Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2013, Publicación: 103ª reunión CIT (2014)

Convenio sobre la abolición del trabajo forzoso, 1957 (núm. 105) - Vanuatu (Ratificación : 2006)

The Committee notes 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 matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Imposition of prison sentences involving the obligation to work as a punishment for expressing certain political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. The Committee notes that sentences of imprisonment (involving the obligation to work under section 23 of the Correctional Services Act (1983)) may be imposed under various provisions of the Penal Code in circumstances covered by Article 1(a) of the Convention, namely:

• – section 65: prohibition of seditious statements;
• – section 66: prohibition of seditious publications;
• – sections 68, 69 and 70: assembly and riot;
• – section 120: defamation.

The Committee recalls that Article 1(a) of the Convention prohibits the use of forced or compulsory labour as punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. In this regard, it refers to paragraph 154 of its General Survey of 2007 on the eradication of forced labour, in which it emphasizes that the Convention does not prohibit punishment by penalties involving the compulsory labour of persons who use violence, incite to violence or engage in preparatory acts aimed at violence. However, sanctions involving compulsory labour fall within the scope of the Convention where they enforce a prohibition of the expression of views or of opposition to the established political, social or economic system, whether such prohibition is imposed by law or by a discretionary administrative decision.

In order to ascertain that no sentences involving the obligation to work are imposed on persons who, without having recourse to violence, express political opinions or views opposed to the established political, social or economic system, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of the above provisions in practice, supplying copies of the court decisions defining or illustrating their scope.

The Committee requests the Government to supply, with its next report, copies of the legislation in force in the following fields: laws governing the press and other media; laws governing political parties and associations and laws governing assemblies, meetings and demonstrations.

Article 1(c). Punishment for breaches of labour discipline. In the absence of the legislation on civil servants, the Committee requests the Government to supply copies of legislative texts governing civil servants’ obligations, so that it could examine the nature of disciplinary measures that may be imposed on employees.

Article 1(d). Penalties imposed for participating in strikes. The Committee observes that section 25 defines and provides for a list of essential services and that the Minister may declare by Order any other service, to be an essential service. It also notes that under section 29, the Minister may control and regulate the essential service during the period of emergency and for that purpose may exercise all the rights of an employer of labour in that essential service. Moreover, subsection (5) of section 29 established that any person who fails to comply with any direction or prohibition under this section shall be guilty of an offence. Similarly, the Committee observes that section 33A regulates procedures to be followed in case of a strike, and that by virtue of subsection (2) of section 33A any person contravening or failing to comply with any requirements of the procedure, shall be guilty of an offence. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate what are the penalties applicable pursuant to section 29(5) and section 33A(2) of the Trade Disputes Act.