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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Chad (Ratification: 1960)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Freedom of career members of the armed forces to leave their employment. Further to its previous requests concerning the application of sections 104 and 105 of Ordinance No. 006/PR/92 of 28 April 1992 issuing the general conditions of service of military personnel, which provide that a request for resignation submitted by a member of the armed forces during their period of service will only be accepted for exceptional reasons, the Committee notes that Ordinance No. 002/PT/2023 issuing the general conditions of service of military personnel in the defence and security forces was adopted on 13 January 2023. The Committee requests the Government to send without delay a copy of Ordinance No. 002/PT/2023 of 13 January 2023 issuing the general conditions of service of military personnel in the defence and security forces and to indicate the provisions which regulate the resignation of military personnel and the conditions in which career members of the armed forces can terminate their engagement in practice.

2. Suppression of vagrancy. The Committee previously asked the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 184 of the Penal Code of 2017, which suppresses vagrancy, as well as on any measures envisaged to expressly eliminate compulsory labour for vagrants from the legislation. Under the above-mentioned section, any person found in a public place or a place open to the public who does not have a fixed abode or livelihood and is not habitually engaged in a trade or profession, is liable to be imprisoned.

The Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information on this matter. It recalls that these provisions, by defining and criminalizing vagrancy in too broad terms, could be applied in such a way as to constitute an indirect compulsion to work, which is contrary to the provisions of the Convention. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to bring section 184 of the Penal Code into conformity with the Convention, so that only persons engaging in illicit activities or causing public disorder are liable to be penalized. In the meantime, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 184 of the Penal Code.

Article 2(2)(c). Prison labour.Noting the absence of information from the Government, the Committee once again requests the Government to send without delay a copy of the texts regulating prison labour which are currently in force, including Act No. 019/PR/2017 of 28 July 2017 establishing the prison system.

Article 25. Imposition of effective criminal penalties. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided the information requested regarding the penalties imposed under sections 327 and 331 of the Penal Code of 2017, which provide for imprisonment or a fine or both, on any person who imposes work or service on others for which they did not volunteer, with the penalty doubled in certain circumstances.

The Committee recalls that, under Article 25 of the Convention, really adequate penalties which act as a deterrent must be imposed for the illegal exaction of forced labour. It also recalls in this regard that legislation providing for the possibility of a fine alone is ineffective, in view of the seriousness of the offence. The Committee expects the Government to provide information on the application in practice of sections 327 and 331 of the Penal Code, indicating the penalties imposed on persons convicted under these sections. The Committee also requests the Government to supply information on any measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the legislation establishes penalties which act as an effective deterrent for the perpetrators of any kind of forced labour.