HUMAN RIGHTS the Applications Committee21 on a number of occasions, including in June 2000 and in June 2001, to discuss the problem, and seek workable and effective solutions. Many of these bonded labourers are Dalits or come from indigenous communities. There are also reports of forced labour of indigenous communities in Latin America. For example, in Mexico, under the coercive recruitment practice of ‘enganche’, indigenous workers are provided with subsistence means through advance payments that have to be paid off by goods and services; and in Peru, the World Confederation of Labour has reported slavery and debt bondage of indigenous peoples, especially in the Atalaya and Ucayali regions. There are also reports of forced labour of indigenous peoples in Bolivia, Brazil and Guatemala.22 3.2 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (1957) (No. 105) Between 1930 and 1950, many people were placed in camps and forced to carry out work under slave-like conditions. They were imprisoned for their political and ideological beliefs. The ILO realized that this new phenomenon had to be dealt with and, in 1957, adopted the Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour (No. 105). Convention No. 105 supplements the earlier Convention No. 29 on forced labour. The main elements of the Convention are: Aim of the Convention • To suppress forced labour. Scope (five prohibited categories) • Forced labour as a means of economic development; • As punishment for having participated in strikes; • As a means of labour discipline; • As a means of political coercion; • Discrimination on the grounds of ‘race’, social origin, nationality or religion. Action required by governments • Effective measures for immediate and complete abolition of forced or compulsory labour. When looking into the question of how this Convention is applied in law and practice, the ILO supervisory bodies have raised the issue of compulsory labour from public servants as a form of disciplinary measure, e.g. in Pakistan, and Trinidad and Tobago; as political coercion (Afghanistan and Turkey), and the persecution of members of religious minority groups in Pakistan, e.g. Ahmadis, Lahori group and Quadianis. 14 For more information, contact: Social Protection and Labour Conditions Branch (APPL) Standards Department ILO CH 1211 Geneva 22 Switzerland tel: +41 22 799 7126 fax: +41 22 799 6926 e-mail: appl@ilo.org You can also contact Anti-Slavery International: Thomas Clarkson House The Stableyard Broomgrove Road London SW9 9TL UK tel: +44 207 501 8920 fax: +44 207 738 4110 e-mail: info@antislavery.org 4. Freedom of association reedom of association has been a central issue for the ILO since it was created, and continues to be so. The 1919 Preamble of the ILO identifies ‘the recognition of the principle of freedom of association’ as one of the ILO’s objectives and this was reaffirmed by the Declaration of Philadelphia in 1944: ‘… freedom of expression and of association are essential to sustained progress …’. The following is a brief description of the main elements of the two Conventions dealing with this issue. Although it is not specifically mentioned, by implication freedom of association includes the right to strike. F 4.1 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention (1948) (No. 87) The main principle of this Convention is to protect the right of workers and employers to be members of a trade union or employers’ organization, and the free exercize of this right without state interference. Aim of the Convention • To protect the right of workers and employers to form their own organizations. Main elements • The right to choose a trade union or association freely, without restriction or hindrance, discrimination, or approval or authorization from state authorities; THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION: A HANDBOOK FOR MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES