Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Peru (Ratification: 1960)

Article 1(a) and (d) of the Convention. Imposition of community service as a penalty for opposition to the established political, social or economic system, or as punishment for participating in a strike. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to the provisions of section 200(3) of the Penal Code, which provides that anyone who, through violence or threats, occupies premises, blocks thoroughfares, prevents the free movement of citizens or disrupts the normal operation of public services or work on a legally authorized worksite, with a view to obtaining from the authorities an undue benefit or economic advantage or advantage of any other nature, shall be liable to imprisonment of five to ten years. Observing that the provisions of section 200(3) were drafted in broad terms, the Committee requested information on the practical use of these provisions by the national courts in order to evaluate their scope and verify that they were not invoked to impose criminal penalties on persons who participate peacefully in activities carried out as part of a social protest movement or a strike. The Committee also asked the Government to clarify whether persons infringing these provisions could be sentenced to the alternative penalty of community service and, if so, whether their consent was required to this alternative penalty to imprisonment.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that it is finalizing the analysis of the requested data in order to forward them to the Committee. It also notes that the Autonomous Workers’ Confederation of Peru (CATP), in its observations received in September 2016, insists on the Government sending the court decisions issued on the basis of section 200(3) of the Penal Code. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide information on court decisions based on the provisions of section 200(3) of the Penal Code to enable the Committee to examine how the courts interpret these provisions. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the offences resulting in convictions issued on the basis of section 200(3) of the Penal Code. The Committee further requests the Government to indicate whether persons convicted under section 200(3) of the Penal Code may be sentenced to the alternative penalty of community service and, if so, whether this penalty may be imposed without the prior consent of the convicted person.