Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2025, Publicación: 114ª reunión CIT (2026)

Convenio sobre el trabajo forzoso, 1930 (núm. 29) - Rwanda (Ratificación : 2001)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. The Committee previously requested the Government to continue its efforts to combat trafficking including through the adoption of a national action plan. The Committee notes that, in the framework of the implementation of Law No. 51/2018 of 13 August 2018 relating to the prevention, suppression and punishment of trafficking in persons and exploitation of others, several awareness-raising and training activities were undertaken by the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), including in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Regarding victim identification and protection, the Government’ states that victims of trafficking in persons benefited from holistic assistance services including legal support, medical treatment and psychological support at different Isange one-stop centres (ISOCs). The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that 30 cases of trafficking in persons were investigated and prosecuted under section 18 of Act No. 51/2018 (13 for labour exploitation and 17 for sexual exploitation). The Committee observes, however, that the Government does not specify the period covered by these data nor the penalties possibly imposed.

The Committee notes, that in its 2024 concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted with concern: (1) the lack of effective and systematic screening and referral of victims of trafficking; (2) cases of arrest and detention of unidentified trafficking victims; (3) increased cross-border trafficking; and (4) internal trafficking of Rwandan women and girls for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour in domestic work and the service sector (CEDAW/C/RWA/CO/10).

The Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts to combat trafficking in persons for both labour and sexual exploitation. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to: (i) adopt a national action plan on counter-human trafficking; (ii) ensure comprehensive prevention and awareness-raising activities; (iii) ensure the early identification and referral of victims of trafficking to appropriate protection and assistance services; and (iv) enhance the capacities of law enforcement bodies to identify situations of trafficking in persons and undertake prompt investigations and initiate prosecutions. Please indicate the number of cases of trafficking in persons investigated and prosecuted, the number of convictions handed down, and the nature of the penalties imposed to perpetrators.

Article 2(2)(b) and (e). Community work. For a number of years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the need to review sections 2(2), 3, 5 and 13 of Law No. 53/2007 of 17 November 2007 on community work, referred to as Umuganda, which go well beyond the exceptions allowed under Article 2(2)(b) and (e) of the Convention. The Committee recalls that Umuganda aims at promoting development activities in the framework of supporting the national budget and that every Rwandan from 18 to 65 years old shall have, every month, the obligation to perform community works, under the menace of a penalty.

Referring to its previous comments highlighting the large-scale participation in Umuganda mainly performed to carry out infrastructure construction, the Committee notes the Government’s repeated statement that Umuganda is performed in the context of “civic and patriotic education” and shall be considered as “normal civic obligation” of the citizens. The Committee refers in that regard to the extensive explanations provided under its previous observation regarding the meaning of “minor communal services” and “normal civic obligations” in the terms of the Convention. The Committee notes with concern the lack of progress made by the Government to ensure compliance with the Convention. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to review the provisions of Law No. 53/2007 of 17 November 2007 in order to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention, either by ensuring that participation in community works is voluntary or by limiting their scope to the exception of “minor communal services”. It requests the Government to provide examples of the types and scales of community works that may be required of the population under Act No. 53/2007.

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