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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Eritrea (Ratification: 2000)

Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention. Prison labour. In its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to indicate whether prisoners, who are under the obligation to work under section 73 (2) (d) of the 2015 Penal Code, perform work for private entities. The Committee notes that the Government indicates in this regard that prisoners cannot perform work for a private entity.

Article 2(2)(e). Minor communal services. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that under section 3 (17) of the Labour Proclamation No. 118 of 2001, the expression “forced labour” does not include “communal services”. It also noted that communal services had been undertaken for many years, including in relation to activities for soil and water conservation, roads, and reforestation projects, and requested the Government to take measures to regulate participation in such services, with a view to ensuring that work exacted in these situations is limited to “minor communal services” as defined by the Convention.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, under section 3(17) of the Labour Proclamation the expression “communal services” is limited to “minor communal services” as defined by the Convention, which are not designed for general or local public works. Such "minor services" include works connected with village cleanliness or sanitation of the vicinity of the communities concerned, the maintenance of paths and tracks of watering places, certain buildings intended to improve the social conditions of the community, work in small irrigation and streams of purely local interest. The Government further indicates that the elderly people of the community are closely consulted on the need for communal services, and that the performed services are afforded within short periods of time in the direct interest of the community and are not intended to benefit a wider group. The Committee observes from the information provided that in practice communal services are limited to minor communal services in the sense of the Convention (work primarily relating to small-scale and short-term maintenance work performed in the direct interest of the community and for which the community has been consulted). The Committee encourages the Government to regulate the participation of the population in communal services taking into account these parameters.

Article 25 of the Convention. Penal sanctions for exaction of forced labour. The Committee previously noted the adoption of a new Penal Code in 2015. It notes the Government’s indication that this Code has not officially been put in practice and that no cases of forced labour has been reported from criminal courts or the labour inspection.

The Committee observes that the Eritrean Transitional Penal Code of 1957, which is still in force, provides for the following offences:

• –enslavement or trafficking of a person, which is punishable with imprisonment from five to twenty years and a fine (section 565);
• –compelling another person by intimidation, violence or fraud to accept employment or accept particular conditions of employment, which is punishable with simple imprisonment or a fine (section 570);
• –trafficking of women, children, and young persons for prostitution, which is punishable with imprisonment of up to five years and a fine (section 605).

The Committee further notes that the 2015 Penal Code criminalizes:

• –enslavement or trafficking of a person, which is punishable with imprisonment from seven to ten years (section 297);
• –compelling another person by intimidation, violence or fraud to accept employment or accept particular conditions of employment, which is punishable with imprisonment from six to 12 months or a fine (section 299);
• –trafficking of women, children, and young persons for prostitution, which is punishable with imprisonment from five to seven years (section 315).

The Committee further notes that, in its 2019 concluding observations, the United Nations Human Rights Committee refers to alleged cases of enslavement and the absence of prosecution of alleged perpetrators. It also expresses its concern at the fact that, due to several restrictions with regard to exit permits, persons attempting to leave the country are compelled to resort to clandestine alternatives, which make them vulnerable to trafficking in persons, and regrets the lack of information about investigations of cases of trafficking (CCPR/C/ERI/CO/1, paras 13 and 33).

The Committee further observes that, from the wording of the above-mentioned legislative provisions, it is not clear whether they cover cases of trafficking of male persons for sexual exploitation, and cases of transnational trafficking (for both labour and sexual exploitation).

Recalling that the Convention protects persons from any form of forced labour, including trafficking (national and transnational) for both labour and sexual exploitation, the Committee requests the Government to: (i) clarify under which provisions of the criminal legislation cases of national and transnational trafficking in persons (both men and women) for labour or sexual exploitation can be investigated and prosecuted; (ii) indicate the measures taken to provide training and to strengthen the capacities of law enforcement bodies to detect, investigate and prosecute cases of forced labour, including trafficking in persons; (iii) provide information on the application in practice of sections 565, 570 and 605 of the Transitional Penal Code; and iv) once the 2015 Penal Code officially enters into force, provide information on the application in practice of its sections 297, 299 and 315.