Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Jamaica (Ratification: 1962)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Jamaica (Ratification: 2017)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It expects that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments initially made in 2016.

Repetition

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. Legislative and institutional framework. The Committee notes that the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Suppression and Punishment) Act, 2007 was amended in 2013: to include a new definition of “debt bondage”; to expand the definition of “exploitation” to include “keeping a person in debt bondage” as a form of trafficking (section 2(1)); to increase the penalties for the offence of trafficking in persons from ten years to 20 years (section 3); and to grant restitution to the victim within the same proceedings in which the person is convicted (section 6). The Committee also takes note from the website of the Ministry of Justice that the National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons (NATFATIP) which is responsible for the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) to Combat Trafficking In Persons, 2012–15 has been mandated to coordinate and implement the NAP 2015–18.

Prevention. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report as well as on the Ministry of Justice website concerning the various preventive measures undertaken by the Government through the NATFATIP. These include several awareness-raising initiatives and programmes on trafficking in persons for students, the police, judges, border security officials, customs and immigration officers and other relevant authorities. Moreover, the subcommittees under the NATFATIP participated in several local, regional and international trainings and seminars focused on sharing best practices related to investigation, prosecution, victim identification and assistance. According to the Ministry of Justice, the NATFATIP is currently commissioned to undertake a study to assess the prevalence of trafficking in Jamaica.

Protection and assistance to victims. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that in December 2012, the Government provided care and shelter along with counselling and medical assistance for a group of 21 Honduran children on board a Honduran fishing vessel. In 2013, a shelter for the care and protection of victims of trafficking was made operational to house victims of trafficking. The Committee also notes the Government’s information that the Protection Subcommittee within the NATFATIP has developed a draft Memorandum of Understanding on Data Sharing Protocols which establishes a standard protocol to govern data collection on trafficking in persons and information sharing among key stakeholders of the NATFATIP.

Prosecution. The Committee notes the information from the Ministry of Justice that from 2012–15, the NATFATIP, through the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) TIP Unit, conducted over 260 raids and interviewed more than 400 persons in relation to human trafficking. It also notes that during this period, the JCF TIP Unit launched an operation entitled Operation ID/Fix aimed at identifying the major players in the massage and sex trade. During this operation, the JCF TIP Unit conducted 31 raids from which 12 victims were identified and rescued, some of them repatriated to their homeland and some placed in the shelter. The Committee also notes that this operation led to the dismantling of two major prostitution rings in Kingston and St. James Jamaica. Moreover, the information from the Ministry of Justice website indicates that a total of 35 investigations have been initiated, five persons were arrested and charged for trafficking in persons, including a prominent Attorney-at-law and 18 others arrested and charged for offences related to trafficking in persons, such as living on the earnings of prostitution. The Committee finally notes that in March 2015, the Anti-trafficking in Persons and Intellectual Property Unit of the Counter Terrorism and Organized Crime Division conducted an operation in Trelawny which resulted in the arrest of three persons for trafficking in persons and related activities.

The Committee takes due note of the various measures taken by the Government to combat trafficking in persons and protect victims of trafficking. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures in this regard, including through the implementation of the NAP 2015–18, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved. It also requests the Government to ensure that investigations and prosecutions are carried out against persons who commit the offence of trafficking in persons. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide further information on the application of the provisions of the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Suppression and Punishment) Act, 2007, as amended, in practice, including the number of investigations, prosecutions and penalties imposed. The Committee also requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that victims of trafficking are adequately protected, assisted, and reintegrated into the society and to provide information on the number of victims of trafficking who have benefitted from such measures. The Committee finally requests the Government to provide information on the findings of the study on the prevalence of trafficking in persons in Jamaica, which is being conducted by the NATFATIP.

Article (2)(c). Work of prisoners for private companies. In its earlier comments, the Committee referred to section 155(2) of the Correctional Institution (Adult Correction Centre) Rules of 1991, under which no inmate may be employed in the service of, or for the private benefit of, any person, except with the authority of the Commissioner or in pursuance of special rules. The Committee noted that, under section 60(b) of the Corrections Act, as amended by the Corrections (Amendment) Act, 1995, the Minister may establish programmes under which persons serving a sentence in a correctional institution may be directed by the superintendent to undertake work in any company or organization approved by the Commissioner, subject to such provisions as may be prescribed relating to their employment, discipline and control, and such work may be within the centre or institution or outside its limits. The Committee also noted the information concerning the functioning of the Correctional Services Production Company (COSPROD), as well as the Government’s repeated statement that, under this programme, some inmates had been working under the conditions of a freely accepted employment relationship, with their formal consent and subject to guarantees regarding the payment of normal wages. It noted that though in practice, the work carried out by prisoners for private entities in the correctional institution appeared to be in conformity with the Convention, the conditions under which such work may be permitted, such as free, informed and formal consent and free employment relationship, do not appear to be stipulated by law. The Committee therefore requested the Government to amend the provisions of section 155(2) of the Correctional Institution (Adult Correction Centre) Rules so as to bring it into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information on this point. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any provisions, including the special rules referred to under section 155(2) of the Correctional Institution (Adult Correction Centre) Rules, or programmes referred to under section 60(b) of the Corrections Act, as amended by the Corrections (Amendment) Act, 1995, prescribe the conditions under which prisoners may be permitted to work for private entities. If so, it requests the Government to provide a copy of such rules or regulations and if not, it requests the Government to take the necessary measures to prescribe such conditions in law by amending section 155(2) of the Correctional Institution (Adult Correction Centre) Rules, in order to ensure that prisoners carrying out work for private entities do so only upon their formal, free and informed consent, without being subjected to pressure or the menace of any penalty, and that the conditions of such work approximate those of a free labour relationship. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard.