A/HRC/12/21 page 17 77. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits slavery, the slave trade, servitude and forced labour in its article 8.26 The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also protects the right to just and favourable conditions of work, in its articles 6 and 7.27 26 Article 8 states: “1. No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the slave trade in all their forms shall be prohibited. “2. No one shall be held in servitude. “3. (a) No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour; “(b) Paragraph 3 (a) shall not be held to preclude, in countries where imprisonment with hard labour may be imposed as a punishment for a crime, the performance of hard labour in pursuance of a sentence to such punishment by a competent court; “(c) For the purpose of this paragraph the term ‘forced or compulsory labour’ shall not include: (i) Any work or service, not referred to in subparagraph (b), normally required of a person who is under detention in consequence of a lawful order of a court, or of a person during conditional release from such detention; (ii) Any service of a military character and, in countries where conscientious objection is recognized, any national service required by law of conscientious objectors; (iii) Any service exacted in cases of emergency or calamity threatening the life or well-being of the community; (iv) Any work or service which forms part of normal civil obligations.” 27 Article 6 states: “1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right. “2. The steps to be taken by a State Party to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include technical and vocational guidance and training programmes, policies and techniques to achieve steady economic, social and cultural development and full and productive employment under conditions safeguarding fundamental political and economic freedoms to the individual.” Article 7 states: “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work which ensure, in particular: “(a) Remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum, with: