The International Labour Organization (ILO) today congratulated the Peruvian government for including the crime of forced labor in its Criminal Code.
The measure took place through legislative decree N° 1323, passed by the Executive Branch last January 5 under Congress-granted powers.
"We congratulate the Peruvian government on such major advance in the fight against forced labor," ILO Regional Director for the Andean Countries Philippe Vanhuynegem said.
Regarding the measure, he noted "not only is it aimed at complying with an international commitment, but rather takes place in response to the need to protect [forced labor] victims."
The arrangement confirms Peru's commitment to tackling the said issue while laying the foundations for further complementary actions. Thus, it proves an important step towards ratifying the ILO Protocol on Forced Labour adopted by the International Labour Conference in 2014.
"Forced labor has been defined by the Forced Labour Convention No. 29 as any work or services which people are forced to do against their will under the threat of some form of punishment. In Peru, this mainly takes place in sectors such as illegal mining and logging," the ILO official added.
The Convention also stipulates member States' obligation to legally punish this practice and to verify such sanctions are efficient and firmly applied.
Despite having ratified the Convention in 1960, Peru had lacked proper criminal legislation on forced labor until now.
Now that it has been regulated, the next step is to strengthen justice operators' capacities to guarantee the proper enforcement of the new regulation under international standards.
(END) NDP/RES/DHT/MVB