Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Niger (Ratification: 1961)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Niger (Ratification: 2015)

Individual Case (CAS) - Discussion: 2004, Publication: 92nd ILC session (2004)

A Government representative took note of the observations made by the Committee of Experts with regard to forced labour and child labour and thanked the Committee for giving her the opportunity to address these questions the gravity of which she fully recognized. The Government representative stated that different measures had been taken in order to face up to these phenomena. With regard to forced labour, she recalled that a law (Act No. 2003-025) had been adopted in June 2003. The adoption of this law was too recent to evaluate its impact, but it demonstrated the efforts made in order to eradicate forced labour. To this were added the actions taken in the context of the combat against poverty carried out by Niger. Concerning child labour in general, and in particular the children who worked in mines, as well as child beggars, she observed that these questions intensely preoccupied her Government. In order to face up to this veritable scourge, the Government of Niger relied on the labour inspection services, the IPEC programme, as well as certain NGOs. The Government stated that it was determined to continue its action and wished to be able to count for this on the technical assistance of the ILO and, in general, on the technical and financial aid of its partners in development.

The Worker members referred to the studies carried out on the phenomenon of slavery in Niger. One of these studies, surveying 11,000 persons, in some six regions of the country, was completed in 2002 under the auspices of Anti-Slavery International, in cooperation with its local partner Timidria. It had revealed that the status of slave continued to be transmitted by birth to individuals from certain ethnic groups. These persons worked for a master without remuneration, mainly as shepherds, agricultural workers or domestic servants. Their only remuneration was food and a place to sleep. Thanks to the impact of the Anti-Slavery International/Timidria report, presented at a conference on slavery in Niamey in May 2003, the Government quickly adopted a new law on slavery, which provided not only for fines but also for prison sentences of 10 to 30 years. Previously, in 2001, following a study carried out on an ILO initiative and endorsed by the Government and the social partners, a number of initiatives were identified to strengthen legal instruments, raise awareness among the population of its rights and duties, move to more sustainable forms of development, and undertake a national survey on the forms of slavery, its victims and its perpetrators. The Worker members appreciated that the Government had not denied the existence of the phenomenon, but nevertheless regretted that it minimized it. They asked the Government to provide information on rehabilitation efforts of enfranchised persons. An ILO study had revealed the extent of child labour in small-scale mining in Niger, mainly in the informal sector. Thus, in this sector, 47.5 per cent of workers were children. They worked as from the age of eight years, often seven days a week and more than eight hours a day. They were especially exposed to the dangers inherent in their activity and the lack of schooling reduced their expectations to nothing. As adults, they would inflict the same fate on their own children, simply to ensure their subsistence. The children were often put out to work by their parents and this locked these categories into poverty. The Worker members also denounced the practice of making children beg. The Committee of Experts considered that these children, who were caught in a relationship similar to the slave-master relationship, performed work which they had not chosen of their own free will. They believed that nothing could justify this practice, which affected both the dignity of children and their psychological development. They therefore requested the Government to provide concrete information on action being taken against this phenomenon.

The Employer members noted that several requests for information had remained unanswered. Although the Government had ratified the Convention in 1961, it was surprising that the Committee of Experts issued a first observation only in 2001. This was surprising, given the gravity of the case. The first issue at stake was the continuing conditions of slavery for some ethnic groups serving as shepherds or agricultural and domestic workers, without pay. The extent of the problem was not clear and the Government should provide more concrete information. While slavery was prohibited under the national Constitution and a provision had been included in the Penal Code, it appeared that there was not an effective enforcement programme. Awareness-raising programmes were not enough and more concrete action was needed to meet the obligations under the Convention. The second problem raised by the Committee of Experts was forced labour of children in mines which was expressly prohibited under Article 21 of the Convention. An ILO Survey of 1999 showed that child labour in small-scale mining was widespread in the country with over 47 per cent of the workers being children. The percentage was 57 per cent if one considered work in quarries. This work, which was arduous and unsafe, was performed by children as young as 8 years. This was significant because the Government had also ratified Convention No. 138 in 1978 and Convention No. 182 in 2000, which provided for the age of 18 for all kinds of arduous work. In addition, it appeared that no laws were in place prohibiting child labour in mines. Finally, forced labour was a product of poverty. There was evidence that children were begging in the streets with the encouragement of spiritual leaders. Considering that these children were in a relationship resembling that of a slave to a master, the Committee of Experts requested further information on measures taken to prohibit such practices. In the Employer members' view, this practice fell clearly under the definition of forced labour set out in Article 2 of the Convention. In summary, the Employer members considered that the minimal steps taken by the Government were totally insufficient. The Government needed to pay urgent attention to eradicating forced labour in law and practice.

The Government member of Cuba was confident that the measures adopted would provide a solution to the questions raised. It was important to emphasize that the situation under discussion was a result of the exploitation suffered over centuries by victims in the Third World, preventing them from progressing at the economic and social level. She pointed out that standards had been adopted during 2003 which sanctioned slavery; in 2001 a forum had been held on forced labour with the support of the ILO to sensitize and mobilize both traditional and public authorities on the issue, and training programmes were carried out in different social areas as part of a support project for application of the ILO Declaration of 1998. Among other measures taken, a group of experts on international labour standards had been set up. The speaker underlined that the Committee of Experts had recognized the measures taken by the Government to combat forced labour. She insisted that international cooperation had to be extended to the Government. This should include ILO technical assistance to improve training and education, to create employment and to assist in the search for solutions to the problems described in the Committee of Experts' observation.

The Worker member of Senegal stated that he appreciated the work carried out by the Committee of Experts, especially the quality of the information collected which provided a clear image of the situation in Niger. He considered nevertheless that in the examination of phenomena like forced labour and child labour, one should take into account the history of the country and at the same time the situation of extreme poverty in which the country actually sank. The Government of Niger recognized the existence of forced labour and child labour and had undertaken to eradicate these phenomena. The ILO should take into consideration the efforts made in the country and respond to its request for technical assistance. The persistence of slavery practices in several regions of the country called for awareness raising and measures to end the suffering of thousands of individuals. A solution should not be sought only in law and the Government should undertake action to ensure the reinsertion of the persons who were liberated from slavery. Parallel to the road map followed by the Government, the international community should support the country in its combat against forced labour.

The Worker member of India noted that three main problems existed in Niger with regard to forced labour, namely, slavery, forced labour in mines and forced labour and begging. The persons concerned were described by the Committee of Experts as belonging to a slave caste which worked in the informal sector for a master in exchange for food and sleep. Regarding the first problem, i.e. slavery, he considered that Article 25 of the Convention had not been implemented and emphasized that exploitation should be reduced and that the Government should give all the relevant information in this respect. As to the second question, he noted that despite the vast scope for governmental action, the Government had not reported any information. Noting the seriousness and widespread nature of the problem, he urged the Government to give special and urgent attention to implementing effective means to eradicate these three practices. He also requested the ILO to take measures to safeguard the interests of the children in situations of slavery.

The Worker member of Benin stated that the phenomenon of slavery had always existed in Niger, especially because this status was being transmitted by birth in certain groups. This fact was recognized by the Government of Niger which did not stay inactive. Forced labour of children aged 8 to 18 years in mining activities was a reality which led to a deplorable and worrying social situation for the future generations and made one wonder about the concrete measures envisaged by the Government in order to put an end to it and the legal responsibility of parents. The speaker was of the view that a legal arsenal of laws, even if it existed, did not suffice on its own to solve the problems or to allow ethnic minorities to be aware of their rights as citizens, as defined in the Constitution of Niger. It was urgent that the Government take diligent and pragmatic measures to ensure the application of the provisions of Convention No. 29 in practice.

The Employer member of Niger considered that in analysing the situation in Niger one should take into account that Niger was a country of more than 1.2 million square kilometres, 70 per cent of which was occupied by a nomad population. Slavery was a widespread practice in that group and this made it difficult to take any action to eradicate forced labour. The solution should be sought in consciousness raising among the population at large on these questions. However, by reason of the extreme poverty afflicting Niger, like other sub-Saharan countries, the Government needed the support of the international community. With regard to child labour, the speaker stated that the absence of schooling was one of the causes of this phenomenon and invited Niger to adopt a law fixing the obligatory schooling age. Finally, with regard to child beggars, the speaker explained that the religious tradition always required children to beg in the framework of their spiritual education, but that since this practice had been introduced in the cities it had started to represent a problem. The solution should be looked for mainly in the set of measures aiming to fight against poverty.

The Government member of Argentina expressed his grave concern over the situation in Niger, especially regarding children. He urged the Government to take the necessary measures to comply with the terms of the Convention and asked the international community to provide assistance to end this situation which affected human dignity.

Another Government member of Niger stated that they had not wanted to repeat the information contained in the report of the Committee of Experts, which was why the intervention had appeared brief. He considered the scale of the phenomenon described in the Committee's remarks to be excessive. In the final analysis, the issue was an economic one. The development index placed Niger in the last but one position in the world and the struggle against slavery was closely linked to the fight against poverty. He was satisfied that several speakers had expressed the need for international cooperation to address the problem, not only of slavery, but of the extreme poverty which afflicted the country. The existence of the phenomenon was not an isolated case, but the Government of Niger had had the courage to recognize it and seek appropriate solutions.

The Worker members stated that neither the Koran nor the Bible accepted that children should take to begging. The Workers recognized the efforts undertaken by the Government to combat the phenomenon of slavery by modifying the Penal Code and through awareness-raising campaigns. They remained concerned by the persistence of practices of slavery and awaited effective enforcement of the relevant legal provisions. They invited the Government to recognize the phenomenon in all its scope and to supply information on programmes to rehabilitate those freed from slavery and on the number of those charged, judged and condemned. The Worker members noted their even greater concern for the situation of children forced to work in dangerous conditions and engage in street begging, and invited the Government to seek ILO technical assistance in this field.

The Employer members stated that the grave situation discussed had to be of concern to everybody. The Government should take concrete steps to address it, while assistance of the ILO and the international community was also required. Generally, there was a need for economic development policies to put the country in a position to solve the problem.

The Committee took note of the information provided in the Government representative's statement and the discussion that followed. The Committee took note of the information contained in the report of the Committee of Experts according to which the phenomenon of slavery had not been entirely eradicated. The Committee noted with interest that the Government had amended the Penal Code which now classified slavery as a criminal offence and punished the imposition of slavery on other persons with a sentence of imprisonment. The Committee regretted that the Government had not provided any information to the Committee of Experts on child labour in mines. The Committee shared the concern of the Committee of Experts, also expressed by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, as regards the vulnerability of the children who begged in the streets. The Committee took note of the information provided by the Government representative on the application of the law which had been adopted in 2003 and the importance of the inspection services. The Committee noted that the Government of Niger had expressed its willingness to continue its efforts to eradicate such situations with the technical assistance of the ILO. The Committee also took note that, in their interventions, various members of the Committee underlined their concern for the continuing existence of slavery, child labour in mines and child beggars. Taking into account the seriousness of the problems, the Committee requested the Government to give special attention to the adoption of measures destined to protect the children against the forms of forced labour represented by work in mines and begging. In this respect, the Committee reminded the Government that it could avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office and the international community.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Previous comment

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention and Article 1(1) of the Protocol. Effective measures to combat trafficking in persons. Systematic and coordinated action. With regard to the implementation of the National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons 2014–18, the Government indicates in its report that the National Agency for Action against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (ANLTP/TIM) has carried out a number of activities, with outcomes including: the adoption of regulatory texts; the implementation of prevention activities; the development of measures to identify, assist and provide care for trafficking victims; holding capacity-building workshops for the actors concerned; and strengthening national and international cooperation. The Government also indicates that the National Commission for the Coordination of Action against Trafficking in Persons (CNCLTP) has started the process for the adoption of the new National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons.

The Government also indicates that, faced with migration flows in multiple forms, it has drawn up a National Migration Policy and a corresponding Plan of Action for the 2020–35 period. The Committee notes that the expected outcomes of the National Migration Policy 2020–35, whose overall goal is to make a sustainable contribution to improving the living conditions of migrants and host communities, include action against trafficking in persons. The Committee hopes that the draft National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons will be adopted in the near future and requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of this new Plan, indicating in particular the objectives of the Plan, the measures envisaged for achieving them, and also any difficulties encountered and the steps taken to overcome them. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities carried out by the CNCLTP and the ANLTP/TIM to ensure systematic and coordinated action by the competent authorities. Lastly, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken in the context of the National Migration Policy 2020–35 to prevent trafficking in persons.

Article 2(a) and (b) of the Protocol. Prevention. Awareness-raising, education and information. The Committee notes the information on the activities for the prevention of trafficking in persons, including the organization of televised debates on forced labour, the dissemination of information online, and the organization of “awareness-raising caravans” on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. The Government explains that, in order to raise the awareness of vulnerable categories of people, the ANLTP/TIM has developed and disseminated awareness-raising visuals and brochures on trafficking in persons and the risks connected with irregular migration. The Government adds that as part of strengthening cooperation with Nigeria to combat trafficking in persons, it is planned to erect awareness-raising billboards along the borders of both countries. In this regard, the Committee notes that, according to information on the ANLTP/TIM website, the project to strengthen cooperation between Niger and Nigeria on combating human trafficking, developed in 2021, has raised awareness of trafficking in persons, migration, and the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders for some 2,000 persons, and the “awareness-raising caravans” have reached over 1,600 individuals. The Committee encourages the Government to continue to take measures to raise public awareness of trafficking in persons, and particularly to continue activities designed to inform potential national migrants and migrants in transit through Niger on the risks involved in trafficking in persons.

Article 2(d) of the Protocol. Protection of migrants during the recruitment process. The Committee previously requested the Government to indicate whether new bilateral agreements had been concluded with respect to migrant workers from Niger and whether there were national recruitment agencies which placed workers from Niger abroad. The Government indicates that six recruitment agencies from Niger had been approved for placing workers from Niger in Saudi Arabia but that the implementation of the bilateral agreement with this country has been suspended and these agencies are no longer operational. The Government indicates that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation with respect to the exchange of workers with Libya on 30 November 2021. This MoU provides, inter alia, as follows: both countries must take all necessary legal measures to prevent abuses which might be committed by the services concerned; fees related to the recruitment of workers must be covered in full by the employer in the host country; the employment contract must be drawn up in both French and Arabic according to a model approved by both countries; and the regulations on social security must be respected. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any difficulties encountered in connection with the implementation of the memorandum of understanding with Libya, including as regards any complaints relating to cases of trafficking in persons or abusive practices, and also on any other agreement concluded with countries which receive migrant workers from Niger. The Committee also refers to its 2022 comments on the application of the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181).

