A/HRC/39/CRP.2 as a matter of urgency. Forced or compulsory labour is also prohibited under international human rights law. Provisions to that effect feature in several human rights treaties ratified by Myanmar: the ICESC (art. 6.1), the CRC (art. 32) and the CRPD (art. 27.2). 255. The definition of forced or compulsory labour comprises three basic elements: work or service, which is exacted under the menace of a penalty, and undertaken involuntarily. “Work or service” refers to all types of work, service or employment, occurring in any activity, industry or sector (both public and private). “Menace of any penalty” refers to a wide range of penalties used to compel someone to perform the work or service, including penal sanctions and various forms of direct or indirect coercion, such as physical violence, psychological threats or the non-payment of wages. Involuntariness refers to the free and informed consent of a worker to enter into an employment relationship and the freedom to leave the employment at any time. 483 256. International law permits some exemptions to the general prohibition of forced labour. In addition to compulsory military service, prison labour and work in the context of emergencies, the exemptions include normal civic obligations and minor communal service. Examples of civic obligations include compulsory jury service and the duty to assist a person in danger. “Minor communal service” means service performed by the members of the community in the direct interest of the community. It must be “minor”, that is, related primarily to maintenance work and, in exceptional cases, to the erection of certain buildings intended to improve the social conditions of the population of the community itself; The service must also be “communal”, that is, in the direct interest of the community (and not related to the execution of works intended to benefit a wider group). Importantly, the members of the community which has to perform the services, or their direct representatives, must have the right to be consulted in regard to the need for such services. 484 257. Section 359 of the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar prohibits forced labour but allows for exceptions (“hard labour as a punishment for crime duly convicted and duties assigned thereupon by the Union in accordance with the law in the interest of the public”). Although the formulation is somewhat unclear, these exceptions appear to exceed the permissible exceptions under international labour law and international human rights law.485 The Towns Act (1907) and the Village Act (1908), which gave broad powers to local authorities to requisition labour from villagers, were repealed in 2012 and replaced with the Ward and Village Tract Administration Law. This Law explicitly sanctions the use of forced labour (art. 27)486 as does the Myanmar Penal Code (art. 374).487 (b) Findings 258. The Mission found a pattern of systematic use of men, women and children for forced labour across Kachin and Shan States, throughout the reporting period, including in areas of the States not subject to active conflict. In many instances the Tatmadaw arrived in a village and arrested many people who were then detained for forced labour, without warning or consultation.488 Sometimes, villagers were taken directly from their homes.489 In some cases 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 See International Labour Organization, “ILO Standards on Forced Labour - The new Protocol and Recommendation at a Glance / International Labour Office, Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch” (ILO, Geneva, 2016). See, “Forced Labour in Myanmar (Burma). Report of the Commission of Inquiry appointed under article 26 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organization to examine the observance by Myanmar of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)” (ILO, Geneva, 1998), paras. 205-213. See e.g. Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, International Labour Conference, 99th Session, 2010, p. 253, para. 11. “Whoever commit any threat or use force for his own interest that infringe anyone’s interest such as forced labor shall be fined either less than one year imprisonment or 100,000 Kyat or both.” “Whoever unlawfully compels any person to labour against the will of that person shall punished with imprisonment, of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.” DI-057, PI-019, PI-081, PI-083, PI-084, PI-095, SI-003. PI-081, PI-084, PI-094. 65