A/HRC/57/46
managed by private entities, as the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) does not allow
full delegation of supervision or control to private entities. 20
9.
Third, incarcerated individuals cannot be hired to, or placed at the disposal of, private
individuals, companies or associations. 21 This applies to work performed in privately run
prisons and work for private employers, both inside and outside prison premises. 22 However,
the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations,
which monitors the implementation of ILO conventions, has indicated that such
arrangements are permissible: (a) when prisoners give formal, free and informed consent
without being subjected to pressure or the menace of any penalty; and (b) when they perform
work in conditions approximating a free employment relationship with regard to wages,
social security and occupational safety and health.23
10.
Another relevant instrument is the ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957
(No. 105). Article 1 thereof makes clear that forced or compulsory labour cannot be imposed:
(a)
As a means of political coercion or education or as a punishment for holding
or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political,
social or economic system;
(b)
As a method of mobilizing and using labour for purposes of economic
development;
(c)
As a means of labour discipline;
(d)
As a punishment for having participated in strikes;
(e)
As a means of racial, social, national or religious discrimination.
11.
This is in line with wider jurisprudence on arbitrary detention. The Human Rights
Committee has stated that persons deprived of their liberty (including incarcerated
individuals) enjoy all the rights set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, subject to the restrictions that are unavoidable in a closed environment, 24 and that
detention as punishment for the legitimate exercise of rights, including freedom of opinion
and expression, of assembly, of association and of religion, is arbitrary.25 The Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention similarly held that detention for the purpose of political or cultural
rehabilitation through self-criticism was inherently arbitrary, as it violated the freedom of
thought and religion or belief.26
12.
While the imposition of labour that meets the above criteria may be in compliance
with international labour standards, States still must promote decent work for incarcerated
individuals. In that regard, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has stated
that the obligation to respect the right to work requires States to refrain from denying or
limiting access to decent work for all persons, including prisoners and detainees. 27 The
underpinning principles for decent work include fair wages, dignity, equality and safe
working conditions. 28 Furthermore, the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the
Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) clearly stipulate that prison labour must
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
4
Ibid., para. 112.
Article 2 (2) (c) of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29).
ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, observation
concerning the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) – United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland, adopted in 2020. Available at
http://ilo.ch/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUN
TRY_ID:4059792,102651:NO.
Giving Globalization a Human Face: General Survey on the Fundamental Conventions concerning
Rights at Work in Light of the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, 2008
(International Labour Office, 2012), paras. 278, 279 and 291.
General comment No. 21 (1992), para. 3.
General comment No. 35 (2014), para. 17.
Deliberation No. 4.
General comment No. 18 (2005), para. 23.
ILO, “What is decent work?”. Available from https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/decent-work/lang-en/index.htm.
GE.24-12247