Article 3 of the Protocol. Identification and protection of victims. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the ANLTP/TIM has developed a national mechanism for the referral of trafficking victims. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication in its report of 30 March 2023 to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that the ANLTP/TIM regularly offers capacity-building sessions for the different actors who play a role in combating trafficking in persons, in order to strengthen the prompt identification of trafficking victims. It also indicates that the national victim referral mechanism and a map of counter-trafficking actors were developed in September 2020, and several awareness-raising sessions have already been held to increase the visibility of these documents (CEDAW/C/NER/5). The Committee further notes that a 2022 study of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the profile of trafficking victims in Niger states that 56 per cent of victims come from Nigeria and 23 per cent come from Niger. Women and girls constitute 69 per cent of trafficking victims in Niger and adults account for 62 per cent. The Committee encourages the Government to continue to take steps to make the relevant stakeholders aware of the national victim referral mechanism and requests it to send information on the manner in which this referral mechanism operates. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the number of trafficking victims who have been identified.

As regards providing care for trafficking victims, the Government indicates that the High Court of Zinder coordinates the activities of the welcome centre established in the city. The centre has pluridisciplinary professionals to receive and listen to trafficking victims and direct them towards the appropriate care mechanisms. The Government adds that the ANLTP/TIM signed a protocol of agreement with an NGO regarding the provision of mental and psychosocial care for trafficking victims, and that it established a programme for the social and occupational rehabilitation of victims. The Committee also notes that, according to the above-mentioned IOM study on the profile of trafficking victims in Niger, a total of 168 trafficking victims received assistance at the Zinder centre between January 2017 and July 2021, and another 397 trafficking victims were received at welcome centres managed by the IOM. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to ensure the welcome and protection of victims with a view to their recovery and rehabilitation, including in cooperation with civil society. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the number of victims welcomed and cared for at the Zinder centre, and also the type of protection and assistance measures from which they have benefited.

Article 4 of the Protocol. 1. Access to remedies and compensation. The Committee previously asked the Government to take the necessary steps to adopt the draft decree establishing procedures for the operation and management of the special compensation fund for trafficking victims. In this regard, the Government indicates that the ANLTP/TIM is working to secure the adoption of this decree. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report of 30 March 2023 to the United Nations CEDAW that the process of developing the draft decree could not be completed, and that the CNCLTP, the ANLTP/TIM and technical and financial partners are in talks aimed at resuming and completing the process of setting up the fund (CEDAW/C/NER/5). The Committee trusts that the special compensation fund for trafficking victims will be established in the near future to facilitate access to remedies for victims. The Committee also once again requests the Government to indicate the number of victims to whom the courts have awarded compensation, the measures taken to enforce the execution of these rulings, and the manner in which legal assistance is actually provided to victims.

2. Non-prosecution of victims. Further to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that the provisions of section 41 of the Penal Code, which provide that “there shall be no crime, offence or violation in cases where the accused […] was under constraint from force that could not be resisted”, could be used in order not to prosecute trafficking victims who were compelled to perform illicit activities, wherever the conditions regarding constraint are met. The Government adds that the detection services or the prosecutors may have the positive obligation to seek to determine whether the person suspected of an offence is a victim, where there is evidence in this regard and if the alleged offence stems from this situation. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether, in practice, section 41 of the Penal Code has already been used not to prosecute and not to punish any trafficking victims who were compelled to perform illicit activities and whether any instructions have been issued in this regard.

Article 25 of the Convention and Article 1(1) of the Protocol. Prosecution and imposition of penalties. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the ANLTP/TIM has organized a number of capacity-building activities for actors in the penal system (magistrates, police, gendarmes and guards) regarding trafficking in persons, addressing various topics relating to investigations, prosecutions and rulings in trafficking cases. The ANLTP/TIM also envisages training labour inspectors in the detection of trafficking cases, as provided for in the draft National Plan of Action against trafficking. The Committee notes that, according to the 2020 edition of the compendium of statistics of the Ministry of Justice, six new human trafficking offences were recorded by the court prosecution services in 2018–19, all of which have been prosecuted. Noting the low number of cases of trafficking in persons which have been prosecuted and the lack of information on any convictions, the Committee requests the Government to continue to develop capacity-building activities for all actors in the penal system and the labour inspectorate, so that they are fully able to identify cases of trafficking in persons and prosecute the perpetrators of such acts. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions initiated and convictions handed down pursuant to the provisions of Ordinance No. 2010-86 of 16 December 2010 against trafficking in persons.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Indirect compulsion to work in the event of vagrancy. For many years the Committee has been asking the Government to bring the provisions of sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code, which penalize vagrancy, into conformity with the Convention, so that persons considered to be vagrants who do not disrupt public order are not liable to penalties. Under these provisions, vagrants, who are defined as persons with no fixed abode or means of subsistence and who habitually have no trade or occupation, are liable to imprisonment of three to six months. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Justice has undertaken a reform of the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure and that the Committee’s requests will be taken into account. The Committee hopes that the Government will bring the provisions of sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code into conformity with the Convention as part of its penal reform, so as to clearly exclude any possibility of indirect compulsion to work in cases of vagrancy.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Previous comment

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), received on 1 September 2022. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention and Article 1(1) of the Protocol. Effective measures to combat slavery and similar practices. Systematic and coordinated action. The Committee previously underlined the importance of adopting a national policy and a specific action plan to combat slavery and slavery-like practices, in view of the persistence of these practices in Niger and the complexity of their underlying causes.

The Government indicates in its report that a process is under way to incorporate the issues of forced labour, slavery and similar practices into the National Plan of Action 2022–26 of the National Commission for the Coordination of Action against Trafficking in Persons (CNCLTP). In this context, capacity-building workshops for members of the CNCLTP and of the National Agency for Action against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (ANLTP/TIM), the operational structure for the implementation of policies and strategies adopted by the CNCLTP, were organized in 2022 in the context of the ILO Bridge technical cooperation project. These workshops enabled a better understanding of the various forms of forced labour and the relevant legal texts and of the roles of stakeholders and possibilities for cooperation with a view to the coherent implementation of the National Plan of Action.

The Government also indicates that several capacity-building workshops for the most representative employers’ and workers’ organizations were held in 2020 and 2021 in the context of the Bridge project, with a view to promoting their participation in the preparation and implementation of the National Plan of Action. The Government explains that it plans to amend Decree No. 2012-082/PRN/MJ of 21 March 2012 establishing the structure, composition and functioning of the CNCLTP so that employers’ and workers’ organizations are represented in it.

The Committee notes that the ITUC emphasizes in its observations that although the Government has expressed a strong political will to tackle slavery based on descent and the discrimination associated with it, the lack of sufficient resources to implement and apply laws, policies and programmes against slavery is a major problem. The ITUC notes that the mandate of the ANLTP/TIM does not cover slavery based on descent and stresses the importance of implementing a specific national strategy and action plan to eradicate slavery and slavery-like practices.

The Committee notes that the National Human Rights Committee (CNDH), in its 2021 annual report, highlights the surviving vestiges of slavery-like practices and the socio-cultural dimension of slavery. In addition, the Committee observes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), in its concluding observations of 24 May 2023, expressed serious concern at reports of the persistence of slavery practices and of harmful practices against women, including those of slave descent, such as the slavery-like practice of wahaya, which entails the purchase of a girl, usually of slave descent, to become a “fifth wife” (CERD/C/NER/CO/2225).

In light of the information giving evidence of the persistence of slavery-like practices and practices similar to slavery in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures without delay to adopt a national policy and plan of action for the effective suppression of slavery and slavery-like practices. The Committee trusts that the competent authority which will be designated to implement this policy will have the necessary resources to perform its functions throughout the country.

Article 2 of the Protocol. Clauses (a) and (b). Prevention. Awareness-raising, education and information. As regards the current situation of slavery-like practices and awareness-raising activities undertaken, the Government refers to a number of recent studies dealing in particular with judicial prosecution for engaging in slavery and slavery-like practices. However, the Committee notes that these studies are not accessible. The Government also indicates that the National Day of mobilization against trafficking in persons has explicitly incorporated the issue of slavery since 2020. As part of the National Day, the ANLTP, with support from the Bridge project, organized a number of public conferences on slavery. Training activities for journalists were also organized in 2020 and 2021 to promote communication on forced labour and slavery. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to educate, inform and raise the awareness of the public, in particular at-risk population groups and traditional and religious chiefs, regarding the reality of slavery-like practices (for example, by reporting on the various forms of slavery and similar practices, the manifestations and consequences thereof, existing legislation, penalties incurred and the rights of victims). The Committee also requests the Government to send a copy of the most recent studies on the current situation of slavery and slavery-like practices.

Clause (f). Action to address the root causes of slavery. As regards measures to tackle the root causes of the vestiges of slavery-like practices, the Committee welcomes the implementation, in the context of the Bridge project, of a programme of support for the development of means of subsistence, which has benefited 400 women of slave descent in 22 villages in the regions of Tahoua and Agadez, with an anti-slavery association. The programme is based on a series of activities aimed at the economic reintegration of beneficiaries and making them autonomous, including through vocational training, the provision of capital for income-generating activities, training in life skills and entrepreneurship, and literacy. The Government also indicates that various measures promoting schooling for children of slave descent, including children of wahaya women, have been implemented, resulting in the establishment of 848 birth certificates for children in eight villages, the enrolment of 201 of these children in school in 2021/22, and the provision of school kits for these children. In addition, 352 adults of slave descent were issued with national identity cards and another 457 with birth certificates during sessions organized at fairs for this purpose.

However, the Committee notes that, according to the observations of the ITUC, communities with slave origins are subjected to widespread stigmatization and discrimination and that because of their marginalization and the distance of their places of residence, these communities are generally neglected by government services and poverty reduction programmes. Descendants of slaves can be given away as gifts or bequests, are denied recognition of their civil status and have no access to identity documents, and most children who are descendants of slaves have no access to education. The ITUC underlines the need to pass legislation providing total and effective protection against discrimination in all areas and containing an exhaustive list of prohibited grounds of discrimination, including on the basis of slave descent.

The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to combat stigmatization of, and discrimination against, former slaves and descendants of slaves; in this regard, it also refers to its comments on the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111).The Committee also requests the Government to continue its efforts to tackle the root causes of the vestiges of slavery-like practices, including to ensure effective access to services dealing with the registration of births, education and employment; in this regard, the Committee also refers to its comments on the application of the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122).

Article 3 of the Protocol. Identification and protection of victims. The Committee notes the absence of information on the identification, release and protection of victims of slavery. It notes that, according to the 2020 edition of the compendium of statistics of the Ministry of Justice, attached to the Government’s report, no victims of slavery or similar practices were recorded in 2018, and two victims were recorded in 2017. The Committee notes that the ITUC in its observations highlights the fact that victims of slavery have no access to adequate rehabilitation measures, and that there is no procedure for identifying and supporting victims and survivors of slavery. The ITUC underlines the need to devise a plan for the identification and release of victims and survivors of slavery-like practices, and to develop a comprehensive rehabilitation programme, including prompt access to a safe place of refuge, to medical and psychological care and to legal and social services. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary proactive measures to identify, release and protect the victims of slavery-like practices, including by putting in place and publicizing a procedure for the identification of victims and by establishing a care structure for the psychological, economic and social rehabilitation of victims. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the number of victims of slavery-like practices who have been identified and on the number of victims who have been the recipients of assistance and protection measures.

Article 4 of the Protocol. Access to justice and compensation. The Committee previously asked the Government to indicate how the legal assistance mechanism operated by the National Agency for Legal and Judicial Assistance functioned and how the various actors cooperated to ensure that victims can assert their rights in practice. The Government indicates that the anti-slavery association Timidria, with ILO assistance, recruited 17 paralegals who are deployed in areas where slavery is prevalent, whose role includes informing victims of their rights and of procedures for access to justice as well as helping them to compile a dossier with a view to recourse to the competent judicial or administrative authorities or to obtain documents showing civil status or identity, and, if necessary, to direct them to the competent services. The Government explains that the local legal and judicial assistance offices, representing the National Agency for Legal and Judicial Assistance, have a presence in the ten high courts.

The Committee also notes that the ITUC underlines the need to establish a specific compensation fund for the victims of slavery. The Committee observes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern at the difficulties encountered by victims of slavery practices in accessing the services of the National Agency for Legal and Judicial Assistance, owing to the inadequacy of its means and resources (CERD/C/NER/CO/22-25).

The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that the victims of slavery-like practices know and can assert their rights, including by continuing to facilitate their access to justice and ensuring that legal assistance and compensation are actually granted to them. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the number of victims who have obtained legal assistance and compensation.

Article 25 of the Convention and Article 1(1) of the Protocol. Suppression and imposition of effective penalties. The Committee previously noted the lack of information on the application in practice of sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code relating to slavery, and urged the Government to strengthen the capacities of the law enforcement bodies. The Committee duly notes the training activities carried out for the judicial authorities and law enforcement agencies in the context of the Bridge project, aimed in particular at achieving a better understanding of slavery and practices similar to slavery, perfecting procedures for the identification of cases of slavery and strengthening the role of each of the actors concerned in the penal system. The Government also indicates that two capacity-building workshops for labour inspectors on combating forced labour were held in 2021 and 2022. It explains that the inspectors will participate actively in the implementation of the CNCLTP National Plan of Action.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2020 edition of the compendium of statistics of the Ministry of Justice, attached to the Government’s report, one new case of slavery was recorded in the high and lower courts in 2018–19, and this case was prosecuted. The Committee also notes that, according to the 2022 edition of the compendium of statistics, no new cases of slavery were recorded in the high and lower courts in 2019–20, and five were recorded in 2020–21, including three which were prosecuted. As at 31 December 2020, seven persons had been convicted for acts of slavery, and five as at 31 December 2021.

