Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Sudan (Ratification: 1957)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Sudan (Ratification: 2021)

Abolition of slave-like practices

1. For a number of years, the Committee has been examining, in relation to the application of the Convention, information concerning the practices of abduction, trafficking and forced labour affecting thousands of women and children in the southern regions of the country where an armed conflict is under way. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken with a view to eliminating the exaction of forced labour and to ensure that, in accordance with the Convention, penal sanctions are imposed on perpetrators.

2. The Committee has noted the information contained in the Government’s report and its annexes, including supplementary information on the field work activities of the Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC) supplied in October 2003, as well as the discussion that took place in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2002. It has also noted the observations received in September 2002 and September 2003 from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) concerning the application of the Convention by Sudan, which were transmitted to the Government in October 2002 and September 2003 for such comments as might be considered appropriate. The Committee observes that no such comments have been received from the Government so far and trusts that the Government will communicate its comments on these serious issues in its next report.

Conference Committee on the Application of Standards

3. In its conclusions adopted in June 2002, the Conference Committee again expressed its concern at the serious situation in Sudan. While noting the willingness of the Government to collaborate with the various international institutions and the plan of action which the Government had formulated for the eradication of forced labour practices, the Conference Committee was bound to observe that all the information provided, inter alia, by workers’ organizations, the UN Special Rapporteur and the members of the Committee, demonstrated the persistence of forced labour in Sudan and the inadequacy of the measures taken by the Government to combat this situation. It noted in particular the lack of penalties imposed on those responsible and urged the Government to establish and strengthen the machinery for prevention, identification and punishment. The Conference Committee noted the Government’s refusal to accept an ILO direct contacts mission and again decided to place this case in a special paragraph of its report as a case of continued failure to implement the Convention.

United Nations bodies

  Special Rapporteur

4. The Committee has noted the interim report of the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Sudan (UN document A/57/326), transmitted to the General Assembly on 20 August 2002, as well as the report issued on 6 January 2003. The reports include the findings of his visit to Sudan in February-March and September-October 2002, as well as an update on the overall situation based on information collected since then. The Committee has noted that the Special Rapporteur recorded with appreciation a number of steps taken which may lead to an improvement of the human rights situation in the Sudan. He observed, however, that in general, in spite of the commitments made, the overall human rights situation has not improved. As regards abductions, the Special Rapporteur noted that, in an attempt to strengthen the Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC), the President of the Republic had moved the Committee directly under his supervision, while providing it with full-time chairmanship and appropriate resources. However, according to the report, no steps had been taken on the prosecution of any person found guilty of new abductions and no specific policy had been put in place aimed at discouraging murahalleen from practising abductions. The Special Rapporteur called upon the Government to do more with a view to eradicating abductions and to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice, thus ending the impunity from which they had benefited so far.

5. The Committee has noted that, in its resolution of 19 April 2002 on the situation of human rights in Sudan (E/CN.4/RES/2002/16), the United Nations Commission on Human Rights again expressed its deep concern about "the abduction of women and children by murahalleen groups and other government militias and their subjection to forced labour or similar conditions" and "continuing violations of human rights in areas under the control of the Government of Sudan, in particular". The Committee has also noted the statement of the Special Rapporteur to the UN Commission on Human Rights in 2003, in which he pointed out that, "in spite of some new commitments, so far human rights abuses have not decreased neither in the north nor in southern Sudan and the overall human rights situation has not improved significantly", and that some sources describe CEAWC as "massively dysfunctional".

Comments from workers’ organizations

6. In the observations of 2002 and 2003 referred to above, the ICFTU refers to a report (issued on 22 May 2002) of the Eminent Persons Group, which consisted of eight members from the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Norway and France. The Group has visited the country to investigate slavery, abductions and forced servitude. The report contains references to estimates of the total number of people abducted made by the CEAWC and Dinka Chiefs Committee (14,000), as well as by UNICEF and Save the Children (between 10,000 and 17,000). The ICFTU concludes that the previously made estimate of between 5,000 and 14,000 is consistent with those made by other organizations and strongly supports a recommendation made by the Eminent Persons Group that systematic field based research carried out by independent researchers is still needed.

