Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Cuba (Ratification: 1953)

The Committee notes the observations provided by the Independent Trade Union Association of Cuba (ASIC) on 30 August 2024.

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Criminalization of forced labour. The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government in its report according to which Act No. 151 issued a new Penal Code. The Committee notes with interest that: (i) section 363.1 establishes a penalty of imprisonment of from seven to 15 years for trafficking in persons for labour or sexual exploitation, forced or compulsory labour, forced marriage, begging, slave-like practices, servitude or other illicit activities contrary to human dignity; and (ii) section 369.1 provides for a sentence of imprisonment of from one to three years for any person who compels another person to perform work or provide a service against their will or under threat of harm to that person or a close family member.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1). Participation by Cuban health professionals in international cooperation programmes. The Committee previously referred to the situation of Cuban doctors who undertake voluntary missions to other countries within the framework of bilateral agreements concluded by the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba and the Ministries of Health of the countries concerned, who are reported to be subject to restrictions on their freedom of movement in the host countries and do not receive the full wages agreed in the cooperation agreement. The Committee requested information on the measures taken to guarantee that the conditions of work within the framework of these agreements are respected, the dispute resolution complaint mechanisms established and the penalties imposed in the event of doctors leaving their missions.

In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that, at any time when carrying out the agreed services, doctors are free to end the individual labour contract and return to Cuba or to opt for another migratory situation. Selection for the provision of health services abroad is based on the free and spontaneous will of the professionals concerned. With reference to the complaints made by doctors concerning abusive practices, the Government specifies that no information has been received on this matter through official channels. The Committee notes that the Government has not indicated the mechanisms to which doctors may have recourse in the event of failure to comply with the working conditions that have been accepted, nor on whether the penalties envisaged in section 176.1 of the Penal Code have been applied to doctors who have decided to leave their mission in a foreign country.

The Committee also notes the reiterated indication by the ASIC in its observations that professionals who are sent abroad, who number 50,000 doctors and other specialists, have been the victims of exploitation, labour and sexual harassment, restrictions on their freedom, constant surveillance and the retention of most of their earnings. It adds that there are no mechanisms to defend the rights of these professionals at any stage of the programme. The Penal Code also permits the punishment of workers who decide to leave the external services programme and at least 45,000 professionals have been forcibly separated from their families. In this regard, the ASIC refers to specific cases of persons outside the country who are reported to have been victims of precarious labour conditions.

The Committee further notes that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), in its 2024 annual report, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, including its causes and consequences, in a 2023 communication addressed to the Government, referred to reports of serious violations of human rights experienced by health personnel, who face conditions of labour exploitation, inadequate wages, various forms of harassment, pressure and severe penalties for leaving their missions, including sentences of imprisonment of up to eight years (AL CUB 2/2023). The Committee notes that, in a communication in January 2024, the Government replied that the provision of professional services abroad is protected by a legal instrument, under which there is a legal relationship between the foreign party which requests health services and the State of Cuba. This legal relationship is governed by the clauses of an individual employment contract, which provide that the occurrence of any act which implies a manifestation of forced labour against the professional providing the services shall result in the revocation of the contract.

The Committee, while noting the Government’s indication concerning the absence of complaints made by doctors in relation to abusive practices and the possibility of the revocation of the contract in the event of practices involving forced labour, notes that under the legislation officials or employees responsible for performing any mission in a foreign country can be penalized if they leave the mission, refuse to return, or transfer to another country against the explicit orders of the Government (section 176.1 of the Penal Code).

The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that Cuban health professionals who provide services abroad within the framework of cooperation agreements concluded by Cuba with other countries have access to effective mechanisms without the risk of reprisals: (i) in the event of failure to comply with the agreed conditions of work or any violation of their labour rights in the host country; and (ii) in the event that they decide to end their mission before the agreed time, with an indication of the procedures required for that purpose. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the number of doctors who have made complaints concerning abusive practices and the measures taken in this regard, as well as the number of professionals who have terminated the provision of services abroad early, have returned to the country or have emigrated.

Article 2(2)(a). Purely military character of the work performed in the context of compulsory military service. The Committee notes that the ASIC refers, in its observations, to the Youth Labour Army (Ejército Juvenil del Trabajo – EJT), indicating that it is a military institution that forms part of the Revolutionary Armed forces (FAR) and is organized to undertake productive activities in the interests of the State. It alleges that its members are compelled to perform productive work, such as construction, agriculture and maintenance, without the possibility of leaving for two years, and that they are not provided with training or protection, suffer multiple injuries and receive low wages.

The Committee notes that Act No. 75 of 1994 (the National Defence Act) lays down the duty of men between the ages of 17 and 28 years to perform a two years Active Military Service (SMA) and determines a period of an additional two months for persons assigned to EJT for preparation for combat. The Ministry of the FAR may decide that the period of performance of SMA may be replaced by the performance of the service in alternative forms, on condition that the corresponding military preparation is ensured (section 67). It also provides that the work included in the EJT’s missions includes productive activities in the interests of the social and economic development of the country, as well as measures for the protection of the environment and the rational use of natural resources (section 45).

The Committee recalls that work exacted from conscripts within the context of compulsory military service is excluded from the scope of the Convention on condition that it is of a purely military character (Article 2(2)(a)). The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which citizens are assigned to the Youth Labour Army (EJT), the number of persons who perform that service, the work undertaken and the consequences of refusing to perform the service in the EJT or of ending the service before it is completed.

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