The Committee notes that the ITUC emphasizes in its observations that the number of prosecutions is low and that only a few dozen slavery cases have been brought before the national courts. The ITUC also indicates that because of the distinction made between the “crime” of slavery, for which the penalty is 10 to 30 years’ imprisonment, and the “offence” of slavery, for which the penalty is 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment, the sentences handed down to do not reflect the seriousness of the violations. The ITUC insists on the need for judicial officials and the other actors concerned to receive training with respect to the provisions of the Penal Code concerning slavery.

The Committee urges the Government to continue taking steps to boost training activities for bodies responsible for applying the law (labour inspectorate, law enforcement agencies, prosecution authorities and judicial authorities) in order to enable these authorities to identify cases of slavery, conduct investigations and initiate judicial proceedings against the perpetrators of such practices. The Committee also requests the Government to ensure that the perpetrators of violations involving slavery are subjected to sufficiently dissuasive penalties, and to continue providing information on any cases of slavery identified, complaints filed and judicial proceedings initiated, and also on the number of convictions handed down and the penalties imposed under sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code.

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

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention, and Article 1(1) of the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. Effective measures to combat trafficking in persons. 1. Systematic and coordinated action. The Committee previously noted that the framework to combat trafficking in persons, established by Ordinance No. 2010-086 of 16 December 2010 respecting action to combat trafficking in persons (hereinafter the Trafficking Ordinance), is implemented through the National Coordinating Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons (CNCLTP) and the National Agency for Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (ANLTP/TIM). The Agency is responsible for the implementation of the National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons for the period 2014-2019, which covers six strategic areas. The Government indicates in its report that a new plan of action to combat trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants, covering the period 2020-2024, is currently being approved. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in the context of the implementation of the various parts of the National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons for the period 2014-2019, the evaluation reports and activities undertaken in this respect by the CNCLTP and the ANLTP/TIM. It requests the Government indicate the objectives set out in the Plan of Action, the measures envisaged for their achievement and the manner in which the CNCLTP and the ANLTP/TIM ensure that systematic action is taken by the competent authorities. Lastly, it requested the Government to indicate the manner in which employers’ and workers’ organizations are consulted.

2. Article 2 of the Protocol. Prevention. Awareness-raising, education and information (clauses (a) and (b)). The Committee observes that the National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons includes a section on prevention. In this respect, it notes the information provided by the Government on the activities organized by the ANLTP/TIM with a view to the provision of information and awareness-raising on the issue of trafficking in persons, and particularly the public conferences and debates, televised debates and the activities undertaken within the framework of the commemoration of the National Day of Mobilization against Trafficking in Persons in Niger, which was held for the fifth time on 28 September 2019. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the activities undertaken throughout the national territory to educate and inform the population on the issue of trafficking in persons. It also requests the Government to indicate the measures adopted to target vulnerable persons who could become victims of trafficking, such as migrants in transit through Niger who wish to reach North Africa and Europe.

Furthermore, noting that section 6 of the Trafficking Ordinance provides for the regular collection and publication of statistics on trafficking in persons, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure the collection of such data and, where possible, to provide a copy.

Strengthening of inspection services (clause (c )). The Committee takes due note of the Government’s indication that the ANLTP/TIM is planning to strengthen the capacities of labour inspectors with a view to improving the detection of cases of trafficking and labour exploitation. The Committee requests the Government to describe the measures adopted for this purpose.

Protection of migrants during the recruitment process (clause (d )). The Government indicates that a bilateral agreement has been concluded between Niger and Saudi Arabia under the terms of which Saudi Arabian recruitment agencies have to offer a model contract to migrant workers from Niger and establish training centres to familiarize them with national migration procedures, customs and language. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether agreements of this type have been negotiated and signed with other countries. It also requests it to indicate whether there are recruitment agencies on the national territory which place workers from Niger abroad, the manner in which they are regulated and, where appropriate, the manner in which they raise the awareness of prospective migrants concerning the risks related to migration.

3. Article 3 of the Protocol. Identification and protection of victims. The Committee notes that the ANLTP/TIM can receive information from individuals and associations concerning cases of trafficking. It analyses the information and, where necessary, draws up a report setting out the evidence which it submits to the Public Prosecutor of the Republic (section 12 of Decree No. 2012-083 of 2012 determining the organization, composition and operating procedures of the ANLTP/TIM). The Government adds that the ANLTP/TIM is engaged in drawing up the standard operating procedures for the identification, registration, assistance and support for victims of trafficking, including forced labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of potential cases of trafficking brought to the attention of the ANLTP/TIM and the number of those cases referred to the Public Prosecutor of the Republic. It also requests the Government indicate the manner in which the ANLTP/TIM collaborates with civil society organizations that are active in this field. Lastly, noting that the standard operational procedures for the identification, registration, assistance and provision of support for victims are an important tool for strengthening the capacity of the competent authorities to identify victims of trafficking and provide them with adequate protection, the Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure that these procedures are adopted and disseminated broadly to these authorities.

The Committee notes that the Trafficking Ordinance includes a series of provisions setting out protection measures for victims, including accommodation, legal, medical and psychological assistance, repatriation, financial support and access to employment (Chapter VI). These measures are ordered by the prosecutor following the opening of the judicial investigation. Section 59 of the Ordinance envisages the provision of assistance to victims abroad who are nationals of Niger. The Government adds that a reception centre for victims of trafficking has been established in Zinder (July 2019) and that two others are planned in Niamey and Agadez. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the operation of the reception centre in Zinder and on the number of persons who have been received there; and to indicate whether it has been possible to establish other reception centres. The Committee also requests the Government to describe the protection measures provided to victims of trafficking with a view to their recovery and rehabilitation.

4. Article 4 of the Protocol. Access to remedies and compensation. The Committee notes that the Trafficking Ordinance provides for the possibility for associations to represent victims in court and a certain number of rights and guarantees for victims during judicial procedures, including the right to be informed, to an interpreter, the protection of their privacy, and confidentiality (sections 39 to 45). The Ordinance also provides that the courts shall award compensation to victims in recognition of the prejudice suffered, which shall be paid within a reasonable period. They can order the allocation of confiscated property or its value for the compensation and protection of victims. Moreover, the return of victims to their country of origin does not prejudice their right to compensation (section 36). The Government indicates that the draft decree establishing the operating procedures and management of the special compensation fund for victims of trafficking is in the process of adoption.

The Committee notes all of the provisions intended to facilitate the access of victims of trafficking to remedies and compensation. The Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures for the establishment of the special compensation fund for victims of trafficking. It requests the Government to indicate the number of victims to whom the courts have awarded compensation and specify the measures taken to enforce the execution of these rulings. In more general terms, the Committee requests the Government to specify the manner in which legal assistance is provided to victims, including those who have left the national territory, and describe the action taken in this respect by the National Legal Assistance Agency and by civil society associations. It also requests the Government to describe the manner in which these institutions cooperate with the judicial system to guarantee victims access to effective remedies and compensation.

Non-prosecution of victims. The Government indicates that, among the reasons for not being held liable, section 41 of the Penal Code provides that “there shall be no crime, offence or violation in cases where the accused was in a state of insanity at the time of the act or where that person was under constraint from force that could not be resisted.” The Government also refers to section 32 of the Trafficking Ordinance, under the terms of which victims of trafficking shall not be prosecuted or convicted for the offences covered by the Ordinance, including unlawful entry or residence in Niger. The Committee notes these provisions and observes that the Trafficking Ordinance authorizes the authorities not to prosecute victims solely for violations related to their entry or residence on the national territory. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the provisions of section 41 of the Penal Code could be used to decide not to prosecute victims of trafficking who have been forced to engage in other types of unlawful activities (prostitution, drug trafficking, begging). If so, please indicate whether instructions have been issued in this respect to the forces of order and the prosecution services.

5. Article 25 of the Convention and Article 1(1) of the Protocol. Imposition of penalties. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the judicial procedures initiated under the provisions of the Trafficking Ordinance and on the problems identified by the law enforcement authorities, as they had referred to obstacles and inconsistencies in the application of the Ordinance. The Government refers to several training and capacity-building activities for the forces of order and actors in the criminal justice system. It provides statistics on the number of persons prosecuted and convicted for this crime in 2015 and 2016. The Committee observes in this respect that, according to the information contained in the document entitled “Collection of administrative data on trafficking in persons and similar offences in Niger, 2015”, that certain officials responsible for police commissariats experienced difficulties in making a distinction between trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants.

Observing that Niger has been confronted with a situation of widespread migration for a number of years, the Committee encourages the Government to continue developing training and capacity-building activities for all the actors involved in the process of the identification, prosecution and repression of the crime of trafficking in persons. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on the prosecutions initiated in cases of trafficking and on the penalties imposed. Moreover, noting that, in accordance with the Trafficking Ordinance, the assets and all the property of an association can be seized, confiscated and allocated to the public treasury or the special compensation fund for victims of trafficking, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the courts have made use of this possibility.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Indirect compulsion to work in the event of vagrancy. For many years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code, which penalize vagrancy by defining it too broadly, thereby potentially becoming a means of indirect compulsion to work. In accordance with these provisions, vagrants, who are defined as persons with no fixed abode or means of subsistence and who habitually have no trade or occupation, are liable to a sentence of imprisonment of from three to six months. Noting the indication by the Government that sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code have fallen into abeyance and will be repealed on the occasion of a forthcoming modification of the Penal Code, the Committee hopes that they will be repealed in the very near future so as to ensure that persons considered to be vagrants who do not disrupt public order are not liable to penalties.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

The Committee welcomes the ratification by Niger of the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, which bears witness to the Government’s commitment to prevent and eliminate all forms of forced labour.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention, and Article 1(1) of the Protocol. Effective measures to combat slavery and similar practices. 1. Systematic and coordinated action. The Committee has been examining the issue of the persistence of slavery-like practices in Niger for many years. The Committee has welcomed the Government’s commitment to combating these practices, including with the technical assistance of the Office provided within the framework of the support project to combat forced labour and discrimination (the PACTRAD project). Nevertheless, although noting the existence of a legislative framework that criminalizes slavery, the Committee observed that the institution initially established to coordinate action to combat slavery-like practices, the National Commission to Combat the Vestiges of Forced Labour and Discrimination, lacked the resources to discharge its functions. The Committee considered that the Government should intensify its efforts to bring an end to slavery-like practices and take the necessary measures for the adoption of a national strategy to combat slavery.

In its report, the Government indicates that it has opted for an overall plan to combat trafficking in persons and forced labour by reinforcing the presence of the Ministry of Labour within the National Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons (CNLTP) and through the closer involvement of the social partners. It also refers to the activities carried out within the framework of the PACTRAD II project, the general objective of which is to contribute to a significant reduction in the number of victims of forced labour, with the immediate objective of the progressive elimination of the vestiges of slavery. In this context, technical meetings for the exchange of information have been organized so that the various actors have a better knowledge of the priorities and means of intervention used by each of them.

The Committee notes this information. While noting the Government’s indication that it has adopted an overall approach to combating trafficking in persons and forced labour within the framework of the National Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons, the Committee recalls that the issues of trafficking in persons and the vestiges of slavery have their own characteristics and require different specific action. Action to combat trafficking in persons was defined and provided with a framework by Ordinance No. 2010-86 of 16 December 2010 on action to combat trafficking in persons and is covered by a national plan of action implemented by the National Agency for action to combat trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants (ANLTP/TIM) (see, in this respect, the Committee’s comments in its direct request). The crimes and offences of slavery were introduced into the Penal Code in 2003, without an overall strategy being established to combat these practice. The Committee has previously emphasized the complexity of the factors underlying the persistence of slavery-like practices and the need for a specific response. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures for the adoption of a national policy and plan of action to combat slavery and slavery like practices with a view to ensuring the adoption of systematic and coordinated action by the competent authorities and the determination of the objectives to be achieved and the measures to be taken. Please indicate in this regard the manner in which employers’ and workers’ organizations are consulted. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the authority that will be competent for the implementation of this policy and to specify the measures taken to ensure that it has the resources to discharge its functions throughout the national territory.

2. Article 2 of the Protocol. Prevention. Awareness-raising, education and information (clauses (a) and (b)). The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the training and awareness-raising activities organized within the framework of the PACTRAD II project for traditional chiefs, journalists in the public and private press, universities and the National School of Administration, with a view to promoting a change of mentality and behaviour. It notes that, following the theoretical and practical training provided to the Association of Traditional Chiefs of Niger (ACTN), the Association adopted a plan of action to combat forced labour and similar practices. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that, in the context of the Bridge technical cooperation project, it is planned that the ANLTP/TIM will undertake studies on the situation of slavery in locations where vestiges of slavery still persist with a view to the adoption of a strategy to combat slavery.

The Committee recalls that the availability of reliable data on the nature and incidence of slavery-like practices in Niger is an essential prerequisite. It strongly encourages the Government to take the necessary measures to undertake, with the assistance of the Office, a study on the situation with regard to slavery and slavery practices to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of such practices, and particularly the multidimensional nature of the relationship that exists between victims and their masters. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the awareness-raising activities carried out for the various competent authorities and actors concerned, as well as the population. Please indicate the manner in which these activities target zones and populations that are at risk.

Action to address the root causes of slavery (clause (f )). The Committee welcomes the various types of action undertaken within the framework of the PACTRAD II project to address the root causes of slavery. It notes in particular the measures taken which led to the creation of community schools (MODECOM) in areas in which communities with slave origins are established, with a view to promoting their emancipation; the organization of a campaign in fairs to draw up birth certificates and identity documents to combat the marginalization of these populations by enabling them to have access to their rights (the right to vote, education and other services); and support services for the independence of households of slave origins in the commune of Tajaé.

The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures to address the root causes of the vestiges of slavery-like practices, with an indication of the framework within which the activities are carried out and the manner in which they are coordinated. It requests it to specify whether programmes are specifically targeted at former slaves or the descendants of slaves with a view to ensuring they have sufficient means of subsistence so that they do not fall back into a situation of dependence in which they are vulnerable to the exploitation of their labour. In this regard, the Committee also refers to its comments under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), in which it emphasized the importance of combating the discrimination and stigmatization of which former slaves and the descendants of slaves are victims, including in relation to access to productive resources, such as land, so as to enable them to have a job or engage freely in their activities.

