Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Ecuador (Ratification: 1954)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention.Trafficking in persons. 1. National plan of action. The Committee previously noted the legislative and institutional framework for combating trafficking in persons and, observing that a new national plan of action against trafficking in persons was being prepared, it encouraged the Government to take steps to ensure its adoption.

The Committee notes the Government’s reference in its report to the adoption in 2019 of the Plan of Action against trafficking in persons in Ecuador 2019–30, which was drawn up in the context of an extensive participatory process with institutional actors and contributions from civil society, including the family members of victims. The Committee also welcomes the intercultural basis of the Plan of Action, which provides culturally relevant prevention and protection measures to cater for the specific needs of victims geared to diverse cultural contexts. The Plan of Action contains four components: (i) promotion of rights and prevention of trafficking; (ii) provision of care for trafficking victims, and full promotion and restoration of their rights; (iii) investigation and prosecution of the crime of trafficking in persons; and (iv) governance. The Plan of Action identifies targets for each component in terms of results and indicators, and its strategic management is the responsibility of the Interinstitutional Coordinating Committee for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons and Illicit Trafficking of Migrants and for the Protection of Victims. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the steps taken with a view to implementing all components of the Plan of Action against trafficking in persons in Ecuador 2019–30, indicating the results achieved and also the difficulties identified in the follow-up to the Plan and its evaluation. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the Interinstitutional Coordinating Committee for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons and Illicit Trafficking of Migrants and for the Protection of Victims, including examples illustrating how coordination works between the various institutions involved in the implementation of the Plan.

2. Protection and assistance for victims. The Committee notes the establishment of a Case coordination team for the protection of victims of human trafficking and illicit trafficking of migrants, composed of eight state institutions, which, after they identify a victim, carry out inter-institutional coordination to provide comprehensive care and protection in line with their competencies. The Committee also notes that the Protocol for inter-institutional action for comprehensive care and protection for trafficking victims, adopted in 2020, describes in detail the role played by each of the institutions responsible for providing care for victims. Moreover, section 122 of the Basic Act on human mobility (as amended in 2021) provides that all institutions tasked with providing assistance for human trafficking victims must implement specialized models of care which will be binding on service providers at the national level. The Committee notes that, according to the statistical information contained in the Plan of Action, of the total number of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation recorded in 2014–16, 3 per cent were foreign citizens and in 11 per cent of cases it was not possible to determine the victim’s nationality. The Committee also notes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in its concluding observations of 2021, referred to the low number of investigations and prosecutions in relation to reported cases of trafficking, owing partly to the risk of deportation for women victims of trafficking who are undocumented or in an irregular situation (CEDAW/C/ECU/CO/10, paragraph 23(c)). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the action taken by the Case coordination team for the protection of victims of human trafficking and illicit trafficking of migrants and on the comprehensive protection measures from which trafficking victims have benefited. The Committee also requests the Government to provide examples of specialized care models, in particular those implemented for undocumented foreign victims.

3. Penalties. The Committee notes that the Government, in reply to its request for information on the application of the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to trafficking in persons (sections 91 and 92), provides examples of convictions related to the crime of trafficking in persons. As at the end of July 2021, a total of 121 persons had been prosecuted, and 39 persons had been sentenced for trafficking in persons. The Government also indicates that the Directorate of Controls and Inspections has not received any complaints relating to forced labour. The Committee also notes that the Ministry of the Interior, the National Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office have developed a practical guide for identifying, acquiring, safeguarding, processing and using possible clues or evidence in cases of trafficking in persons. Police officers and prosecutors have been trained in how to use the guide. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing statistical information on the investigations launched, judicial proceedings initiated, and the type of convictions handed down in relation to the crime of trafficking in persons for sexual or labour exploitation. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to strengthen the capacities of labour inspectors to detect elements that characterize situations of trafficking in persons for the purposes of labour exploitation, and to be able to collaborate with the prosecution service and the police in the investigation of such situations.

Article 2(2)(c). Prison labour. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Regulations concerning the dependent work of persons serving a custodial sentence (MDT-2015-0004), which contain provisions ensuring that prison labour carried out for the benefit of private entities is of a voluntary nature and is performed with the free written consent of the person concerned and in conditions similar to those of a free employment relationship. The Committee duly notes the information provided by the Government, including statistics, on employment contracts concluded by prisoners working for the benefit of private enterprises. The Committee also notes the regulations governing the special contractual arrangement for services provided by prisoners (Interministerial Agreement between the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Religious Worship of 11 May 2018), section 7 of which provides that the contract for the provision of services must contain the express consent of the prisoner for performing the activities covered by the contract and also contain information on remuneration and conditions of work.