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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Congo (Ratification: 1960)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Freedom of career military officers to leave their service. The Committee notes that, according to section 100 of Act No. 10-2021 of 27 January 2021 on the General Regulations of Military Personnel and Gendarmes, the resignation of military personnel may be refused by the competent authority in the interests of the service. In addition, such resignation may only be accepted on exceptional grounds. The Committee observes that, under the above provisions, a request for resignation made by the military official may be accepted or refused, and that the legislation does not establish the criteria for deciding whether to grant a request for resignation, nor the period of time within which the competent authority may decide on the request for resignation. It recalls that, according to the Convention, career military personnel should have the right to leave the service in peacetime within a reasonable period (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, para. 290). The Committee requests the Government to indicate how the right of career military personnel to leave the service in peacetime, within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals, or with previous notice, is guaranteed. It also requests the Government to indicate the criteria applied to accept or reject a request for resignation made by career military personnel, specifying the number of requests for resignation filed and, where possible, the number of resignations refused and the grounds of these refusals.

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25. Exploitation of the labour of indigenous populations. With reference to its previous comments concerning the persistence of practices similar to forced labour exacted on indigenous populations, and particularly “master-slave” relations among indigenous populations and the Bantu majority, the Committee notes the adoption of the National Action Plan to improve the quality of life of indigenous peoples 2022–2025, which aims, inter alia, to: (i) ensure that indigenous peoples are free and equal in dignity and rights and are not subject to any discrimination based on grounds of indigenous origin or identity; and (ii) create forums for greater awareness under Act No. 5-2011 of 25 February 2011 on the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights, and its implementing regulations. It notes especially that the National Action Plan also provides a space for reporting economic exploitation of indigenous peoples. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken, particularly in the context of the National Action Plan to improve the quality of life of indigenous peoples 2022–2025, to: (i) combat stereotypes and discrimination which contribute to keeping certain members of indigenous peoples in exploitative situations which amount to forced labour; and (ii) encourage reporting of the economic exploitation of indigenous peoples, particularly by enabling the members of indigenous peoples who are victims of forced labour and labour exploitation to assert their rights and obtain redress. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the interministerial committee for monitoring and assessing the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples.

Article 2(2)(c). Work exacted as the result of a conviction in a court of law. 1. Prison work performed for the benefit of private entities. The Committee notes the adoption of Act No. 10-2022 of 20 April 2022 issuing the Prison Code, which provides that detainees may be assigned useful work (section 130). Unless incompatible, detainees assigned to work or tasks benefit from the provisions of the legislation in force concerning work and social protection (section 134). The Committee observes that the Prison Code confirms the compulsory nature of detainees’ work, which was already provided for in section 629 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and section 32 of Decree No. 12900 of 15 September 2011 on the internal prison regulations. It also notes that, according to the provisions of the Prison Code, in line with a decision of the penalty enforcement judge (sections 137, 143 and 149), work for detainees serving life sentences may take the form of:

• outdoor construction sites, consisting of work carried out under the supervision of the prison administration and outside the institution, on behalf of public institutions and workplaces; or under a prison labour concession granted to private enterprises involved in public utility work, under an agreement signed between the private enterprise and the prison administration (sections 136–139);
• a semi-open prison regime, consisting of individually placing detainees serving life sentences outside the prison without continuous supervision or monitoring of the administration (sections 140–143); or
• a placement in an open prison which may be agricultural, industrial or artisanal centres, or service provision or public interest centres, characterized by on-site work and boarding for detainees (sections 147–149).

Noting that persons who are sentenced and assigned by a judge to outdoor work may perform work for private entities, the Committee recalls that such work is only compatible with the Convention if it is performed under conditions approximating a free labour relationship, that is with the free, formal and informed consent of the persons concerned, and the guarantees and safeguards covering the essential elements of a labour relationship, such as wages, occupational safety and health and social security. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that detainees performing work for private entities, particularly on outdoor construction sites, do so voluntarily, indicating how detainees’ free, formal and informed consent is obtained, specifying the employment and wage conditions. It requests the Government to provide examples of agreements signed between prison administrations and private entities. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether, in practice, detainees assigned to the semi-open prison regime or placed in an open prison may be hired or made available to private entities and, if so, to specify the arrangements.

2. Community work. The Committee recalls that Decree No. 99-86 of 19 May 1999 concerning the work and organization of the Directorate-General of Prisons Administration, the penalties enforcement department is responsible for organizing community service and the arrangements for the application of other alternative sentences. In the absence of information provided by the Government, the Committee once again requests it to indicate whether the courts have already imposed community work penalties and, if so, to provide a copy of these decisions, as well as the texts regulating the conditions in which these penalties are enforced.