A/HRC/12/21
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78. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two optional protocols and the
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members
of Their Families also contain provisions addressing forced labour and other forms of
exploitation.
79. The Slavery Convention of 1926 and the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of
Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery of 1956 specifically
prohibit the practice of forced or compulsory labour and bonded labour as forms of slavery.
80. The ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the Abolition of Forced Labour
Convention, 1957 (No. 105) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)
address the issue of forced labour. Convention No. 29 establishes that forced labour exacted by
the State shall be penalized and that it is the obligation of any ratifying State to ensure the
enforcement of the Convention and the application of adequate sanctions. Convention No. 105
abolishes all forms of forced labour. Convention No. 182 states that child labour amounts to
forced labour when exacted by a third party or family.
81. There are other instruments dealing with forced labour and bonded labour in the more
specific context of trafficking, such as the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in
Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others of 1949 and the Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the
United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime of 2000.
82. Forced labour, in addition to being prohibited under various conventions, is also
recognized as an international criminal offence, irrespective of whether a Government has
ratified the relevant conventions prohibiting it.28
“(i) Fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any
kind, in particular women being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those
enjoyed by men, with equal pay for equal work;
“(ii) A decent living for themselves and their families in accordance with the provisions
of the present Covenant;
“(b) Safe and healthy working conditions;
“(c) Equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted in his employment to an appropriate
higher level, subject to no considerations other than those of seniority and competence;
“(d) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with
pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays.”
28
See David Weissbrodt and Anti-Slavery International, Abolishing Slavery and its
Contemporary Forms, Geneva, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, 2002 (HR/PUB/02/4).
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