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

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Egypt (Ratification: 1958)

Article 1(c) of the Convention. Sanctions involving compulsory labour as a means of labour discipline. Seafarers. In its earlier comments, the Committee referred to sections 13(5) and 14 of the Maintenance of Security, Order and Discipline (Merchant Navy) Act, 1960, according to which penalties of imprisonment (involving compulsory labour) may be imposed on seafarers who together commit repeated acts of insubordination. The Committee recalled in this connection that Article 1(c) prohibits the exaction of compulsory labour as a means of labour discipline. It observed that, in order to be compatible with the Convention, punishment should be linked to acts that endanger or are likely to endanger the safety of the vessel or the life or health of persons. The Committee previously noted the Government’s indication that the above Act was being amended.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has submitted the Committee’s request to the relevant authorities for further examination, and will inform on the progress made in this regard. The Committee hopes that the necessary measures will be taken to revise the Maintenance of Security, Order and Discipline (Merchant Navy) Act, 1960, in order to bring sections 13(5) and 14 into conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to supply a copy of the amended text, as soon as it is adopted.

Article 1(d). Penal sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for participation in strikes. For many years, the Committee has been referring to sections 124, 124A and B, and 374 of the Penal Code, under which strikes by any public employee may be punished with imprisonment for up to one year (with the possibility of doubling the term of imprisonment), which may involve compulsory labour pursuant to section 20 of the Penal Code. The Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to repeal or amend the above provisions of the Penal Code.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that, section 124 provides that a penalty of detention for a period not exceeding six months or paying a fine may be imposed on any public official or employee who leaves his work or refrains from performing his duty, with the aim of impeding the process of work or disturbing its regularity. The penalty shall be doubled if leaving work or refraining from performing any of his official’s duties is liable to endanger the life, health, or safety of the population, or cause trouble or sedition among the population or damage the public interest. The Government also adds that under section 20 of the Penal Code, the judge shall pass a judgement of penal servitude whenever the penalty period sentence is for one year or more, and also in the other cases determined by the law. According to the Government, as the sanction provided for under section 124 is imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months, and penal servitude (imprisonment with hard labour) is only applied for one year or more, there is no contradiction with the Convention.

The Committee observes that, pursuant to sections 124, 124A and B, and 374 of the Penal Code, public employees who abandon their jobs or voluntarily abstain from performing any obligation in order to participate in strikes, are liable to three months to one year imprisonment, involving compulsory prison labour. It also notes that by virtue of Act No. 169 of November 1981 the penalty of hard labour (penal servitude) was abolished. However, under section 16 of the Penal Code, convicted prisoners still have to perform labour. The Committee recalls that the Convention prohibits the imposition of compulsory labour, including compulsory prison labour, on persons participating peacefully in a strike. Therefore, the Committee once again expresses the firm hope that the necessary measures will at last be taken to repeal or amend the above provisions of the Penal Code, so that no sanctions involving compulsory labour can be imposed for the mere fact of peacefully participate in strikes. Pending the adoption of such measures, the Committee requests the Government to provide copies of court decisions passed under the abovementioned sections of the Penal Code.

Communication of texts. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether Proclamation No. 14 of 19 December 1956 on the organization of preventive detention camps and the laws concerning the enforcement of arbitration sentences have been repealed, and to provide a copy of the Political Party Law (Act No. 12/2011).

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2018.]