International Labour Standards on Forced Labour

Countries which have ratified the Forced Labour Convention undertake "to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms within the shortest possible period." The Committee of Experts, noting global developments and the ascension of human rights amongst the international community's concerns, many years ago understood this obligation to require immediate prohibition and suppression in practice. Hand in hand with this, the Convention has over the years been the most widely ratified of all the Fundamental ILO Conventions. Of the 174 ILO member States 151 had ratified the instrument as of 1 February 2000. One hundred forty five member States have ratified the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, r adopted in 1957 to abolish forced labours for particular purposes. Over the years the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations have noted hundreds of specific cases of progress in the fight against forced labour.

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)

This Convention requires the suppression of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms. Forced labour is "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily." For the purposes of the Convention, the term "forced labour" does not include such as obligations as military service; work or service which is part of normal civic obligations; work or service exacted as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law, under certain conditions; work exacted in cases of emergencies such as wars, fires, earthquakes, etc.; and minor communal services as defined. The Convention requires "really adequate" and strictly enforced penal penalties at the national level in cases of illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour.

Full text of Convention No. 29

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)

This Convention prohibits the use of any form of forced or compulsory labour as a means of:

• political coercion or education, or punishment for the expression of political or ideological views,
• workforce mobilization for purposes of economic development,
• labour discipline,
• punishment for participation in strikes, or
• racial, social, national or religious discrimination.

Full text of Convention No. 105

International labour standards on forced labour promise to remain at the forefront of ILO standards, invoked time and again in the international effort to effectively secure basic human rights in all corners of the globe.