Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2024, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre el trabajo forzoso, 1930 (núm. 29) - Uruguay (Ratificación : 1995)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. 1. Institutional framework. With reference to its previous comments on the measures taken under Act No. 19.643, issuing provisions to prevent and combat trafficking in persons and amending the Penal Code, the Government indicates in its report that the National Council to Prevent and Combat the Trafficking and Exploitation of Persons (CNTE) approved the Second Plan to Prevent and Combat the Trafficking and Exploitation of Persons 2022–24. The Second Plan includes among its principal objectives: (i) making progress with the regulation of Act No. 19.643; (ii) broadening institutional capacities for the detection, denunciation and provision of assistance in potential situations of trafficking; (iii) strengthening the coordination between the interinstitutional response system and the justice system; (iv) improving the capacity of the interinstitutional response system; (v) gaining more in-depth knowledge of the phenomenon of the trafficking and exploitation of persons; and (vi) promoting the professionalization of public officials and other actors concerned. The Committee also takes due note of the detailed biennial report 2021–22 of the CNTE, which includes information on the implementation of various activities to strengthen the skills of public officials and the approval of a Guide on interinstitutional action in situations of the trafficking and exploitation of persons, which is a tool for coordination among the authorities responsible for the detection and identification of potential situations of trafficking and exploitation. The process is also under way of the evaluation of the impact and results of models for the support and protection of victims and the preparation of a national diagnosis of trafficking in persons.

The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, within the context of the implementation of the objectives of the Second National Plan of Action to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Persons 2021–24. In this regard, it requests the Government to continue providing information on the progress achieved in: issuing regulations under Act No. 19.643; strengthening the coordination between the interinstitutional response system and the justice system; the evaluation of the implementation of systems for the support and protection of victims; and the difficulties identified. Moreover, noting that the National Plan includes among its objectives promoting greater in-depth knowledge of the phenomenon of trafficking, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any studies undertaken on the characteristics of trafficking in persons (victims, sectors, regions and so forth) and its possible causes.

2. Protection of victims. In reply to the Committee’s request concerning the measures adopted for the protection and compensation of victims, the Government indicates that, through the National Service for Women, in cases of trafficking for sexual and/or labour exploitation, psychosocial support, advice and legal representation is provided to women victims of trafficking in the 19 departments of the country. The Committee also notes that, according to the Interinstitutional Action Guide for Situations of Trafficking, when the General Labour Inspectorate receives a complaint involving a situation of trafficking, coordination with other institutions is applied immediately for the provision of assistance to potential victims. According to the information of the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES), the team to address situations of trafficking in Montevideo dealt with 58 cases of trafficking in 2021, 75 in 2022 and 48 in 2023. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing support and protection to victims of trafficking in persons, with an indication of the type of assistance provided and the number of victims who have benefited.

3. Prosecution and application of penal sanctions. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that various training and awareness-raising activities have been carried out for public officials in bodies that are in the CNTE, and for other state bodies that may be operating in frontier posts or are in contact with people who are vulnerable to trafficking. The Government adds that the number of prosecutors engaged in the investigation of the crime of trafficking in persons has been increased. A working mechanism has been established between the Ministry of the Interior and the Victims and Witnesses Unit of the Office of the Public Prosecutor to improve protection strategies for complainants. The Government further indicates that in cases in which the General Labour Inspectorate receives complaints that contain any indications of a potential situation of trafficking, the Inspectorate coordinates with other institutions for the provision of assistance to any victims and they are referred to the Office of the Public Prosecutor to initiative any corresponding judicial action.

The Committee also notes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in its concluding observations in 2023, drew attention to the limited financial resources allocated for the implementation of Act No. 19.643, and the limited measures to prosecute and punish perpetrators of trafficking in persons (CEDAW/C/URY/CO/10). Further, in its concluding observations in 2023, the United Nations Committee on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families referred to the increase in cases of trafficking of migrant women, especially in domestic service (CMW/C/URY/CO/2).

The Committee notes this information, while also noting the lack of information on the number of investigations, current prosecutions and penalties imposed in relation to the crime of trafficking in persons for sexual and/or labour exploitation. The Committee therefore requests the Government to renew its efforts to strengthen the capacity to identify and investigate situations of trafficking in persons, including in domestic service, and to prosecute those responsible. In this regard, it once again requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations and prosecutions initiated and completed in relation to cases of trafficking in persons (section 78 of the Migration Act), specifying the number of cases in which penal sanctions have been imposed on the perpetrators. Lastly, it requests the Government to indicate the number of cases in which the labour inspection services have detected potential situations of trafficking in persons and have coordinated their investigations with the Office of the Public Prosecutor.

Article 2(2)(c). Work by convicted prisoners for private entities. The Committee previously requested the Government to clarify the relationship between section 41 of Legislative Decree No. 14.470 of 1975, under the terms of which work by prisoners is compulsory, and Decree No. 225/006 (section 65), which provides that, before commencing any type of work, prisoners have to give their consent in writing. In reply, the Government reports the adoption of Decree No. 407 of 2021, issuing the Regulations respecting the serving of sentences through work or studies, which repealed Decree No. 225/006.

The Committee notes that section 40 of the new Regulations reiterates that prison labour shall be compulsory for all convicts and failure to perform the work shall be subject to disciplinary measures. Section 44 also provides that prisoners may benefit from a special labour relationship with private institutions for the performance of work within and outside the prison, under the terms of the agreements concluded between private enterprises and prisons. The work performed by prisoners under this labour relationship shall be paid.

The Committee further notes that the Regulations have not retained the provision requiring prisoners to give their consent in writing before commencing any type of work (section 65 of repealed Decree No. 225/006). Instead, section 11 provides that each prison shall draw up a list of prisoners who are registered to perform such work, on which prisoners interested in performing work may have their names included. In this regard, the Government indicates that it is usually specified in the agreements that the prisons, based on prior selection, offer enterprises a list of prisoners who volunteer to work for them. It adds that the various enterprises and institutions select prisoners from this “labour exchange” to perform the work set out in the agreements.

The Committee also notes that, according to a report on the situation of the contract for public–private participation of the Punta de Rieles prison “PPL Unit No. 1” for the period July–December 2022 (available on the official website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance), under the terms of that contract, 107 prisoners are engaged in work in toilets, kitchen work, food distribution, internal logistics and stores, gardening, outside maintenance and building work in authorized areas.

The Committee observes that both section 41 of Legislative Decree No. 14.470 and section 40 of the Regulations issued by Decree No. 407 of 2021 provide that work is compulsory for prisoners. From a reading of section 11 of the Regulations, which provides for a list of persons registered for work, it is not clear that the prisoner formally gives prior consent to the performance of work for private enterprises under the agreements concluded between prisons and these enterprises.

In this regard, the Committee wishes to recall that prison labour for private entities is not incompatible with the Convention only where the necessary safeguards exist to ensure that the prisoners concerned offer themselves voluntarily by giving their free, formal and informed consent and without being subject to pressure or the menace of any penalty, including the loss of a right or a privilege (advantage), and when such work is performed under conditions approximating a free labour relationship (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 279 and 291).

The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that, in both law and practice, prisoners give their free, formal and informed consent to the performance of work for private entities, within the framework of contracts concluded between the private enterprise and the prisons or agreements concluded in the context of public–private partnerships for the development of infrastructure or the provision of related services in the prison context. The Committee requests the Government to provide examples of such contracts and agreements.

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