7. The ICFTU refers to a communication from the CEAWC to Anti-Slavery International dated 30 August 2001, in which it was noted that the number of abductees documented by CEAWC remained at only 1,200; it alleges that only 34 women and children have been released and returned home since September 2001, which shows that the process of the identification and release of abducted women and children has been extremely slow. Referring to the information contained in the statement by the Special Rapporteur to the 58th Session of the Commission on Human Rights and in the report of the Eminent Persons Group referred to above, the ICFTU alleges that the Government has not taken adequate steps to prevent further abductions and particularly has failed to bring forces, fighting on its side, under strict military control. It also refers to the statement in the Eminent Persons Group’s report, according to which, with regard to slavery and abductions, there has been no prosecution of a criminal case in the Sudanese courts during the past 16 years. As regards the announcement by the Minister of Justice, in November 2001, of the setting up of two tribunals in West Kordufan to prosecute those responsible for abductions, the ICFTU referred to the Eminent Persons Group’s statement in its report that, to the best of its knowledge, at the end of May 2002 the courts had not yet been established. While welcoming the Government’s commitment to strengthening and supporting the work of the CEAWC, the ICFTU expresses the view that the CEAWC’s stated intention of accomplishing its mandate in a one-year time frame appears extremely optimistic and shares concern of the Eminent Persons Group that it underestimates the scale and nature of the problem.

8. In its comments received in 2003, the ICFTU refers to a report published in January 2003 by CEAWC’s chairman, which states that approximately 2,000 cases of abductions have been documented since 1999, and that CEAWC plans "to document and reunify the remaining 11,500 cases according to the estimates of the Dinka Committee within one year from availability of funds". The ICFTU is of the opinion that, given the comments by the Special Rapporteur referred to above and the limited progress made by CEAWC in the last two years, the assessment that more than 11,000 cases could be identified and reunified in one year seems entirely unrealistic.

Government’s response

9. In its 2002 report, the Government reiterates its condemnation of all forms of slavery and forced labour, as well as similar acts considered to be crimes penalized by the Penal Code. The Committee has noted the adoption of Presidential Decree No. 14 of 2002 on the re-establishment of the CEAWC, which attached its work directly to the President of the Republic and gave it a mandate to investigate reports which point to the occurrence of abduction cases and to prosecute any person suspected of committing, supporting or participating in the abductions of women and children. The Decree provides for a possibility to establish similar committees at the province level. In the supplementary information on CEAWC field work activities supplied to the ILO in October 2003, the Government informs of the retrieval and documentation of 506 abductees through more than 20 field missions to many locations in South Durfur and West Kordofan. The Committee has also noted that CEAWC has prepared an annual project plan of action for the retrieval of the remaining abductees to be completed within 12 months from the date of availability of the required funds. The Government also indicates that abduction has stopped completely. However, the ICFTU states in its 2003 communication that the fact that CEAWC has not received any new cases of abductions does not indicate that abductions have stopped, since CEAWC does not have the capacity to gather information on abductions and investigate reports and is therefore not in a position to document new cases unless they are brought directly to it. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the application of Decree No. 14 in practice, indicating, in particular, the number of abducted persons identified and released and the number of perpetrators prosecuted, as well as the information on practical implementation of the CEAWC’s plan of action referred to above. Please also indicate whether similar committees have been established at the province level, and if so, provide information on their practical functioning.

10. The Committee has noted the Government’s indications concerning the setting up by the Minister of Justice of special courts for the prosecution of abductors of women and children. Referring to the above allegations of the ICFTU on this subject, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the functioning of these courts in practice, indicating the number of courts established and the number of prosecutions made, and supplying sample copies of court decisions.

11. While welcoming some of the positive measures taken by the Government and the Government’s expressed renewed commitment to resolve the problem, the Committee urges the Government to pursue its efforts with vigour and to take a stronger stand to combat the practice of forced labour through abduction of women and children. The Committee trusts that the Government will soon indicate the concrete results obtained from measures taken.

Article 25 of the Convention

12. The Committee previously noted that, under article 162 of the Criminal Code, abduction is punishable by ten years’ imprisonment and requested the Government to take measures to ensure that, in accordance with the Convention, penal sanctions are imposed on perpetrators. However, in its 2002 report, the Government informed the Committee about tribal conciliation meetings held among the various tribes concerned by abduction cases in an attempt to eradicate the phenomenon of mutual abduction within a framework of peaceful coexistence among tribes. The Government expressed the view that any prosecution that may be made against abductors at the present stage would lead to the collapse of the recommendations of those meetings.

13. The Committee observes that refraining from prosecuting abductors could have the effect of ensuring impunity for abductors who exploit forced labour. It recalls that, under Article 25 of the Convention, "the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour shall be punishable as a penal offence, and it shall be an obligation on any Member ratifying this Convention to ensure that the penalties imposed by law are really adequate and are strictly enforced". The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures in the near future to ensure that legal proceedings are instituted against perpetrators and penal sanctions are imposed on persons convicted of having exacted forced labour, as required by the Convention.

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 92nd Session and to reply in detail to the present comments in 2004.]