3. (Article 3 of the Protocol). Identification and protection of victims. With regard to the identification and protection of victims, the Committee notes that the information provided by the Government mainly concerns the measures adopted or envisaged for the victims of trafficking in persons. It emphasizes in this regard that the victims of slavery are in a situation of economic and psychological dependence which requires specific action by a series of actors in society to detect cases of slavery and help victims to leave their situation of dependence. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the victims of slavery are identified and released and that they benefit from protection that is adapted to their situation so that they can rebuild their lives outside the slave-master relationship. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the situations that are denounced, the number of potential victims identified, those who have benefited from protection, the nature of such protection and the institutions that have provided such assistance.

4. (Article 4 of the Protocol). Access to justice and compensation. The Committee previously noted that the Penal Code empowers any association that has the objective of combating slavery and similar practices to bring civil action for compensation for the damages caused by offences related to slavery (section 270-5). It also noted that vulnerable people who do not have the necessary income can benefit from legal and judicial assistance administered by the National Agency for Legal and Judicial Assistance. The Government indicated that this assistance constitutes significant progress in allowing victims to re-establish their rights. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the manner in which in practice legal assistance is provided to persons identified as potential victims of slavery. It requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the various actors (civil society associations, the forces of order and the National Agency for Legal and Judicial Assistance) cooperate to ensure that victims are in practice able to assert their rights and have access to justice. The Committee also requests the Government to ensure that victims have easy access to appropriate compensation mechanisms for all the damages that they have suffered.

5. (Article 25 of the Convention and Article 1(1) of the Protocol). Imposition of effective penal sanctions. The Committee notes that, since the adoption of the provisions criminalizing slavery in 2003 (Act No. 2003-025 of 13 June 2003, which introduced sections 270-1 to 270-5 on slavery into the Penal Code), very little information has been provided on the prosecutions brought and the sentences handed down against those engaging in slavery. The Government refers to several training activities undertaken between 2013 and 2017 in the defence and security forces within the framework of training modules on human rights, and to awareness-raising activities on trafficking in persons for actors in the criminal justice system. The Committee notes this information and once again emphasizes the need to carry out more targeted activities on the subject of slavery and the related legislative provisions. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to strengthen the capacities of the forces of order, the prosecution services and the judicial authorities to ensure that cases of slavery are identified, evidence collected and prosecutions initiated so that those responsible for such practices are punished under the terms of sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on this subject in its next report.

The Committee notes that a new ILO technical cooperation project (the BRIDGE project) has been implemented since the beginning of 2020 and that its objectives include support for the preparation of a national plan to combat slavery and similar practices, and the reinforcement of a coordination mechanism. The plan also includes activities intended to raise awareness of this issue and the inclusion of victims of slavery in projects to facilitate their independence and social integration. The Committee hopes that the assistance of the Office will support the Government in the implementation of the recommendations set out above.

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

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. 1. Trafficking in persons. The Committee previously noted the strengthening of the legislative and institutional framework to combat trafficking in persons through the adoption of Ordinance No. 2010-086 of 16 December 2010 related to combat trafficking in persons. It encouraged the Government to take measures to ensure that the National Coordinating Committee for Action against Trafficking in Persons (CNCLTP) and the National Agency for Action against Trafficking in Persons (ANLTP) can fulfil their respective mandates.

The Government indicates in its report that a national action plan to combat trafficking in persons was adopted in July 2014 comprising six strategic components: enhancing the institutional framework; reinforcing prevention; providing assistance to victims; stepping up repression; reinforcing cooperation; and conducting evaluations. The ANLTP is responsible for implementing the plan for 2014–19. The Government describes a number of awareness-raising activities for civil society and for religious leaders and the competent authorities which were carried out by the ANLTP in 2013 and 2014 in various places in the country and also refers to those planned under the ANLTP annual programme for 2015. Training activities for magistrates, law enforcement officials and the prosecution authorities have also been organized. The Government explains that in the context of these activities the law enforcement authorities have reported inconsistencies and obstacles encountered in the application of the Ordinance of 2010 referred to above. In order to remedy these deficiencies, revision of the Ordinance is under way. The Committee duly notes this information and encourages the Government to continue implementing the six components of the national action plan to combat trafficking in persons. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing detailed information on the measures taken in this context and on any evaluation made by the competent authorities (especially through the CNCLTP annual reports and ANLTP annual work programmes). The Committee also requests the Government to describe the capacity-building measures adopted to enable the competent authorities to identify victims of trafficking and provide them with appropriate protection. Lastly, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the obstacles identified by the law enforcement authorities in the application of Ordinance No. 2010-86 of 16 December 2010 concerning action to combat trafficking in persons, on the progress made on its revision, as well as on the judicial proceedings initiated in trafficking cases and the penalties imposed.

2. Freedom of career members of the armed forces and public servants to leave the service. The Committee notes the information sent by the Government in reply to its previous comments regarding the application of the provisions governing the resignation of public servants and career members of the armed forces, which are laid down in Act No. 2007-26 of 23 July 2007 issuing the General Public Service Regulations and its implementing Decree (Decree No. 2008-244/PRN/MFP/T of 31 July 2008) and in Ordinance No. 2010-75 of 9 December 2010 establishing the regulations for military personnel in the armed forces.

3. Indirect compulsion to work in the event of vagrancy. For many years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code, which penalize vagrancy by defining it too broadly, thereby potentially becoming a means of indirect compulsion to work. According to these provisions, vagrants, who are defined as persons with no fixed abode or means of subsistence and usually have no trade or occupation, are liable to imprisonment penalties of three to six months. The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary measures as soon as possible to bring sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code into line with the Convention, ensuring that only persons who disrupt public order may incur the penalties for the offence of vagrancy established by sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Slavery and similar practices. For many years, the Committee has been examining the question of the persistence of slavery-like practices in Niger and drawing the Government’s attention to the need to combine legislation criminalizing slavery with a comprehensive strategy for combating slavery that includes measures to raise awareness in society and among the competent authorities, as well as measures to reduce poverty and to assist and rehabilitate victims.

Institutional framework and strategy for combating slavery. The Committee previously considered that the setting up in 2006 of the National Committee for Combating the Vestiges of Forced Labour and Discrimination constituted an important measure. However, it expressed concern at the fact that this Committee lacked the resources to hold meetings and that it had been impossible to implement the national action plan for combating the vestiges of forced labour and discrimination. The Government indicates in its report that the necessary steps are being taken to relaunch the abovementioned Committee. It points out that the National Coordinating Committee for Action against Trafficking in Persons (CNCLTP) and the National Agency for Action against Trafficking in Persons (ANLTP) are carrying out a significant number of activities to raise awareness and provide information on trafficking in persons which also focus on slavery-like practices. The aim of these activities has also been to publicize the legislative instruments for combating trafficking in persons including slavery vis-à-vis the law enforcement authorities.

The Committee notes this information. It welcomes the fact that the activities performed by the bodies responsible for combating trafficking in persons have also resulted in a better understanding of slavery and in increased awareness in society and among the competent authorities. However, the Committee emphasizes that action against slavery-like practices calls for specific measures which are different from those required for combating trafficking in persons since the two practices have their own particular features and constitute different offences. Moreover, in view of the complex factors that cause the persistence of slavery-like practices, the Committee once again expresses the firm hope that the Government will take all the necessary steps to adopt a specific strategy to combat slavery which, on the basis of a prior evaluation of the situation, will determine the action to be taken and the precise objectives to be achieved and will be allocated sufficient resources for its implementation. The Committee trusts that, further to the measures taken by the Government, the National Committee for Combating the Vestiges of Forced Labour and Discrimination will be in a position to discharge its duties and coordinate measures to combat slavery. Lastly, recalling that awareness-raising among the population as a whole, including the religious authorities, is a vital component of this policy, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities carried out in this sphere. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the programmes specifically aimed at providing former slaves or descendants of slaves with adequate means of subsistence so as to prevent them from returning to a situation of dependence where they run the risk of labour exploitation.

Legislative framework and application of effective criminal penalties. The Committee previously referred to Act No. 2003-025 of 13 June 2003 incorporating into the Penal Code sections 270-1 to 270-5, which define the elements constituting the crime of slavery and slavery-related offences and lay down the applicable penalties. It emphasized that it was essential that victims of slavery should have access, in practice, to the police and judicial authorities in order to assert their rights and that perpetrators of the crime of slavery or slavery-related offences should be brought to justice.

The Government indicates that the Act of 2003 is applied with full force when recourse is had to the authorities. It adds that, in 2011, a law was adopted establishing the rules applicable to legal and judicial assistance and establishing the National Agency for Legal and Judicial Assistance. The components of this legal assistance include public awareness-raising with regard to rights and justice, promoting access to the bodies responsible for the implementation of these rights, assistance with the drafting of legal documents and taking steps to assert the rights concerned. The Government indicates that this assistance constitutes significant progress in ensuring the restoration of victims’ rights. It also refers to an order issued in May 2014 by the Birni Konni Criminal Court sentencing a man to four years’ imprisonment for the crime of slavery, plus a fine and the payment of damages and interest to the complainant NGO.

The Committee notes all the above information. However, it observes that since the adoption of provisions criminalizing slavery in 2003, very little information has been sent on prosecutions and penalties relating to the perpetrators of slavery. It hopes that the measures adopted to provide victims with legal assistance will enable the latter to assert their rights more effectively and without fear of reprisals. The Committee emphasizes that victims of slavery are in a highly vulnerable economic and psychological situation which calls for targeted action by the State. The Committee therefore firmly hopes that awareness-raising and publicity campaigns relating specifically to the legal provisions criminalizing slavery will be conducted in areas where slavery-like practices have been detected, and that such campaigns will target both the public and the authorities concerned. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the capacity-building measures taken in relation to law enforcement bodies and the prosecution and judicial authorities with the aim of better understanding, identification and suppression of slavery-like practices. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide information in its next report on the complaints filed, judicial proceedings initiated and court decisions handed down on the basis of sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code.

Lastly, the Committee notes the report published in July 2015 by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, further to her mission to Niger (A/HRC/30/35/Add.1). The Committee notes the Special Rapporteur’s observation that the Government is committed to eradicating slavery and similar practices but is facing a number of challenges “to address effectively the root causes of slavery, including poverty, inequality and customary norms that cause widespread discrimination against former slaves and their descendants and undermine efforts to create alternative livelihoods”. The Special Rapporteur underlines the need to improve the coordination and streamlining of anti-slavery efforts, ensure effective law enforcement, increase access to justice and enhance victim protection and empowerment. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to intensify its efforts to put an end to all slavery-like practices that deprive individuals of their free will and the freedom to choose their work. The Committee hopes that, to this end, the Government will continue to avail itself of technical assistance from the Office.

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

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Trafficking in persons. The Committee previously noted that the Government had strengthened its legislative and institutional framework to combat trafficking in persons by adopting Ordinance No. 2010-086 of 16 December 2010 concerning measures to combat trafficking in persons in Niger and Decrees Nos 2012-082/PRN/MJ and 2012 083/PRN/MJ of 21 March 2012, which set up the National Committee to Coordinate Action against Trafficking in Persons (CNCLTP) and the National Agency to Combat Trafficking in Persons (ANLTP), respectively.

The Government has provided a copy of these texts in its latest report. The Committee notes that the Ordinance of 2010 defines the components of the offence of trafficking in persons, as well as related offences and the applicable penalties. It also establishes the framework of a comprehensive policy to combat trafficking in persons based on a number of core elements that include prevention, repression, measures of protection, aid and assistance to victims, as well as international cooperation. The Committee notes that the CNCLTP is responsible for promoting, designing and drawing up policies and programmes related to preventing and combating trafficking in persons. For its part, the ANLTP is the operational structure for delivering and implementing the policies adopted. The operating costs of these bodies are covered by the state budget. Finally, it is planned to set up a special compensation fund for the victims.

The Committee takes due note of the legislative and institutional framework to combat trafficking in persons. It notes the Government’s indication that the CNCLTP has adopted its rules of procedure and that the National Action Plan to combat trafficking in persons is being drafted. The Government also refers to activities to combat trafficking in children (young persons’ brigades within the national police force and training and awareness-raising seminars organized for the police force and magistrates). The Committee strongly encourages the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that both the CNCLTP and the ANLTP have the necessary resources to carry out their tasks and duties. It hopes that, in its next report, the Government will not only be able to state that the National Action Plan to combat trafficking in persons has been adopted but that it will also provide information on the awareness-raising and training activities that have been carried out, as well as on the manner in which the authorities ensure that the victims enjoy the protection provided for in law. The Government is also requested to provide copies of the activity reports that the CNCLTP should produce every year, as well as the ANLTP’s annual work programmes.

2. Freedom of career members of the armed forces and public servants to leave the service. In its previous comments, the Committee recalled that public servants, including voluntary career personnel of the armed forces, must be free to leave the service within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with prior notice. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government on the length of the contracts of employment of officers and non commissioned officers in the armed forces and of members of the national gendarmerie. The Committee also notes that the statutory regulations applied to both public servants and military staff have been amended. The Committee therefore requests the Government to send a copy of Ordinance No. 2010-75 of 9 December 2010 concerning the status of the military staff of the armed forces of Niger and the national gendarmerie, as well as of Act No. 2007-26 of 23 July 2007 issuing the general regulations of the public service and its implementing Decree (Decree No. 2008-244/PRN of 31 July 2008). The Committee also asks the Government to provide, in its next reports, information on the number of requests to resign made by public servants and the career staff of the armed forces that have been refused, and the grounds for these refusals, which will enable the Committee to ensure that these public servants are free to leave the service within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with prior notice.

3. Indirect compulsion to work in the event of vagrancy. The Committee recalls that, according to sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code, vagrants, who are defined as persons with no fixed abode or means of subsistence and who normally do not have a trade or occupation, are liable to a prison term of between three to six months. It considered that these legal provisions punishing vagrancy defined it too broadly, so that it might become a means of indirect compulsion to work. The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary steps to bring sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code in line with the Convention at the earliest date, ensuring that only persons who disrupt public order by unlawful acts may be liable to the penalties for the offence of vagrancy set out in sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Slavery and slave-like practices. The Committee recalls that the issue of slavery in Niger, which exists in a number of communities where the status of slaves continues to be transmitted by birth to persons from certain ethnic groups, has been the subject of its comments for many years. The Committee previously noted the adoption of significant measures such as Act No. 2003-025 of 13 June 2003 incorporating into the Penal Code sections 270-1 to 270-5, which define the elements constituting the crime of slavery and slavery offences and lay down the applicable penalties, as well as the establishment in August 2006 of the National Committee to combat the vestiges of forced labour and discrimination. The Committee was obliged subsequently to express concern at the lack of information from the Government on the adoption of measures specifically targeting slavery and its vestiges, while, at the same time, there were consistent reports of the persistence of slave-like practices: the 2008 ruling by the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against Niger in a case of slavery; the survey produced in 2011 by the National Statistics Office and the International Labour Office on the forms of forced labour in Niger involving adults and children, which found that more than 59,000 adults were victims of forced labour, that is 1.1 per cent of the total adult population – for the most part, these victims performed domestic work (48.2 per cent) or worked in agriculture or stock breeding (23.6 per cent); and the 2011 recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding measures to be taken to combat slavery (A/HRC/17/15).

