Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Algeria (Ratification: 1962)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Civic service. For several years the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the incompatibility with the Convention of sections 32, 33, 34 and 38 of Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984 concerning civic service, as amended in 1986 and 2006. Under the aforementioned provisions, it is possible to require persons who have completed a course of higher education or training in branches or specializations considered a priority for the economic and social development of the country to perform a period of civic service ranging from one to four years before being able to exercise an occupation or obtain employment. The branches in question were at first limited to medicine, pharmacy and dental surgery but now the only category concerned is that of doctors specializing in public health as a response to the need to bring essential specialist care to the population of isolated regions. Under section 2 of Ordinance No. 06-06 of 15 July 2006, civic service may also be performed in private sector health establishments. The Government previously indicated that civic service represents the contribution of the persons on whom it is imposed to the economic, social and cultural development of the country, adding that it is a national and moral duty of specialized doctors vis-à-vis the population groups living in the regions of the far south, the south and the High Plateau. These specialists enjoy an attractive system of compensation ranging from 100 to 150 per cent of their principal remuneration along with other advantages and, as a result, many specialists volunteer to work in these regions.

The Committee notes that the Government stresses in its last report that specialized doctors help to ensure the health protection of remote population groups, a mission that may be regarded as the equivalent to responding to situations of force majeure. It adds that the question of civic service was examined at the national health meetings in June 2014, which brought together health sector stakeholders and the social partners. Discussions were held on the reform of the national health system, particularly through revision of the arrangements for health coverage in the regions of the south and the High Plateau.

The Committee recalls that, under sections 32 and 38 of Act No. 84-10, any refusal to perform civic service and the resignation of the person concerned without a valid reason results in that person being banned from self-employment, from setting up business as a trader, artisan or promoter of private economic investment, any offence being punishable under section 243 of the Penal Code. Similarly, under sections 33 and 34 of the Act, all private employers are required to ensure, prior to engaging any workers, that applicants are not subject to civic service or that they can produce documentation proving that they have completed it. Furthermore, any private employer who knowingly employs a citizen who has evaded civic service is liable to imprisonment and a fine. Hence, although the persons required to perform civic service enjoy working conditions that are comparable to those of regular workers in the public sector (remuneration, seniority, promotion, retirement, etc.), they engage in this service under the threat of being denied access to any independent professional activity or to any form of employment in the private sector in the event of their refusal, which means that civic service falls within the concept of compulsory labour within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Convention. The Committee trusts that the discussions regarding civic service, to which the Government already referred in the past, and the discussions on the reform of the health system will result in the adoption of effective incentives that will enable the compulsory nature of civic service – which now only concerns doctors specializing in public health – and the accompanying penalties to be removed. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will be in a position to announce in its next report that Act No. 84-10 of 11 February 1984 concerning civic service has been repealed or amended, in order to ensure its conformity with the Convention.

Article 2(2)(a). National service. Referring to its previous comments, the Committee notes the adoption of the National Service Act (No. 14-06 of 9 August 2014), which repeals Ordinance No. 74-103 of 15 November 1974 issuing the Code on national service. The Committee notes with interest that, under section 4 of the abovementioned Act, compulsory national service “is undertaken in military form within the structures of the People’s National Army” and that the new law makes no reference to citizens’ participation in the functioning of various sectors of the economy and administration. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the regulations for the implementation of the National Service Act have been adopted. It hopes that on this occasion the provisions of the Order of 1 July 1987, under which university conscripts serve in priority sectors of national activity after three months of military training, will be formally repealed.

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