Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1999, publiée 88ème session CIT (2000)

Convention (n° 29) sur le travail forcé, 1930 - Libéria (Ratification: 1931)

The Committee notes the Government's report.

I. In its previous observation, the Committee referred to a communication of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, dated 22 October 1998, by which a report on forced child labour in south-eastern Liberia was sent. That report, dated September 1998, had been prepared by Focus and the Justice and Peace Commission (JPC), two local organizations.

The Committee notes the Government's comments on that communication. It notes the report of the special investigation committee sent by the Government in May 1998 to investigate alleged forced labour in the south-eastern region. It notes that the special investigation committee did not find or establish any conclusive or physical evidence to confirm acts of forced labour in the region. The Committee however observes that the special investigation committee recommended in its report that a national committee be established to trace and reunite displaced women and children that were taken captive during the war and also that a committee be sent to investigate allegations of forced labour and hostage situations particularly in some parts of Grand Kru and Nimba Country. The investigation committee further recommended that, in order to enhance the National Reconciliation and Reunification Programmes, "local authorities should be directed to encourage their citizens to report any acts of alleged forced labour, intimidation, harassment, maltreatment for appropriate investigation and corrective measures".

In their report, Focus and JPC found that the case of forced labour was "a spillover of the gross abuses that characterized the civil war" and that it was a common practice of ex-combatants (mainly former commanders) of former warring factions who chose to take advantage of the extremely difficult economic situation in the region. The report stated that there are practices of exploitative and forced labour and captivity taking place in that part of the country, chiefly in the Government Camp area in Sinoe Country. The report also mentioned chief Solomon Moses (Chief Solo) in Sinoe Country and Chief Gonda, in Grand Gedeh Country, as alleged perpetrators, both of them being heads of Joint Security Forces. It mentioned the difficult situation of socially abandoned children who had to fend for themselves and orphans who, although in the care of some adult, "due to financial difficulties were made to perform tasks against their will" so as to "raise funds for their support". The Committee notes that in their recommendations, Focus and JPC urge the Government to address the plight of children in the south-east, especially that of children held hostage by adults and used as a source of forced and captive labour.

The Committee notes that both reports found that the south-eastern part of the country was in a grave humanitarian crisis and an extreme state of poverty and that any reported situations of exploitation were due to the consequences of the war. It further notes from the Government's latest report that the region is cut off to a very large extent from the rest of the country because of the bad state of the roads, that the limited resources available do not allow for the immediate building of the needed hospitals and schools and that because of the economic situation in the region, there are hardly any alternatives to farming, small-scale mining and other activities which require massive and cheap labour.

The Committee understands from the documents before it that the Government as well as Focus and JPC have independently sent teams to investigate the situation and report on it. It hopes that the Government will encourage joint efforts and cooperation between governmental bodies and non-governmental organizations at all levels with a view to the effective elimination of all forms of compulsory labour, including that of children, and that the Government will supply full information on measures taken to this end, as well as on action taken on the following recommendations of the special investigation committee:

(a) the establishment of a national committee to trace and reunite displaced women and children taken captive during the war;

(b) the sending of a committee to investigate allegations of forced labour and hostage situations particularly in Grand Kru and Nimba Country;

(c) directing local authorities to encourage the citizens to report any acts of alleged forced labour, intimidation, harassment, maltreatment, for appropriate investigation and corrective measures, in the framework of the National Reconciliation and Reunification Programmes.

The Committee furthermore hopes that the Government will take specific action to investigate the situation in the south-east as regards practices of forced labour, including allegations that children are held hostage by adults as captive labour, and more particularly the allegations that forced labour was being imposed in the Government Camp area in Sinoe Country and by heads of Joint Security Forces in Sinoe Country and Grand Gedeh Country. The Committee hopes that the Government will supply full information on the action taken and the results.

II. Article 25 of the Convention. The Committee recalls that under Article 25 of the Convention, the illegal exaction of forced labour shall be punishable as a penal offence and it shall be an obligation on the State to ensure that the penalties imposed are really adequate and are strictly enforced. It notes from the Government's latest report that the use of forced or compulsory labour is to be held a crime. The Committee hopes that the necessary action to give effect to Article 25 of the Convention will be completed in the near future and that the Government will send the text of the Act as soon as it is adopted.

The Committee is addressing a direct request to the Government on other points.