The Committee deplores that, according to the information contained in the Government’s latest report, the National Committee to combat the vestiges of forced labour and discrimination no longer meets due to a lack of resources, and that it has been impossible to implement the action plan adopted by that Committee in 2007. Although the Government does not provide any further information on the issue of slavery, the Committee found, on the website of the Ministry of Justice, that a workshop was held in January 2013 to launch an “awareness-raising campaign on the texts and Conventions to combat slavery in Niger”, which was attended by the Minister of Justice. On this occasion, the Minister stated that the campaign against slavery was one of the authorities’ major challenges, as the practice of slavery was one of the worst forms of denial of human dignity. Reference was also made to the National Committee to combat trafficking in persons as a tool to combat slavery.

The Committee recalls that it has drawn the Government’s attention to the need of combining legislation criminalizing slavery with a comprehensive strategy to combat slavery that includes measures to raise awareness in society and among competent authorities, as well as measures to combat poverty and measures to assist and reintegrate the victims. In this respect, the Committee stresses that attempts to combat slavery and its vestiges call for specific measures that are different from those required to combat trafficking in persons. Consequently, the Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will take all the necessary measures to adopt a policy or specific strategy to combat slavery, which will define clear objectives and be allocated with sufficient resources for its implementation. Recalling that raising awareness among the population as a whole and training law enforcement and prosecutorial and judicial authorities are a vital component of this policy, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on activities undertaken in this respect, as well as on programmes specifically geared to providing former slaves or descendants of slaves with adequate means of subsistence to prevent them from returning to a situation of vulnerability in which they would once again be exploited for their labour.

Article 25. Application of effective penal sanctions. The Committee underlines that it is essential that victims of slavery should have access, in practice, to the police and judicial authorities in order to assert their rights and that the perpetrators of the crime or offence of slavery should be brought to justice. It recalls in this respect that according to Article 25 of the Convention, the Government must ensure that the penalties prescribed in the Penal Code are really adequate and strictly enforced. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the awareness-raising campaign on the legal texts to combat slavery. The Government is also asked to indicate the measures taken to ensure that this campaign targets areas in which slave-like practices have been noted, as well as the authorities responsible for enforcing the law. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide, in its next report, information on the complaints lodged, the legal proceedings initiated and the judicial decisions handed down under sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code.

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

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Trafficking in persons. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to provide detailed information on the nature of trafficking in persons in Niger, as well as the measures taken to combat this phenomenon through the adoption of legislative provisions criminalizing and penalizing trafficking in persons specifically, and through measures to raise public awareness and protect the victims.

The Committee notes that, in its latest report, the Government states that the national action plan has still not been adopted but that measures have been taken, with assistance from non-governmental organizations, to raise public awareness, through the media in particular. These efforts have raised the awareness of parents, marabouts and the public at large to the dangers of trafficking. The Government also refers to vigilance committees, which are joint brigades operating at borders that are responsible for reporting any suspicious behaviour indicative of human trafficking.

The Committee notes from the Ministry of Justice’s website that Ordinance No. 2010-086 concerning the fight against trafficking in persons in Niger was adopted on 16 December 2010. It also notes that the National Committee to coordinate the fight against trafficking in persons and the National Agency to combat trafficking in persons have been established (Decrees Nos 2012-082/PRN/MJ and 2012/PRN/MJ, 21 March 2012). The abovementioned National Committee is responsible for devising programmes, plans and national strategies to combat the trafficking of persons and the Agency is responsible for the operations involved. The National Committee also has responsibility for coordinating all state and non-state actions to combat trafficking.

The Committee takes due note of the measures taken by the Government to reinforce the legal and institutional framework for combating trafficking in persons. It requests the Government to provide in its next report copies of the Ordinance of 2010 respecting the fight against trafficking in persons and its implementing texts. Please also provide information on the activities to coordinate the fight against trafficking in persons to combat trafficking in persons developed by the National Coordinating Committee and the national agency. The Committee hopes that the necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the National Committee has access to the necessary resources to adopt a national action plan to combat trafficking in persons that will provide for activities to raise awareness about the phenomenon of trafficking and to train relevant stakeholders, capacity building for the law enforcement authorities and measures to protect victims and enable them to assert their rights.

2. Freedom of career members of the armed forces and public servants to leave the service. The Committee reminds the Government that public servants, including voluntary career personnel of the armed forces, must be free to leave the service within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with prior notice. In the absence of any information on these matters in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide the information requested below on the practical application of the provisions of national legislation governing the right of certain categories of public servants to resign.

Career members of the armed forces. According to the provisions of Title VI (service relations) of Ordinance No. 99-62 of 20 December 1999 issuing the conditions of service of military personnel in the armed forces of Niger and of the national gendarmerie, non-commissioned officers, members of the gendarmerie and rank and file members of the armed forces are covered by renewable fixed-term contracts (or commissions). Officers remain in active service up to the age limit pertaining to their grade. According to section 21 of the Ordinance, the resignation of career members of the armed forces is subject to the approval of the appointing authority (as was already the case under Decree No. 079-23/PCMS/MDN of 1 March 1979). The authority can therefore refuse resignation, thereby forcing the member to continue in service. In these circumstances, the Committee once again requests the Government to specify the length of the contracts of non-commissioned officers, members of the gendarmerie and rank and file members of the armed forces, indicating the manner in which these contracts are renewed and whether the persons concerned may resign before the expiry of the contracts. It also requests the Government to provide information on the procedure to be followed by officers wishing to resign and the principles applied by the competent authority in ruling on applications to resign, as well as the grounds on which the authority may refuse a resignation.

Public servants. According to section 52 of Ordinance No. 89-18 of 8 December 1989 issuing the general regulations of the public service, and section 153 of its implementing decree (Decree No. 91-110/PRN/MFP/T of 26 June 1991), the appointing authority must decide within four months whether to accept or reject a public servant’s application to resign. The Government indicated previously that acceptance of the resignation of public servants and members of the armed forces and the gendarmerie, while still subject to a time limit, depends on the post in question and its technical or strategic importance for the public administration or the army. The Committee recalled that public servants or members of the armed forces may be required to remain in their jobs only in the event of an emergency within the meaning of Article 2(2)(d) of the Convention. In order to verify that these public servants may leave their service within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with prior notice, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide further information on the application in practice of the abovementioned provisions of the conditions of service of the military personnel of the armed forces of Niger and the national gendarmerie, and the general regulations of the public service, indicating the grounds on which the appointing authority may refuse a resignation, and to include any relevant statistics available.

3. Indirect compulsion to work in the event of vagrancy. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to amend sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code so as to ensure that only persons who disrupt public order by unlawful acts may be liable to the penalties for the offence of vagrancy set in these provisions. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it will take account of this recommendation and will indicate in its next report the measures taken to implement it. The Committee recalls that according to the abovementioned provisions of the Penal Code, vagrants, who are defined as persons with no fixed abode or means of subsistence who ordinarily carry on no trade or occupation, are liable to a prison term of from three to six months. In so far as the legal provisions punishing vagrancy and defining it too broadly may become a means of indirect compulsion to work, the Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary steps to bring sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code into conformity with the Convention at the earliest date.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Slavery and slave-like practices. For several years, the Committee has examined the matter of slavery in Niger which exists in a number of communities where the status of slave continues to be transmitted by birth to persons from certain ethnic groups. The relations between master and slave are based on direct exploitation: slaves are obliged to work for their masters without remuneration, largely as shepherds, agricultural workers or domestic employees. The Committee noted previously a number of legislative and institutional measures taken by the Government, including the adoption of Act No. 2003-025 of 13 June 2003 incorporating into the Penal Code sections 270-1 to 270-5, which define the elements constituting the crime of slavery and slavery offences and lay down the applicable penalties, and the establishment in August 2006 of the National Committee to combat the vestiges of forced labour and discrimination, which has responsibility for devising a national action plan to combat the vestiges of forced labour and discrimination. The Committee nonetheless expressed concern at the lack of information on the adoption of new measures specifically targeting slavery and its vestiges, particularly as in October 2008 the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) found that Niger had failed to afford sufficient protection to the rights of a young girl who was a victim of slavery, and as the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations, expressed deep concern that Niger had not provided information in its report on caste-based slavery practices while such practices existed throughout the country (CRC/C/NER/CO/2, 18 June 2009).

The Committee notes that, in its report received in September 2011, the Government states only that the national action plan to combat all forms of forced labour, and slavery in particular, has not yet been adopted.

The Committee notes that the survey produced by the National Statistics Institute and the International Labour Office on the forms of forced labour found in Niger and involving adults and children was validated in September 2011. According to the survey, more than 59,000 adults are victims of forced labour, that is 1.1 per cent of the total adult population. For the most part, these victims perform domestic work (48.2 per cent) or work in agriculture or stock breeding (23.6 per cent). The survey sets three criteria for defining forced labour: non voluntary recruitment (the adult works under traditional hiring practices for a private individual, an enterprise or a landowner); a situation of dependency (the adult works in exchange for food or accommodation, is paid in kind or not at all, or pays his wage back to a landowner and is unable to enjoy the fruits of his labour); and deprivation of freedom (the adult is prevented from changing jobs either by the employer or because of the social set up). Thus, an adult is deemed to be subjected to forced labour where his recruitment is not voluntary, or where he is deprived of freedom and when, in addition, he or his household are in a situation of dependency.

Lastly, the Committee notes that in the Universal Periodic Review of Niger undertaken by the Humans Rights Council in March 2011, the Government agreed to all the recommendations regarding measures to be taken to combat slavery and ensure that the perpetrators of such practices are effectively prosecuted and the victims protected and compensated (see particularly recommendations 76.37 to 76.46 in document A/HRC/17/15).

In light of the above, the Committee once again notes with regret the absence of any information from the Government in its reports on measures taken to combat slavery. The Committee expresses the firm hope that in its next report the Government will be in a position to indicate the measures taken to secure the adoption of a national plan of action to combat all forms of forced labour, particularly slavery. It draws the Government’s attention to the importance of a comprehensive strategy to combat slavery that includes measures to raise awareness in society and among competent authorities, measures to combat poverty and also accompanying measures to reintegrate the victims so as to prevent them from returning to a situation of vulnerability in which they would once again be exploited for their labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken by the National Committee to fight the vestiges of forced labour and discrimination and on the means it may draw on to perform its duties.

Article 25. Application of effective penal sanctions. The Committee recalls that according to Article 25 of the Convention, the Government must ensure that the penalties established in law are really effective and strictly enforced. The Committee notes that, in its report, the Government states that no judicial decisions have been taken under sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code which make slavery a criminal offence. The Committee underlines that it is essential that victims should have access in practice to the police and judicial authorities in order to assert their rights so that the perpetrators of the crime of slavery or of slavery offences, as prescribed in the Penal Code, are brought to justice, and where appropriate, convicted. The Committee accordingly hopes that the national action plan will provide for measures to ensure that the provisions of the Penal Code criminalize slavery are publicized, as well as measures to raise awareness among those stakeholders participating in the fight against slavery, including local authorities, criminal investigation officers and judges, as well as associations able to file civil suits in slavery cases. It requests the Government to provide information in its next report on judicial decisions handed down under sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code and to provide copies thereof.

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

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Freedom of career members of the armed forces and public servants to leave the service. Recalling that public servants, including voluntary career personnel of the armed forces, cannot be deprived of the freedom to leave the service within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with previous notice, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide further information on the following points.

Career members of the armed forces. According to the provisions of Title VI (Service relations) of Ordinance No. 99-62 of 20 December 1999 issuing the conditions of service of military personnel in the armed forces of Niger and of the national gendarmerie, non-commissioned officers, members of the gendarmerie and rank and file members of the armed forces are covered by renewable fixed-term contracts (or commissions). Officers remain in active service up to the age limit for their grade. According to section 21 of the Ordinance, the resignation of career members of the armed forces is subject to the approval of the appointing authority (as was the case under Decree No. 079‑23/PCMS/MDN of 1 March 1979). The authority could therefore refuse the resignation of a member of the armed forces, thereby compelling him to continue in service. In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to specify the duration of the contracts of non-commissioned officers, members of the gendarmerie and rank and file members of the armed forces, and to indicate the manner in which these contracts are renewed, stating whether these persons may resign before the expiry of the contracts. It also requests the Government to provide information on the procedure to be followed by officers wishing to resign, and on the principles applied by the competent authority in ruling on applications to resign.

Public servants. According to section 52 of Ordinance No. 89-18 of 8 December 1989 issuing the general regulations of the public service, and section 153 of its implementing decree (Decree No. 91-110/PRN/MFP/T of 26 June 1991), the appointing authority must decide within four months whether to accept or reject a public servant’s application to resign. The Government previously indicated in this regard that the acceptance of the resignation of public servants and members of the armed forces and the gendarmerie, while still subject to a time limit, depends on the post in question and its technical or strategic importance for the public administration or the army. The Committee recalls that public servants or members of the armed forces can be required to remain in their jobs only in the event of an emergency within the meaning of Article 2(2)(d) of the Convention. In these circumstances, and so that it can be assured that these public servants may leave their service within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with previous notice, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide further information on the application in practice of the abovementioned provisions of the conditions of service of the military personnel of the armed forces of Niger and the national gendarmerie, and the general regulations of the public service, indicating the grounds on which the appointing authority may refuse a resignation.

