victims of Trafficking in Persons so that it is in a position to provide all victims with the protection envisaged by the law and in order to enable it to establish new regional branches. Noting that the 2008 Act provides that the fines imposed and the proceeds of the assets seized, as a result of the identification of the offences incriminated by the Act, shall be allocated to victim assistance programmes, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of this provision and on the manner in which these funds are used.

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