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

Convenio sobre las peores formas de trabajo infantil, 1999 (núm. 182) - Argelia (Ratificación : 2001)

Articles 3 and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and sanctions. Clause (a). Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee takes due note of the adoption of Act No. 23-04 of 7 May 2023 on preventing and combating trafficking in persons, which includes provisions for: (i) the automatic public prosecution of criminal offences related to trafficking in persons, including those in which the victims are children; (ii) the obligation for service providers or any other person concerned to transmit any information or relevant data stored via information and communication technologies, subject to sanctions in conformity with the legislation in force; (iii) recourse to electronic surveillance to monitor suspected perpetrators of an offence under the present Act; (iv) the use of geolocation of the victim or the suspected perpetrator or any other element relating to the offence; and (v) allowing the reception of online complaints made in respect of offences under the present Act. The Government indicates that section 41 of the Act provides that, where the victim is a child, the sanction incurred shall be between 10 and 20 years of imprisonment.

However, the Committee notes with regret that the Government indicates it has received no reports of trafficking of children under 18 years of age since the creation of the National Committee on Preventing and Combatting Trafficking in Persons. The Committee requests the Government to reinforce its efforts to detect cases of trafficking in children and to identify the victims, in particular by measures taken to train law enforcement officers, the justice department, the labour inspectorate, the health services, and social workers as regards procedures to identify child victims of trafficking. It again requests the Government to ensure that the perpetrators of these acts are identified and prosecuted, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions are imposed. It also requests the Government to provide up-to-date statistics on identified cases of trafficking in children under 18 years of age, the prosecutions brought, the convictions obtained, and the penalties imposed.

Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to continue to provide information on the application of sections 342 and 343 of the Penal Code, specifically as regards cases of persons who use, procure or offer children under 18 years of age for prostitution.

The Committee notes the Government’s statements that no offences have been reported and consequently no convictions handed down nor penal sanctions imposed for the procurement of children under 18 years of age for prostitution.

In this connection, the Committee refers to the concern raised by the United Nations Human Rights Council in its universal periodic review of November 2022 (A/HRC/WG.6/41/DZA/2, paragraph 43), that there is a persistence in Algeria of trafficking in persons, in particular persons from sub-Saharan countries, for the purposes of exploitation, domestic labour, begging and prostitution. The Committee reminds the Government that an absence of complaints does not equate to an absence of cases of procurement or offering of a child of under 18 years of age for prostitution.

The Committee notes that the new Act No. 23-04 of 7 May 2023 on preventing and combating trafficking in persons, recognizes the prostitution of others and all other forms of sexual exploitation as forms of human trafficking. The Act also provides for preventive measures and penal sanctions. The Committee requests the Government to reinforce its action, in particular concerning the identification of children under 18 years of age that are victims of prostitution. It again requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of sections 342 and 343 of the Penal Code, specifically as concerns cases of persons who use, procure or offer children of under 18 years of age for prostitution, including information on the number and nature of the violations reported, the convictions handed down and the penal sanctions applied, disaggregated by age and sex of the victims.

Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. In its previous comments, the Committee expressed its concern at the absence of legislative provisions explicitly prohibiting the use, procuring or offering of a child under 18 years of age for the production and trafficking of drugs.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, according to which various mechanisms have been put in place to ensure the lightening of sentences applicable to minors under 18 years of age in case of possession, use or trafficking of drugs, including protection and rehabilitation measures. The Government adds that for children over 13 years of age, the judge may give preference to such protection and rehabilitation measures.

The Government further indicates that section 195 bis of the Penal Code thus provides for prison sentences of between six months to two years for any person using a child for begging, sentences which are doubled where the perpetrator is a family member of the minor, or any person having authority over the minor.

The Committee is nevertheless obliged once more to express its concern at the absence of legislative provisions explicitly prohibiting the use, procuring or offering of a child under 18 years of age for the production or trafficking of drugs. The Committee once again urges the Government to take immediate measures to ensure that the national legislation prohibits the use, procuring or offering of a child for the production and trafficking of drugs. It also requests the Government to ensure that all children exploited for such purposes be treated as victims and not as criminals and are therefore not punished for their involvement in illicit activities. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard.

Article 4(1). Determination of hazardous types of work. Further to its earlier comments, the Committee requested the Government to take, without delay, the necessary measures to finalize and adopt the Bill issuing the Labour Code of October 2015, which includes the prohibition for children under 18 years of age to engage in hazardous work, and the regulatory text fixing the list of the types of hazardous work prohibited for children under 18 years of age.

The Committee notes with regret the absence of information regarding the adoption of the list regulating hazardous work. Consequently, the Committee again reminds the Government that under the terms of Article 4(1) of the Convention, the competent authority, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, shall determine the types of hazardous work. Recalling that it has been raising this issue for over ten years, the Committee again urges the Government to take, without delay, the necessary measures to finalize and adopt the Bill issuing the Labour Code, in order to determine, following consultation with the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned, the types of hazardous work prohibited to children under 18 years of age. It also requests the Government to provide a copy of the Labour Code and the regulatory text fixing the list of the types of hazardous work, once adopted.

Article 6. Action programmes and sale and trafficking of children. In its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken within the framework of the 2019–21 three-year programme to effectively combat trafficking of children. Noting the absence of a response in this connection, the Committee urges the Government to provide information on the measures taken within the framework of the 2019–21 three-year programme to effectively combat trafficking in children, and on the results achieved.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Providing assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Trafficking of children and child prostitution. The Committee notes the provisions of Act No. 23-04 of 7 May 2023 on preventing and combating trafficking of persons, in particular: (i) the multidisciplinary support of victims, including medical assistance and psychological, social and legal support to facilitate their social reintegration; (ii) the establishment of care centres to lodge victims in conditions guaranteeing their safety. These centres also provide training and education programmes adapted to their specific needs, taking account of their age and gender, with a view to promoting their reintegration in society; (iii) provision of free public health service medical care; and (iv) protection measures for victims and their families. The Committee requests the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to implement these provisions to remove child victims of trafficking and prostitution and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. In this regard, the Committee again requests the Government to provide information on the number of children below 18 years of age who have been removed from trafficking and prostitution and given appropriate care and assistance.

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