ILO Conventions on Forced Labour

The two ILO conventions require ratifying States to eliminate forced or compulsory labour. Convention No. 29 establishes the general prohibition and enforcement framework, while Convention No. 105 supplements it by requiring the immediate abolition of forced labour imposed for five specified political, economic, disciplinary or discriminatory purposes.

Meaning and scope under Convention No. 29

Forced or compulsory labour means work or service exacted from a person under the menace of a penalty and for which that person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily.

• Convention No. 29 obliges each ratifying State to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms within the shortest possible period.
• The definition excludes compulsory military service for work of a purely military character.
• It excludes normal civic obligations of citizens.
• Court-ordered prison labour is excluded only when performed under the supervision and control of a public authority and the person is not hired to or placed at the disposal of private persons, companies or associations.
• Work exacted in emergencies, such as war, calamity or circumstances endangering the population, is excluded.
• Minor communal services may be excluded where the community or its direct representatives have a right to be consulted about the need for such services.

Enforcement obligation under Convention No. 29

• The illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour must be punishable as a penal offence.
• Ratifying States must ensure that the penalties prescribed by law are adequate and strictly enforced.

Additional prohibitions under Convention No. 105

Convention No. 105 requires ratifying States to suppress and not make use of any form of forced or compulsory labour for specified purposes, and to take effective measures for their immediate and complete abolition.

• Forced labour cannot be used for political coercion or education, or as punishment for holding or expressing political views or ideological opposition to the established political, social or economic system.
• It cannot be used to mobilise and employ labour for purposes of economic development.
• It cannot be used as a means of labour discipline.
• It cannot be imposed as punishment for participation in strikes.
• It cannot be used as a means of racial, social, national or religious discrimination.

How UPSC asks this