Indirect compulsion to work in the event of vagrancy. According to sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code, vagrants, which are defined as persons of unknown abode or means of subsistence, who as a rule exercise no trade or occupation, shall be punished by a sentence of imprisonment of three to six months. The Committee stressed that legal provisions that punish vagrancy and define it too broadly are liable to become a means of direct or indirect compulsion to work and therefore requested the Government to amend sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code to ensure that only persons who disrupt public order by unlawful acts may be liable to penalties. Noting that the Government has provided no information on this matter in its report, the Committee hopes that it will take the necessary steps to bring the provisions of sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code into conformity with the Convention as soon as possible.

Trafficking in persons. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to indicate whether it had taken or was envisaging measures to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking of persons for the purposes of sexual exploitation and exploitation of their labour, and whether the public authorities were meeting any difficulties in this regard. It noted from the report submitted by the Government to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women that an inter-ministerial committee had been set up in February 2006 to draft a national plan to combat trafficking in women and children. In its concluding observations on the report, the abovementioned committee expresses concern about occurrences of trafficking in the guise of marriage, trade in women commoners and the practice of slavery, and about the lack of information concerning the extent of trafficking of women and girls (see documents CEDAW/C/NER/CO/2 and CEDAW/C/NER/Q/2/Add.1). In the absence of information from the Government on this matter, the Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide detailed information on the nature of such trafficking and the measures taken or envisaged to combat it, including the adoption of specific legislative provisions criminalizing and sanctioning trafficking in persons, and measures to raise public awareness and protect the victims.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Slavery and slave-like practices. In its previous comments, the Committee examined the matter of slavery in Niger which exists within certain communities where the status of slave continues to be transmitted by birth to persons from certain ethnic groups. The relations between master and slave are based on direct exploitation: slaves are obliged to work for their masters without remuneration, largely as shepherds, agricultural workers or domestic employees. The Committee noted that the Government did not deny that slavery still existed in certain areas of its territory but indicated that it had taken measures to combat these practices. Among the measures taken by the Government, the Committee noted:

–           The adoption of Act No. 2003-025 of 13 June 2003 which amended the Penal Code by introducing sections 270-1 to 270-5. These provisions define slavery, describe the elements that constitute the crime of slavery and the various slavery offences, and lay down the penalties applicable. They also authorize associations established for the purpose of combating slavery or similar practices to sue for damages.

–           The issue of circulars requesting the Minister of the Interior to meet with administrative heads, and religious and traditional chiefs to draw their attention to the pressing need to comply with the law and to put an end to all forms of slave-like practices.

–           The establishment in August 2006 of the National Committee to Combat Forced Labour and Discrimination to prepare a national action plan in this field on the basis of an in-depth diagnostic study. The plan was finalized in October 2007 and is due to be submitted to the Government for adoption.

The Committee notes with regret that, in its latest report received in December 2009, the Government provides no information on the measures taken to combat slavery and its vestiges, the adoption of the national action plan or the status of the study on the vestiges of forced labour. The Government only states that “the only action brought before the courts involved investigations carried out by the families of future spouses before their engagement or the refusal of a master to allow his servant to marry”. All these cases were considered to be defamation. Furthermore, the Government indicates that the difficulties in implementing sections 270-1 to 270‑5 of the Penal Code arise from the fact that “so-called slaves or descendants of slaves make no complaints about their situation or fate. On the contrary, they are pleased that the so-called master or nobleman provides them with all the care and security that they need in return for services rendered”.

The Committee expresses deep concern at the lack of concrete information provided by the Government. It notes that during the period covered by the report, it became aware of the publication, in July 2008, of a study carried out by the National Committee on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (CNDHLF) on the issue of forced labour, child labour and all other forms of slave-like practices. According to this study, “slavery as defined by the international instruments does not exist in Niger but the survival of certain degrading cultural practices means that some individuals do not manage to express themselves fully”. Furthermore, the study concludes that it appears that forced labour as defined by Convention No. 29 does not exist across the entire national territory and that information and communication meetings are necessary to ensure understanding of the definition, characteristics and texts which punish forced labour.

The Committee notes, however, that on 27 October 2008, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) recognized, in a case concerning the sale by a tribal leader of a young girl of 12 years of age to be a domestic worker and concubine (the “wahiya” practice or fifth spouse) that this young girl “has been a victim of slavery and that the Republic of Niger is responsible as a result of the failure of its administrative and judicial authorities to take action against that practice”. The Court found that the Republic of Niger had not sufficiently protected the rights of the claimant against the practice of slavery and ordered the payment of a fixed allowance to the victim. The Committee also notes that, in its concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) expressed deep concern that Niger had not provided information in its report on caste-based slavery practices while those practices exist throughout the country and that the perpetrators of these practices are not prosecuted or punished. The CRC expressed particular concern at the absence of services to free children and adult victims of traditional slavery practices and at the little efforts to educate the public about harmful slavery practices in general (CRC/C/NER/CO/2 of 18 June 2009).

Finally, the Committee notes the agreement between the National Statistics Institute and the International Labour Office, with the collaboration of the National Committee to Combat Forced Labour and Discrimination, on the preparation of a study which gives an account of the forms of forced labour found in Niger and provides estimated statistics at the national level. The results of this study should be validated by the end of 2010.

Taking into account the above information, the Committee hopes that, in its next report, the Government will be in a position to report on the measures taken towards the adoption of a national action plan on combating all forms of forced labour, in particular slavery. The Committee hopes that the national action plan will provide for measures to publicize the provisions of the Penal Code criminalizing slavery, as well as measures to raise the awareness of the population and of the key actors involved in combating slavery, particularly religious and traditional chiefs, police officers and magistrates. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the action taken by the National Committee to Combat Forced Labour and Discrimination. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the conclusions of the statistical survey carried out by the National Statistics Institute and the Office, including the follow-up decisions taken.

Finally, the Committee recalls that, in accordance with Article 25 of the Convention, the Government shall ensure that the penalties imposed by law are really adequate and are strictly enforced. It stresses that it is essential that the victims are actually in a position to go to the police and judicial authorities to assert their rights so that the perpetrators of slavery offences or the crime of slavery, as provided for in the Penal Code, are prosecuted and, when appropriate, sentenced. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether there have been any court decisions based on sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code and, if so, to provide a copy of them.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Freedom of career members of the armed forces and public servants to leave the service. In its previous comments, the Committee pointed out that public servants, including voluntary career personnel of the armed forces cannot be deprived of the freedom to leave the service within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with previous notice, and that any provisions of the legislation which in practice required workers to stay on in their jobs are contrary to the Convention. It asked the Government to provide additional information on the following points.

Career members of the armed forces. According to the provisions of Title VI (Service relations) of Ordinance No. 99–62 of 20 December 1999 issuing the conditions of service of military personnel in the armed forces of Niger and of the national gendarmerie, non-commissioned officers, members of the gendarmerie and rank and file members of the armed forces are covered by renewable fixed‑term contracts (or commissions). Officers remain in active service up to the age limit for their grade. According to section 21 of the Ordinance, the resignation of career members of the armed forces is still subject to the approval of the appointing authority (as was the case under Decree No. 079-23/PCMS/MDN of 1 March 1979). The authority could thus refuse the resignation of a member of the armed forces, thereby compelling him to continue in service. The Committee requested the Government to specify the duration of the contracts of non-commissioned officers, members of the gendarmerie and rank and file members of the armed forces, and the manner in which these contracts are renewed, and to state whether these persons may resign before the expiry of the contracts. It also asked the Government to send information on the procedure to be followed by officers wishing to resign, and on the principles applied by the competent authority in ruling on applications to resign.

Public servants. According to section 52 of Ordinance No. 89-18 of 8 December 1989 issuing the general regulations of the public service, and section 153 of its implementing decree (Decree No. 91-110/PRN/MFP/T of 26 June 1991), the appointing authority must decide within four months whether to accept or reject a public servant’s application to resign. The Committee requested the Government to indicate the grounds on which the appointing authority may refuse such an application, and to provide any relevant texts on this matter (regulations, circulars, etc.).

In its report for 2005, the Government merely states that acceptance of the resignation of public servants and members of the armed forces and the gendarmerie, while still subject to a time limit, depends on the post in question and its technical or strategic importance for the public administration or the army. The Committee takes note of this information and reminds the Government that public servants or members of the armed forces can be required to remain in their jobs only in the event of an emergency within the meaning of Article 2(2)(d) of the Convention. In these circumstances, and so that it can be assured that these public servants may leave their service within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with previous notice, the Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the application in practice of the abovementioned provisions of the conditions of service of the military personnel of the armed forces of Niger and the national gendarmerie, and the general regulations of the public service, replying specifically to the questions the Committee put in its previous direct request, which are repeated above.

Indirect compulsion to work in the event of vagrancy. The Committee noted previously that according to sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code, vagrants, defined as persons of no known abode or means of subsistence, who as a rule exercise no trade or occupation, shall be punished by a sentence of imprisonment of from three to six months. Pointing out that provisions that punish vagrancy and define it too broadly are liable to become a means of direct or indirect compulsion to work, the Committee requested the Government to amend articles 177 and 178 of the Penal Code to ensure that penalties are limited to persons disrupting the public order by unlawful acts. Noting that the Government has provided no information on this matter in its report, the Committee hopes that it will take the necessary steps to bring the provisions of sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code into line with the Convention as soon as possible.

Trafficking in persons. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to state whether it had taken or was envisaging measures to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking of persons for the purposes of sexual exploitation and exploitation of their labour, and whether the public authorities were meeting any difficulties in this respect. The Committee notes that the Government has provided no information on this point. It notes from the report submitted by the Government to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, that an inter-ministerial committee was set up in February 2006 to be responsible for drafting a national plan to combat trafficking in women and children. In its concluding observations on the report, the abovementioned committee expresses concern about occurrences of trafficking in the guise of marriage, trade in women commoners and the practice of slavery, and about the lack of information regarding the extent of trafficking in women and girls (documents CEDAW/C/NER/CO/2 and CEDAW/C/NER/Q/2/Add.1). The Committee trusts that in its next report the Government will provide detailed information on the nature of such trafficking and the measures taken to combat it including the adoption of legislative provisions to criminalize and penalize the perpetrators of human trafficking specifically, and measures to raise public awareness and to protect the victims.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Slavery and slave-like practices. The persistence of slavery in Niger was one of the matters examined by the Committee in its previous observation and by the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2004 (92nd Session). In its previous comments, the Committee referred to observations from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) – now the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) – and to the study carried out in 2001 under the auspices of the ILO on the identification of obstacles to the implementation of fundamental principles and rights at work and proposed solutions in Niger, validated by the Government and the social partners. The Committee observed that in Niger, there was an archaic form of slavery found in nomadic communities and that slave status was still transmitted by birth to persons from certain ethnic groups. The slave is placed at the disposal of the master without charge or in exchange for payment. The relations between master and slave are based on direct exploitation. Slaves work for their masters without remuneration, largely as shepherds, agricultural workers or domestic employees. The Committee noted that the Government acknowledged that slavery had not been totally eradicated and that numerous actions had been undertaken to combat the forced labour of persons reduced to slavery. In terms of legislation, Act No. 2003-025 of 13 June 2003 amended the Penal Code by introducing a section on slavery. A prison term of ten to 30 years and a fine are imposed for reducing someone to slavery or for incitement to relinquish one’s liberty or dignity or that of a dependent person in order to become a slave. Slavery offences are likewise defined and punished. Furthermore, associations established for the purpose of combating slavery or similar practices may sue for damages in the civil courts in redress for breaches of the Criminal Slavery Act (section 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code). As to awareness raising, campaigns have been carried out, targeting traditional chiefs in particular. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken to assess the extent of slavery in Niger, the programmes or measures implemented specifically for former slaves or descendants of slaves, and the number of persons prosecuted, sentenced and punished for exacting forced labour from persons reduced to slavery.

The Committee notes that in its report for 2005, the Government states that there have been no convictions by the courts as there were no complaints filed by victims. In a later communication, and in response to the ICFTU’s observations, the Government again stated that it did not deny that slave-like practices still existed in certain parts of the country and that, on the contrary, it had always treated this as a matter of concern and taken appropriate initiatives. The Government referred in particular to circulars from the Prime Minister addressed in 2004 and 2005 to the Minister of the Interior following the adoption of the 2003 Act criminalizing slavery and asking him to meet with administrative heads, and religious and traditional chiefs to draw their attention to the pressing need to comply with the law and put an end to all forms of slave-like practices. The Government stated that in the context of cooperation with the Office, a project was to be launched to prevent the persistence of forced labour and similar practices, in the course of which a study might be conducted with a view to gaining more knowledge about the nature and extent of the phenomenon and identifying target groups, and a national action plan against forced labour might be set up.

The Committee notes with interest that since then, a National Committee to Combat Forced Labour and Discrimination was established (Order No. 0933/MFP/T of 4 August 2006) and officially set up in November 2006. Its terms of reference include preventing the persistence of forced labour and combating discrimination through measures to reduce poverty in target areas; preparing a national action plan in this field on the basis of an in-depth diagnostic study; ensuring monitoring of the national action plan. The Committee notes that the abovementioned committee has already met several times and has support from the Office through the Special Action Programme to combat forced labour (SAP‑FL) and in particular the support project for combating forced labour and discrimination in Niger (PACTRAD), which have been associated with the above committee’s meetings. At its meeting of October 2007, the said committee finalized a plan against the persistence of forced labour and discrimination which is to be submitted to the Government for adoption. The Committee also notes that at the request of the National Committee, the Office is lending its support for a statistical study on child labour and the consequences of slavery, which will be conducted by the National Statistics Institute.

The Committee takes note of all this information. It hopes that the Government will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that the National Action Plan is adopted promptly and that the study on the persistence of forced labour is conducted at the earliest possible date. In the Committee’s view, it is essential that the Government should have access to reliable quantitative and qualitative data on the various forms of slavery and their consequences, so as to target both the measures to be taken and the beneficiary groups. It hopes that the national action plan will provide for measures to publicize the Act of 2003 incorporating into the Penal Code (sections 270-1 to 270-5) the provisions criminalizing slavery, and for measures to raise the awareness of the population and those involved in combating slavery, particularly religious and traditional chiefs, criminal police officers and magistrates. It would also be appropriate for the action plan to include activities or programmes specifically aimed at former slaves or descendants of slaves to ensure that they have sufficient means of subsistence not to fall back into a situation of dependency and hence exposure to exploitation of their labour.

