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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Croatia (Ratification: 1991)

The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government in its first and second reports on the application of the Convention. It would be grateful if the Government would supply, in its next report, additional information on the following points:

Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government's indications in the report concerning the use of the defence forces of the Republic of Croatia, in cases of emergency, for the performance of certain tasks of civil defence units, in order to assist them to remove the danger threatening the population (section 59 of the Defence Law). Please state what guarantees are provided to ensure that, with the exception of such emergency cases, services exacted during compulsory military service are used for purely military ends. Please also supply information on provisions applicable to military officers and other career servicemen, as regards their right to leave the service at their own request in time of peace, either at certain reasonable intervals or by means of notice of reasonable length.

Article 2, paragraph 2(b). Please indicate any work or service (other than compulsory military service or work or service required in case of emergency) which may be exacted as normal civic obligations of citizens and therefore excluded from the definition of "forced or compulsory labour" under this provision of the Convention. This might include, for example, compulsory jury service or the duty to assist a person in danger.

Article 2, paragraph 2(c). The Committee notes that section 32(1) of the Penal Code provides for an obligation of convicted prisoners to work. It also notes the Government's statement in its first report that the work of convicts is organized in economic units of penitentiaries, as well as on sites outside penitentiaries. The Government indicates that, up to now, all this work has been organized in state enterprises. Please state what guarantees are provided to ensure that convicted prisoners are not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations. Please also supply copies of the Law on Execution of Criminal Sanctions and of the Regulations on Remuneration for Work of Sentenced Persons, to which the Government refers in its first report, as well as copies of contracts concluded between penitentiary institutions and enterprises concerned governing the work of convicts in enterprises outside penitentiaries.

Article 2, paragraph 2(d). The Committee notes the provisions of article 17 of the Constitution concerning the restriction of individual freedoms and rights during a state of war or in cases of emergency; this article stipulates that the extent of such restrictions must correspond to the nature of the danger. It also notes sections 6 to 9 of the Defence Law which contain provisions concerning the obligation to perform labour in case of war or immediate danger to the independence and integrity of the country. Please indicate what guarantees are provided to ensure that the power to call up labour during a state of emergency is limited to what is strictly required by the exigencies of the situation and that work exacted in case of emergency shall cease as soon as the circumstances that endanger the population or its normal living conditions no longer exist.

Article 2, paragraph 2(e). Please indicate whether minor communal services may be exacted, in the direct interest of the community, as normal civic obligations of its members, and if so, whether the members of the community or their direct representatives have the right to be consulted in regard to the need for such services.

Article 25. The Committee notes that the Government refers in its first report to a penal provision punishing the illegal compulsion to act against a person's will (section 51 of the Penal Law). It would be grateful if the Government would supply information on the application of this provision in practice, indicating, in particular, whether it is used to punish the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour. Please furnish information on any legal proceedings which have been instituted as a consequence of the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour and on any penalties imposed.