Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Article 1(c) of the Convention. In the comments that it has been making for many years, the Committee has referred to sections 1091 and 1094 of the Maritime Code. Penalties of imprisonment, involving compulsory labour (section 23(1) of the Penal Code), may be imposed on naval and aeronautical staff under section 1091(1) in the event of desertion if it results in considerable difficulty in the navigation service; and under section 1094(1), in the event of insubordination in a technical service of a ship or an aircraft.

The Committee has noted on many occasions the Government's statement that sections 1091 and 1094 of the Maritime Code were no longer applied in practice.

The Committee notes that in its latest report the Government states that sections 1091 and 1094 above are intended to protect the State and the security of the navigation service and that the above is unrelated to the issue of forced labour.

The Committee recalls that forced labour in all its forms, including forced labour in prison, comes within the scope of the Convention when it is imposed in one of the five cases specified by the Convention.

The Committee once again hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to comply with the Convention on this matter.