Lastly, the Committee points out that under Article 25 of the Convention, the Government must ensure that the penal sanctions imposed by law are really adequate and strictly enforced. It asks the Government to indicate whether there have been any court decisions based on sections 270-1 to 270-5 of the Penal Code and, if so, to provide a copy of them. The Committee stresses that it is essential that the perpetrators of slavery offences be prosecuted and, if appropriate, sentenced. It hopes that the Government will take all measures available to it for this purpose and will ensure that the victims are effectively in a position to go to the police and judicial authorities to assert their rights.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

1. Freedom of career members of the armed forces to leave the service. The Committee notes that, in accordance with Title VI (service relations) of Ordinance No. 99-62 of 20 December 1999 issuing the conditions of service of military personnel in the armed forces of Niger and of the national gendarmerie, non-commissioned officers, members of the gendarmerie and rank-and-file members of the armed forces are covered by renewable fixed-term contracts (or commissions). Officers remain in active service up to the age limit for their grade. The Committee previously noted that, under the terms of section 21 of this Ordinance, the resignation of career members of the armed forces is still subject to the approval of the authority exercising the power of nomination (as was the case under Decree No. 079-23/PCMS/MDN of 1 March 1979). The above authority could therefore refuse the resignation of a member of the armed forces, thereby compelling him to continue in service. The Committee recalls that, while compulsory military service is excluded from the scope of application of the Convention, career members of the armed forces, who have joined the forces voluntarily, cannot be deprived of the freedom to leave the service within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with previous notice. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on: the duration of the contracts of non-commissioned officers, members of the gendarmerie and rank-and-file members of the armed forces; the manner in which these contracts are renewed; and the possibilities available to such persons to resign before the expiry of such contracts. Please also provide information on the conditions under which officers may resign and, where appropriate, the principles applied by the competent authority when deciding upon resignation applications.

2. Freedom of public servants to leave the service. The Committee notes that conditions of employment of public servants are governed by Ordinance No. 89-18 of 8 December 1989, issuing the general conditions of service for the public service and its implementing Decree No. 91-110/PRN/MFP/T of 26 June 1991. Under the terms of section 52 of this Ordinance and section 153 of the Decree, the appointing authority must decide within four months whether it accepts or refuses an application to resign by a public servant. In the event of refusal, the public servant is required to continue working. The Committee recalls in this respect that laws allowing workers to be retained in their employment are contrary to the Convention, except where required in cases of emergency within the meaning of Article 2, paragraph 2(d)¸ of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the grounds which may be invoked by the appointing authority to refuse resignation. Please provide any relevant text in this respect (internal rules, circulars, etc.).

3. Forced labour in the event of vagrancy. The Committee noted previously that, under the terms of sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code (Act No. 61-27), vagrants, defined as persons of no known abode or means of subsistence who as a rule exercise no trade or occupation, shall be punished by a sentence of imprisonment of from three to six months. The Committee noted in its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour (paragraphs 45-48) that provisions on vagrancy and similar offences that are defined in an unduly extensive manner are liable to become a means of direct or indirect compulsion to work. Such provisions should be so amended as to confine penalties to persons disrupting the public order by unlawful acts. The Committee hopes that the Government will take all the necessary measures to amend sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code to ensure compliance with the Convention on this point.

4. Noting that the Government has not provided any information in reply to the Committee’s general observation of 2000, the Committee requests the Government to refer to the above observation and to provide information on the measures adopted to prevent, suppress and punish the trafficking of persons for the purposes of exploitation and on the difficulties encountered by the public authorities in this respect.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

1. The Committee notes the comments on the application of the Convention provided by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) on 20 August 2003 and forwarded to the Government on 26 September 2003. According to these comments, prepared by the ICFTU in collaboration with Anti-Slavery International, conditions of slavery continue to be transmitted by birth to individuals from certain ethnic groups. They are compelled to work for their master without receiving a wage, principally as shepherds, agricultural workers or domestic workers. The trade union bases its comments on a study carried out by the national association Timidria in 2002 and 2003 in six regions of Niger, covering 11,001 persons identified by the association as originating from a "slave caste". These persons generally worked directly for their master in exchange for food and a place to sleep. Certain of the persons questioned indicated that they worked for others and gave the money that they earned to their master. With reference to the definition of slavery set forth in the Slavery Convention of 1926, the great majority of the 11,001 persons questioned are in practice slaves in so far as they identify a person as being their master and the latter makes them work without paying them.

In its reply, the Government recognizes that, although the phenomenon of slavery has not been totally eradicated, its extent as indicated by the ICFTU is fairly exaggerated. It indicates that its attention has been drawn to situations of the persistence of slave-like practices in several areas of the country and that a number of measures have been taken with a view to resolving the situation. At the legal level, in accordance with article 12 of the Constitution, no one shall be subject to slavery. Furthermore, Act No. 2003-025 of 13 June 2003 amended the Penal Code by adding a section on slavery. With regard to the action taken with a view to the effective eradication of slavery and slave-like practices, the Government indicates that a forum on forced labour was held in Niamey in November 2001 with the support of the International Labour Office. The objective of this forum was to raise the awareness of traditional chiefs about this problem and to mobilize them, and these highly respected traditional authorities committed themselves to combating the phenomenon alongside the public authorities. In addition, with the assistance of the project to support the implementation of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (PAMODEC), training and awareness-raising activities have been undertaken for several social categories. The Government indicates in this respect that a network of experts on international labour standards has been established to intensify information and awareness-raising activities on fundamental principles and rights at work.

The Committee notes all of this information. It notes that the Government has taken many measures to combat the forced labour of persons reduced to slavery. It notes with particular interest that, following the adoption of Act No. 2003-025 of 13 June 2003, the Penal Code now classifies slavery as a criminal offence and punishes the imposition of slavery on other persons with a sentence of imprisonment of between ten and 30 years and a fine. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of these new provisions in practice and particularly on the number of persons who have been charged, found guilty and punished for having exacted forced labour from persons reduced to slavery. It recalls in this respect that, in accordance with Article 25 of the Convention, the Government is under the obligation to ensure that the penalties imposed by law are really adequate and are strictly enforced.

In addition, the Committee notes the study conducted in August 2001 under the auspices of the ILO on the identification of obstacles to the implementation of fundamental principles and rights at work and proposed solutions in Niger. According to this study, there exists in Niger an archaic form of slavery which is found in nomadic communities. The slave is placed at the disposal of the master without charge or in exchange for payment. The relations between master and slave are based on direct exploitation. The Committee notes that this study was discussed and was adopted and validated by the Government and the social partners. On that occasion, a number of proposals for action to combat forced labour exacted in the context of slave-like practices were made, such as:

-  the re-enforcement of the legal measures available;

-  the organization of information, awareness-raising and education activities for the population on its rights and duties;

-  the development of the conditions for access to sustainable means of subsistence through freely chosen employment;

-  conducting a national survey to identify forms of slavery, estimate the number of victims and perpetrators and identify the areas affected.

While noting the measures already taken by the Government with a view to strengthening the legal measures and organizing information and awareness-raising activities, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the measures adopted to estimate the extent of the phenomenon of slavery in Niger and on the programmes and measures specifically adopted for former slaves or descendants of slaves to prevent them from falling back into slavery as a result of lack of means of subsistence.

2. Forced labour of children in mines. In its previous observation, the Committee noted the study undertaken by the ILO in 1999 on child labour in small-scale mining in Niger. This study covers four types of small-scale mining, namely: natron mining in Birini N’Gaouré (Department of Dosso); salt mining in Gaya (Department of Dosso); gold mining in Torodi and Téra (Department of Tillabéry); and gypsum mining in Madaoua (Department of Tahoua). According to the survey, child labour is extremely widespread in Niger, particularly in the informal sector. The work performed in small-scale artisanal mining enterprises is one of the most dangerous types of activity in the informal sector in Niger. This branch employs several hundred thousand workers with, according to the estimates in the study, a proportion of 47.5 per cent of children in small mines, with this figure rising to 57 per cent in small mines and quarries taken together. In all the above enterprises, the study shows that the working conditions of children are extremely difficult (gold washing being one of the most arduous and hazardous activities). From the age of 8 years, children carry out physically arduous and hazardous work, in most cases every day of the week for a working day of eight or more hours. The work in these concerns involves substantial risks of accidents and diseases and severely prejudices the health of the children. The study notes the absence of modern mining safety techniques on the sites visited and of health infrastructures in the vicinity. In view of the extremely precarious economic situation of the families, the children do not attend school and are often forced to work by their parents.

The Committee recalls that all work performed by children cannot necessarily be classified as forced labour. It is nevertheless indispensable, to determine whether this is a situation covered by the Convention, to examine the conditions under which the work is performed in the light of the definition of forced labour set forth in the Convention, particularly with regard to the validity of the consent given to perform the work and the possibility of leaving it. The Committee considers that neither the children concerned nor the persons exercising parental authority over them can give their valid consent for work in mines, particularly since, as the Committee has already noted, the minimum age for admission to work in Niger is 14 years in general and 18 years in the mining sector, in accordance with the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

The Committee notes that in its report the Government provides copies of two texts: Order No. 051/MME/DM of 30 May 2003, establishing a technical committee to consider the formulation of proposals to optimize artisanal mining and develop small-scale mines; and Order No. 03/MME/DM establishing procedures for the supervision and control by the administration of gold-washing sites. However, it regrets that since 2001 the Government has not provided any information on the situation of children in mining enterprises. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the working conditions of these children, and on any measure adopted or envisaged to protect them against forced labour.

3. Forced labour of children and begging. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to the report of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery according to which children are forced to beg in West Africa, including Niger. According to paragraph 73 of this report, for economic and religious reasons many families entrust their children as soon as they are 5 or 6 years of age to the care of a spiritual leader (marabout) with whom they live until the age of 15 or 16 years. During this period, the spiritual leader has absolute control over the children. He is responsible for their religious education and in return forces them to perform various tasks, including begging.

The Committee also notes that, in June 2003, in its concluding observations concerning Niger the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed its concern at the number of children that are begging in the streets. Some of these are pupils under the guardianship of Islamic religious education teachers. The Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern at their vulnerability to all forms of exploitation (CRC/C/15/Add.179, paragraphs 66 and 67).

The Committee considers that these children are in a relationship resembling that of a slave to a master, that is lacking freedom to control their own lives and that, as a result of this relationship, they perform work for which they have not offered themselves voluntarily. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to protect these children against this form of forced labour. Noting that the study carried out in 2001 under the auspices of the ILO, referred to above, also contains proposals for measures to eliminate begging by these children, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that effect is given to these proposals.

The Committee recalls in this respect that, while the Labour Code (Ordinance No. 96-039) absolutely prohibits forced labour and establishes the corresponding penalties (sections 4 and 333), it only applies to relations between employers and workers (sections 1 and 2). The Committee has already requested the Government to take measures to extend the prohibition of forced labour to all working relations, including those existing between children and spiritual guides. The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary measures for this purpose in the very near future.

In conclusion, the Committee acknowledges that the Government has taken steps to combat both slavery and the practices of forced child labour throughout the country. In view of the seriousness and widespread nature of the problems, the Committee urges the Government to give special and urgent attention to implementing effective means to eradicate these practices.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

The Committee notes that no report has been received from the Government. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request:

1. The possibility for career servicemen to resign. The Committee notes Ordinance No. 99-62 of 20 December 1999 (Statute of the military personnel of the armed forces of Niger and the national gendarmerie) which has replaced Decree No. 79-23/PCMS/MDN of 1 March 1979 (which dealt with the same subject matter). With reference to section 21 of Ordinance No. 99-62, the Committee notes that the resignation of career servicemen is still contingent on the agreement of the appointing authority. This means that the appointing authority may deny career servicemen the right to leave the service, without a valid reason, thus compelling them to continue working.

Referring to paragraphs 33, 68 and 72 of General Survey of 1979 on the abolition of forced labour, the Committee recalls that the fact that compulsory military service does not fall within the scope of the Convention may not be invoked to deprive career servicemen, who have joined the forces voluntarily, of the right to leave the service either at specified intervals or with previous notice. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will take appropriate steps to ensure that the resignation of servicemen is not subject to the agreement of the authority, and thus ensure full observance of the Convention.

2. Resignation of public servants. As the Government mentioned in its report for 1994, the Statute of Public Servants is regulated by Ordinance No. 89-18 of 8 December 1989 (General Statute of the Public Service) and Decree No. 91-110/PRN/MFP/T of 26 June 1991 on application procedures. According to section 52 of the above ordinance and section 153 of the above Decree, the appointing authority must decide within four months whether it accepts or refuses an application to resign by a public servant. In the event of refusal, the public servant will be required to continue working.

Referring to paragraphs 67 and 68 of its General Survey of 1979 on the abolition of forced labour, the Committee recalls the fact that laws which require workers to be kept in their jobs are contrary to the Convention except in so far as they are needed to deal with cases of emergency within the meaning of Article 2, paragraph 2(d), of the Convention. Having noted the content of the abovementioned provisions of the national legislation, the Committee finds no mention of any grounds which may be invoked to refuse resignation. It therefore asks the Government to provide more information on the subject.

3. Forced labour in the event of vagrancy. The Committee notes that the National Assembly is envisaging amending the Penal Code. It hopes that the Government will provide the new texts as soon after their adoption as is possible.

The Committee observed in previous comments that under section 178 of Act No. 61-27 establishing the Penal Code, vagrants shall be punished by a penalty of imprisonment of from three to six months. Section 177 of the Penal Code defines vagrants as "persons of no known abode or means of subsistence who as a rule exercise no trade or occupation".

The Committee recalls paragraphs 45-48 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour in which it noted that provisions on vagrancy and similar offences that are defined in an unduly extensive manner are liable to become a means of direct or indirect compulsion to work. Such provisions should be so amended as to confine penalties to persons disrupting the public order by unlawful acts. The Committee hopes that the reform of the Penal Code will include amendments to sections 177 and 178 in order to ensure that the Convention is complied with on this point. If that is not the case, the Committee asks the Government to inform it of measures taken or envisaged.

4. The Committee asks the Government to send a copy of the Constitution of the Vth Republic of 18 July 1999.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

The Committee notes that no report has been received from the Government. It must therefore repeat its previous observation on the following matters.

