Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Libya (Ratification: 1961)

The Committee notes with regret 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 following matters raised in its previous comments: 1. In its earlier comments the Committee noted the Government's indications that the restrictions placed on the freedom of public servants and members of the armed forces to leave their employment under the provisions relating to resignation contained in section 71 of Act No. 40 of 1974 respecting service in the armed forces and in section 108 of Act No. 55 of 1976 respecting the public service, which are contrary to the Convention, had been submitted to the competent authorities with a view to their modification. The Committee noted from the Government's latest report received in 1995 that the decision to submit the above-mentioned provisions to the competent authorities for amendment has been confirmed. It therefore trusts that the provisions concerned will now be amended so as to ensure that the various categories of persons in the service of the State are free to leave the service at their own initiative within a reasonable period of time, either at specified intervals or with previous notice. It hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to supply a copy of the provisions adopted to this end. 2. With reference to the discussion which took place in the Conference Committee in June 1992, the Committee recalled the statement made by the Worker members, regarding the freedom of workers to leave their employment, that the information on the situation of Sri Lankan women employed in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was disquieting. It noted that the Conference Committee expressed the hope that the Government would keep the ILO informed by means of a report containing detailed information. The Committee observes that no information on the subject has been received from the Government so far. It therefore reiterates its request to the Government to supply full and detailed information on this matter, as well as copy of the regulations applicable to domestic workers under section 1(b) of the Labour Code. 3. Referring to the general observation on the Convention made in its report to the 87th Session of the ILC (1999), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information as to the present position in law and practice as regards:

(i) whether there are prisons administered by private concerns, profit-making or otherwise;

(ii) whether any private prison contractors deploy prisoners to work either inside or outside prison premises, either for the account of the contractor or for that of another enterprise;

(iii) whether private parties are admitted by the prison authorities into prison premises of any kind for the purpose of engaging prisoners in employment;

(iv) whether employment of prisoners outside prison premises, either for a public authority or for a private enterprise, is allowed;

(v) the conditions in which employment under any of the above conditions takes place, in respect of remuneration (indicating the level and comparing it with minimum wage normally applicable to such work), benefits accruing (such as pension rights and workers' compensation), observance of occupational safety and health legislation and other conditions of employment (e.g. through labour inspection), and how those conditions are determined;

(vi) what the source of any remuneration is (whether from public or private funds) and for what purposes it must or may be applied (e.g. for the personal use of the prisoner or if it is subject to compulsory deductions);

(vii) for whose benefit is the product of prisoners' work and any surplus profit deriving from it, after deduction of overheads, and how it is disbursed;

(viii) how the consent of the prisoners concerned is guaranteed, so that t is free from the menace of any penalty, including any loss of privileges or other disadvantages following from a refusal to work.