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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ratification: 1960)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. 1. Trafficking in persons. With reference to the measures adopted to combat trafficking in persons and raise the awareness of displaced persons concerning this risk, the Government indicates in its report that the Coordinating Authority for Youth, Action to Combat Violence against Women and Trafficking in Persons (hereinafter, the Coordinating Authority) has replaced the Agency for the Prevention and Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. It specifies that, through its Plan of Action 2023–2024, the Coordinating Authority has structured its activities around four pillars, namely prevention, protection, prosecution and partnership. The Coordinating Authority has initiated several partnerships with a view to improving action to combat trafficking, including with international organizations, national institutions and civil society organizations active at the local level. The Government adds that awareness-raising measures have been implemented, particularly through advertisements on the radio and online journals and a communication campaign in Kinshasa. It indicates that over 95,000 Internet users have been informed of activities to combat trafficking in persons through online journals.

The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that, in 2023, the Coordinating Authority received 541 alerts concerning cases of trafficking in persons which led to the identification of 268 potential victims. Moreover, 174 victims (mainly women and children) have benefited from holistic support measures. In addition, 90 victims brought charges against 51 persons, 18 of whom were convicted, including sentences of penal servitude of five years and over and the payment of compensation to the victims. The Coordinating Authority provided legal and judicial assistance to each of the victims. The Government adds that over 6,000 front-line actors benefited from training workshops to reinforce their capacities to combat trafficking in persons.

The Committee also notes with interest the adoption of Act No. 22/067 of 26 December 2022 amending and supplementing the Decree of 30 January 1940 issuing the Penal Code in relation to the prevention and repression of trafficking in persons, which criminalizes trafficking in persons for both labour and sexual exploitation. Under the terms of new section 68 bis of the Penal Code, as amended, trafficking in persons is punishable by a sentence of penal servitude of between 10 and 20 years and a fine, and under section 68 duodecies, the crime of establishing, leading or being associated with a criminal group for the purposes of trafficking in persons is punishable by a sentence of penal servitude for life.

The Committee takes due note of the action taken by the Government and encourages it to continue its efforts to combat trafficking in persons, including through the implementation of a plan of action. Referring to its observation, in which it notes that around 7.8 million people are displaced in the country, the Committee emphasizes the need to afford particular attention to these people, who are in a situation of vulnerability in relation to the risk of trafficking. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in this regard, and on the activities carried out in this respect by the Coordinating Authority for Youth and Action to Combat Violence against Women and Trafficking in Persons. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the victims of trafficking who have been identified, the protection and assistance measures from which they have benefited and the number of investigations carried out, prosecutions launched and convictions obtained under sections 68 bis and 68 duodecies of the Penal Code, as amended.

2. Vulnerability of Pygmies to the imposition of forced labour. Further to its previous comments, the Committee takes due note of the Government’s indication that Act No. 22/030 of 15 July 2022 on the protection and promotion of the rights of indigenous Pygmy peoples has been promulgated. The Government specifies that the Act officially recognizes the rights of indigenous Pygmy peoples and their protection against all forms of discrimination and violence. The Committee notes that the Act provides that the State shall take measures, in consultation and cooperation with the indigenous Pygmy peoples, to combat prejudice and eliminate discrimination against them (section 24). The Act also explicitly prohibits their reduction to slavery and the imposition of forced labour or any other form of exploitation on indigenous Pygmy peoples (sections 9 and 51).

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities carried out to bring Act No. 22/030 to the knowledge of indigenous peoples and the measures established to enable them to assert their rights. Referring to its comments under the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), the Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the Act in raising public awareness, combating discrimination against indigenous Pygmy peoples and accordingly reducing their vulnerability to any situation of exploitation involving forced labour.

Articles 1(1) and 2(2). Repeal of legislation. Exaction of work for national development purposes, as a means of collecting unpaid taxes, from persons in pretrial detention, and in cases of vagrancy. For a number of years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to formally repeal several legislative texts and regulations that are contrary to the Convention, namely:

• Act No. 76-011 of 21 May 1976 on national development and its implementing order, Departmental Order No. 00748/BCE/AGRI/78 of 11 June 1976 on the performance of civic tasks in the context of the National Food Production Programme: these texts, which aim to increase productivity in all sectors of national life, require, subject to criminal penalties, all able-bodied adult persons who are not already considered to be making their contribution by reason of their employment, to carry out agricultural and other development work, as decided by the Government;
• Legislative Ordinance No. 71/087 of 14 September 1971 on the minimum personal contribution, of which sections 18 to 21 provide for imprisonment involving compulsory labour, upon the decision of the chief of the local community or the area commissioner, of taxpayers who have defaulted on their minimum personal contributions;
• Ordinance No. 15/APAJ of 20 January 1938 on the prison system in indigenous districts, which allows work to be exacted from persons in pretrial detention; and
• the Decree on vagrancy and begging of 23 May 1896, under which persons found engaging in vagrancy or begging may be imprisoned and subjected to compulsory labour in the general interest.

The Committee notes that the Government confines itself to indicating that section 2 of the Labour Code of 2002, as amended, prohibits forced labour, and that any contradictory provision is tacitly repealed. Noting that part of section 332 of the Labour Code repeals and replaces all legislative provisions on labour that were previously in force, and also the specific nature of the laws and regulations referred to above, the Committee considers that, with a view to ensuring legal security, it would be appropriate to repeal them formally. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to explicitly repeal the above texts.

Article 2(1)(c). Prison labour performed for private entities. The Committee notes that, under the terms of section 37 of Act No. 23/028 of 15 June 2023 determining the fundamental principles of the prison system, a person who is convicted to a sentence of imprisonment can benefit from measures for the adjustment of the sentence, including placement outside the prison. In accordance with section 38, placement outside the prison consists of the employment of a convicted person outside the prison on work performed for the benefit of public establishments or private associations. Section 44 provides that the application of measures for the adjustment of sentences shall be determined by regulation. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which it is ensured that persons convicted to a sentence of imprisonment who are placed outside the prison for the benefit of private entities formally give their free and informed consent to such placement. Please also provide detailed information on the conditions of work of placement outside the prison, and a copy of any regulations adopted on this subject.