1. The Committee has noted the study undertaken by the ILO in 1999 on child labour in small-scale mining. The study covers the following mines:

-  Birnin N’Gaouré in the department of Gosso (natron mining);

-  Gaya in the department of Dosso (salt mining);

-  Torodi and Téra in the department of Tillabéry (gold mining);

-  Madaoua in the department of Tahoua (gypsum mining).

The Committee notes that under sections 9, 15, 32, 45 and 75 of Ordinance No. 93-16 of 2 March 1993, no operations can be carried out without an operation authorization and that the framework for working the minerals in small-scale mines is contained in this Ordinance and further clarified in Decree No. 93-44/PM/MMEI/A of 12 March 1993. The Committee notes however that there are no specific regulations on safety in mines.

The Committee notes that, according to the ILO study, child labour is extremely common in Niger, mainly in the informal sector. Moreover, small-scale artisanal mining is the country’s most dangerous informal sector activity; this branch alone employs several hundred thousand workers. According to ILO estimates, the numbers are as follows:

-  small mines: 147,380 workers, 70,000 of whom are children (47.5 per cent);

-  small mines and quarries: 442,000 workers, 250,000 of whom are children (57 per cent).

In all the abovementioned mines, according to the study, conditions of work for children are extremely difficult. As from the age of eight, they carry out physically exacting and dangerous tasks, more often than not seven days a week for approximately ten hours a day. The work involves serious risks of accidents and diseases which are damaging for children’s health. The Committee further notes the absence of modern mine safety techniques in the sites observed and the lack of sanitary infrastructures and any systematic health care in the neighbourhood.

The Committee also notes that the statutory minimum age for admission to work in Niger is 14 years in general and 18 years in the mining sector, in accordance with the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), so neither the child nor the persons with parental authority may give valid consent to such employment. Moreover, being in economic straits, parents often force children to work, which means they are deprived of schooling.

The Committee observes that, even though not all work done by children amounts to forced labour, it is essential to examine the conditions in which such work is carried out and to measure them against the definition of forced labour, particularly as concerns the validity of consent given to performing such work and the possibility of leaving such employment, in order to determine whether the situation falls within the scope of the Convention.

The Committee asks the Government to examine the situation of children working in mines in the light of the Convention, to provide full information on their working conditions and on any measures taken or envisaged to protect them against forced labour.

2. The Committee refers to the report of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/33 of 13 June 1994), and notes that children are forced to beg in West Africa, including in Niger. According to paragraph 73 of the above report, many families entrust their children as soon as they are 5 or 6 years of age to the care of a religious leader (marabout) with whom they live until the age of 15 or 16. During these ten years the marabout has absolute control over their lives and forces them to perform various tasks, including begging, in return for which he undertakes to teach them.

The Committee considers that persons in a relationship resembling a slave-master relationship, lacking freedom to control their own lives, are, due to these very circumstances, carrying out work for which they have not offered themselves voluntarily.

The Committee notes section 4 of Ordinance No. 96-039 (Labour Code) which prohibits forced labour unconditionally, and section 333 establishing the corresponding penalty. The Committee notes however that, under sections 1 and 2, the Labour Code applies only to relations between employers and workers. The Committee asks the Government to take the measures to extend the prohibition of all forms of forced labour to employment relationships such as those between children and marabouts.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

The Committee notes the report sent by the Government in 2001 and the documents enclosed.

A. In its previous direct request the Committee asked the Government to respond to the following three points.

1. The possibility for career servicemen to resign. The Committee notes Ordinance No. 99-62 of 20 December 1999 (Statute of the military personnel of the armed forces of Niger and the national gendarmerie) which has replaced Decree No. 79-23/PCMS/MDN of 1 March 1979 (which dealt with the same subject matter). With reference to section 21 of Ordinance No. 99-62, the Committee notes that the resignation of career servicemen is still contingent on the agreement of the appointing authority. This means that the appointing authority may deny career servicemen the right to leave the service, without a valid reason, thus compelling them to continue working.

Referring to paragraphs 33, 68 and 72 of General Survey of 1979 on the abolition of forced labour, the Committee recalls that the fact that compulsory military service does not fall within the scope of the Convention may not be invoked to deprive career servicemen, who have joined the forces voluntarily, of the right to leave the service either at specified intervals or with previous notice. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will take appropriate steps to ensure that the resignation of servicemen is not subject to the agreement of the authority, and thus ensure full observance of the Convention.

2. Resignation of public servants. As the Government mentioned in its report for 1994, the Statute of Public Servants is regulated by Ordinance No. 89 18 of 8 December 1989 (General Statute of the Public Service) and Decree No. 91-110/PRN/MFP/T of 26 June 1991 on application procedures. According to section 52 of the above ordinance and section 153 of the above Decree, the appointing authority must decide within four months whether it accepts or refuses an application to resign by a public servant. In the event of refusal, the public servant will be required to continue working.

Referring to paragraphs 67 and 68 of its General Survey of 1979 on the abolition of forced labour, the Committee recalls the fact that laws which require workers to be kept in their jobs are contrary to the Convention except in so far as they are needed to deal with cases of emergency within the meaning of Article 2, paragraph 2(d), of the Convention. Having noted the content of the abovementioned provisions of the national legislation, the Committee finds no mention of any grounds which may be invoked to refuse resignation. It therefore asks the Government to provide more information on the subject.

3. Forced labour in the event of vagrancy. The Committee notes that the National Assembly is envisaging amending the Penal Code. It hopes that the Government will provide the new texts as soon after their adoption as is possible.

The Committee observed in previous comments that under section 178 of Act No. 61-27 establishing the Penal Code, vagrants shall be punished by a penalty of imprisonment of from three to six months. Section 177 of the Penal Code defines vagrants as "persons of no known abode or means of subsistence who as a rule exercise no trade or occupation".

The Committee recalls paragraphs 45-48 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour in which it noted that provisions on vagrancy and similar offences that are defined in an unduly extensive manner are liable to become a means of direct or indirect compulsion to work. Such provisions should be so amended as to confine penalties to persons disrupting the public order by unlawful acts. The Committee hopes that the reform of the Penal Code will include amendments to sections 177 and 178 in order to ensure that the Convention is complied with on this point. If that is not the case, the Committee asks the Government to inform it of measures taken or envisaged.

B. The Committee asks the Government to send a copy of the Constitution of the Vth Republic of 18 July 1999.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

1. The Committee notes the study undertaken by the ILO in 1999 on child labour in small-scale mining. The study covers the following mines:

-  Birnin N’Gaouré in the department of Gosso (natron mining);

-  Gaya in the department of Dosso (salt mining);

-  Torodi and Téra in the department of Tillabéry (gold mining);

-  Madaoua in the department of Tahoua (gypsum mining).

The Committee notes that under sections 9, 15, 32 and 75 of Ordinance No. 93-16 of 2 March 1993, no operations can be carried out without an operation authorization and that the framework for working the minerals in small-scale mines is contained in this Ordinance and further clarified in Decree No. 93-44/PM/MMEI/A of 12 March 1993. The Committee notes however that there are no specific regulations on safety in mines.

The Committee notes that, according to the ILO study, child labour is extremely common in Niger, mainly in the informal sector. Moreover, small-scale artisanal mining is the country’s most dangerous informal sector activity; this branch alone employs several hundred thousand workers. According to ILO estimates, the numbers are as follows:

-  small mines: 147,380 workers, 70,000 of whom are children (47.5 per cent);

-  small mines and quarries: 442,000 workers, 250,000 of whom are children (57 per cent).

In all the abovementioned mines, according to the study, conditions of work for children are extremely difficult. As from the age of eight, they carry out physically exacting and dangerous tasks, more often than not seven days a week for approximately ten hours a day. The work involves serious risks of accidents and diseases which are damaging for children’s health. The Committee further notes the absence of modern mine safety techniques in the sites observed and the lack of sanitary infrastructures and any systematic health care in the neighbourhood.

The Committee also notes that the statutory minimum age for admission to work in Niger is 14 years in general and 18 years in the mining sector, in accordance with the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), so neither the child nor the persons with parental authority may give valid consent to such employment. Moreover, being in economic straits, parents often force children to work, which means they are deprived of schooling.

The Committee observes that, even though not all work done by children amounts to forced labour, it is essential to examine the conditions in which such work is carried out and to measure them against the definition of forced labour, particularly as concerns the validity of consent given to performing such work and the possibility of leaving such employment, in order to determine whether the situation falls within the scope of the Convention.

The Committee asks the Government to examine the situation of children working in mines in the light of the Convention, to provide full information on their working conditions and on any measures taken or envisaged to protect them against forced labour.

2. The Committee refers to the report of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/33 of 13 June 1994), and notes that children are forced to beg in West Africa, including in Niger. According to paragraph 73 of the above report, many families entrust their children as soon as they are 5 or 6 years of age to the care of a religious leader (marabout) with whom they live until the age of 15 or 16. During these ten years the marabout has absolute control over their lives and forces them to perform various tasks, including begging, in return for which he undertakes to teach them.

The Committee considers that persons in a relationship resembling a slave-master relationship, lacking freedom to control their own lives, are, due to these very circumstances, carrying out work for which they have not offered themselves voluntarily.

The Committee notes section 4 of Ordinance No. 96-039 (Labour Code) which prohibits forced labour unconditionally, and section 333 establishing the corresponding penalty. The Committee notes however that, under sections 1 and 2, the Labour Code applies only to relations between employers and workers. The Committee asks the Government to take the measures to extend the prohibition of all forms of forced labour to employment relationships such as those between children and marabouts.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received.

In its earlier direct requests, the Committee raised a number of points with regard to the definition of forced or compulsory labour under the terms of Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Convention, in relation to the possibility for civil servants and career servicemen to resign from their employment and the compulsion to work in case of vagrancy. The Committee notes the new Labour Code and intends to examine these matters in its next comment after considering its effect on the above points.

The Committee hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised previously.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

In its previous direct requests, the Committee raised a number of points with regard to the definition of forced or compulsory labour under the terms of Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Convention, in relation to the possibility for civil servants and career servicemen to resign from their employment and forced labour in the event of vagrancy. The Committee notes the new Labour Code and intends to examine these matters in its next comment after considering its effect on the above points.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. In its previous direct request, the Committee asked the Government to specify the provision concerning the period within which the authority must accept or refuse the resignation of public servants.

The Committee noted that section 151 of Decree No. 60-54 of 30 March 1960 issuing procedures for the implementation of the General Conditions of Service of the Public Service provides that a public servant's application to resign must be accepted or refused by the authority vested with the power of nomination within four months. The Committee noted that Ordinance No. 89-18 of 8 December 1989 establishing the General Conditions of Service of the Public Service, repealed Act. No. 59-06 of 3 December 1959 (General Conditions of Service of the Public Service). The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether any new instrument to implement Ordinance No. 89-18 has been adopted and, if so, to provide a copy of it.

2. The Committee noted the indications contained in the Government's report on the resignation of career servicemen. It requests the Government to provide a copy of Decree No. 79-23/PCMS/MDN of 1 March 1979.

3. The Committee noted that section 177 of the Penal Code defines vagrants as persons who have no known abode or means of subsistence and as a rule exercise no trade or occupation. Under section 178 of the same Code, vagrants shall be punished by a penalty of imprisonment of from three to six months.

The Committee referred to paragraphs 45 to 48 of its General Survey of 1979 on the Abolition of Forced Labour, and recalls that provisions on vagrancy and similar offences that are defined in an unduly extensive manner are liable to become a direct or indirect means of compulsion to work and should be amended so that only persons who, in addition to not working, disturb the public order by unlawful acts, are liable to punishment. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken or contemplated to ensure observance of the Convention on this point.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

1. In its previous direct request, the Committee asked the Government to specify the provision concerning the period within which the authority must accept or refuse the resignation of public servants.

The Committee notes that section 151 of Decree No. 60-54 of 30 March 1960 issuing procedures for the implementation of the General Conditions of Service of the Public Service provides that a public servant's application to resign must be accepted or refused by the authority vested with the power of nomination within four months. The Committee notes that Ordinance No. 89-18 of 8 December 1989 establishing the General Conditions of Service of the Public Service, repealed Act. No. 59-06 of 3 December 1959 (General Conditions of Service of the Public Service). The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether any new instrument to implement Ordinance No. 89-18 has been adopted and, if so, to provide a copy of it.

2. The Committee notes the indications contained in the Government's report on the resignation of career servicemen. It requests the Government to provide a copy of Decree No. 79-23/PCMS/MDN of 1 March 1979.

3. The Committee notes that section 177 of the Penal Code defines vagrants as persons who have no known abode or means of subsistence and as a rule exercise no trade or occupation. Under section 178 of the same Code, vagrants shall be punished by a penalty of imprisonment of from three to six months.

The Committee refers to paragraphs 45 to 48 of its General Survey of 1979 on the Abolition of Forced Labour, and recalls that provisions on vagrancy and similar offences that are defined in an unduly extensive manner are liable to become a direct or indirect means of compulsion to work and should be amended so that only persons who, in addition to not working, disturb the public order by unlawful acts, are liable to punishment. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken or contemplated to ensure observance of the Convention on this point.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

1. In earlier comments, the Committee referred to section 50(2) of the General Conditions of Service of the Public Service which provide that the resignation of a public servant does not become effective until it is accepted by the authority vested with the power of nomination. The Committee asked the Government to provide full information on the principles followed with regard to the acceptance or refusal of resignation requests.

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report (for Convention No. 105) to the effect that section 153 of the General Conditions of Service of the Public Service stipulates that a public servant's application to resign must be accepted or refused by the authority vested with the power of nomination within four months.

The Committee observes that the General Conditions of Service of the Public Service (Act No. 59-6 of 3 December 1959), which have been examined by the Committee, contain only 61 sections and that it has been unable to find any provision whose substance corresponds to the above provision referred to by the Government, either in the General Conditions of Service of the Public Service, or in Decree No. 60-54 of 30 March 1960 issuing procedures for the implementation of these Conditions of Service.

The Committee asks the Government to indicate the text in which the provision (section 153) mentioned in its report is to be found, concerning the period within which the authority must accept or refuse resignation.

The Committee notes the indications supplied by the Government concerning the ten-year period of service for students of the National School of Administration.

2. In its previous direct request, the Committee noted that no text existed on the resignation of career members of the armed forces and requested the Government to indicate the practice followed in the event of a resignation request from a career member of the armed forces. The Committee hopes that the next report will contain the information requested.