Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Zambia (Ratification: 1964)

Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention. Prison labour. The Committee notes that section 51(1) of the Zambia Correctional Service Act, 2021, provides that a criminal inmate shall engage in work within or outside the precincts of a prison or correctional centre. In addition, section 52(3) provides that inmates under a sentence of imprisonment may be employed by a registered institution, person or body, upon authorization and on terms and conditions that may be determined. The Committee recalls that, by virtue of Article 2(2) of the Convention, the compulsory labour of convicted persons is not considered as forced labour when it is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority; and prisoners are not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations. Therefore, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the registered entities for which convicted persons may work and to provide information on the conditions under which such work may be carried out.

Article 25. Penalties for the exaction of forced labour. The Committee notes that the Employment Code Act, 2019, provides for a penalty of a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both, for the exaction of forced labour (section 8). As for the Penal Code, section 263 provides that any person who unlawfully compels any person to labour against the will of that person is guilty of a misdemeanour, which is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or with a fine or with both. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that considering the seriousness of the forced labour offence and given that sanctions need to be dissuasive, legislation providing for the possibility of a fine alone or a very short prison sentence cannot be considered to be effective. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which it is ensured, both in law and practice, that perpetrators of forced labour are punished with adequate and dissuasive penalties. Please provide specific information on cases/hearings on any convictions or enforcements in accordance with the aforementioned sections of the respective Codes or any other relevant legal provisions, along with the specific penalties imposed.