Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Syrian Arab Republic (Ratification: 1958)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Penal sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. For a number of years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to certain provisions under which penal sanctions involving compulsory prison labour, pursuant to sections 46 and 51 of the Penal Code (Act No. 148 of 1949), may be imposed in situations covered by the Convention, namely:

• – Penal Code: section 282 (insult of a foreign State); 287 (exaggerated news tending to harm the prestige of the State); 288 (participation in a political or social association of an international character without permission); and sections 335 and 336 (seditious assembly, and meetings liable to disturb public tranquility); and
• – the Press Act No. 156 of 1960: sections 15, 16 and 55 (publishing a newspaper for which an authorization has not been granted by the Council of Ministers).

The Committee also previously noted that the abovementioned provisions are enforceable with sanctions of imprisonment for a term of up to one year which involves an obligation to perform labour in prison.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the Press Act of 1960 had been repealed and replaced by the Media Act No. 108 of 2011, under which the penalty of imprisonment has been replaced by a fine. The Government also indicates that a draft Penal Code has been prepared and is in the process of being adopted. The Committee expresses the firm hope that, during the process of the adoption of the new Penal Code, the Government will take all the necessary measures to ensure that persons who express political views or views opposed to the established political, social or economic system benefit from the protection afforded by the Convention and that, in any event, penal sanctions involving compulsory prison labour cannot be imposed on them.

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

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.