Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Cabo Verde (Ratification: 1979)

Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Prohibited grounds of discrimination. Direct and indirect discrimination. Since 2011, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the fact that section 15(1)(a) of the Labour Code does not provide for protection against discrimination on the ground of national extraction, nor does it define and prohibit indirect discrimination in employment and occupation. It previously noted that, despite the amendment of the Labour Code in 2016 (Legislative Decree No. 1/2016), the Government did not take the opportunity to give effect to the comments previously made by the Committee on this issue. The Committee notes the Government’s repeated statement that while domestic law does not expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of national extraction, such discrimination falls within the scope of Article 24 of the Constitution which prohibits discrimination on the basis of “lineage” and “origin”. The Committee notes in this regard that in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review, the Human Rights Council also recommended that the Government ensure the protection of workers against discrimination on the grounds of national origin (A/HRC/39/5, 9 July 2018, paragraph 112). It also notes that, in its 2018 concluding observations, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) expresses concern at the lack of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation and recommended the adoption of such legislation prohibiting all forms of discrimination, including indirect discrimination (E/C.12/CPV/CO/1, 27 November 2018, paragraphs 16 and 17). The Committee again urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that workers are protected against discrimination on the ground of national extraction, as well as against indirect discrimination, in law and in practice, and to provide information on any progress made in this regard. It also asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which the grounds of “lineage” and “origin” provided for in Article 24 of the Constitution have been interpreted in practice, by providing a copy of any relevant judicial decisions issued in this regard.

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