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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Honduras (Ratification: 1957)

The Committee notes the observations of the Honduran National Business Council (COHEP), received on 29 August 2025.

Article 25 of the Convention. Application of penal sanctions against other forced labour practices. With reference to the measures adopted to improve knowledge of the offences criminalized by sections 139, 221 and 292 of the Penal code, the Government indicates that the Orlan Arturo Chávez Inspection Training School in 2024, inspectors of the Unit to Combat Trafficking in Persons (UTESCTP) and international experts strengthened the capacities of investigators from the Technical Criminal Investigation Agency (ATIC), analysists engaged in the compilation of information, experts and regional inspectors with a view to reinforcing their knowledge, not only on the crime of trafficking in persons (section 219 of Decree No. 93-202), but also on investigation requirements and technical and scientific evidence in this type of case.

The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken to strengthen knowledge of the offences criminalized in sections 139, 221 and 292 of the Penal Code for labour inspectors, the police, prosecutors and magistrates, and to raise the awareness of society concerning the practices involved in these crimes. While recalling that Article 25 of the Convention provides that the exaction of forced labour shall be punishable by penalties that are really adequate and are strictly enforced, the Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on the investigations carried out and the judicial proceedings initiated, and on the penalties imposed under these provisions.

Article 2(2)(c). 1. Prison labour for private enterprises. The Committee takes due note of the Government’s indication that in practice prisoners who work for private enterprises in prisons give their free, formal and informed consent for the work. The Government indicates that there are workspaces in the various prisons, such as carpentry, cutting and tailoring, beauty, cobbling, hammock making and fishing net manufacture workshops, agricultural and stock-raising projects, which are implemented by civil society organizations.

The Committee also notes the COHEP’s indication that the 2024 report of the National Penitentiary Institute (INP) provides information on productive projects carried out in ten prisons, with 695 participants in the fourth quarter, with a total of 2,950 participants by the end of December, of whom 2,770 were in the agricultural project and 180 in the sheep project. The Committee also notes Legislative Decree No. 56 of 2024, which provides for the conclusion of strategic alliances with the central administration, the National Vocational Training Institute (INFOP), private enterprise, civil society and international cooperation organizations.

The Committee recalls that work carried out by prisoners for private enterprises may be compatible with the Convention only when the necessary safeguards exist to ensure that the prisoners concerned offer themselves voluntarily, by giving their free and informed consent and without being subjected to pressure or the menace of any penalty, and where the work is performed under conditions which approximate a free labour relationship (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paras 279 and 291).

In this regard, the Committee recalls that in Honduras prison work is compulsory and may be undertaken for the benefit of natural persons or private associations (section 75 of the Act on the national prison system of 2012, section 5 of the Act of 2015 respecting work by detainees and the detention of highly dangerous and aggressive persons and section 75-A of Legislative Decree No. 56 of 2024). The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the manner in which in practice prisoners who work for private enterprises in prisons provide their free, formal and informed consent to the work. It requests the Government to provide examples in this regard, such as contracts, agreements or any other type of document concluded between prisoners and the private enterprise or prison administration.