What is Forced Labour?

In 1930 the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a sub-organisation of the League of Nations (now the UN), decided to ‘eliminate forced and compulsory labour in all its forms as soon as possible’ using the following definition:
“For the purposes of this convention, ‘forced or compulsory labour’ means all work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”
For practical reasons, this definition was further qualified. Work was to be permitted in the following cases:

• compulsory military service
• customary civic duties of citizens with ‘full self-government’ (i.e. not in colonies and mandated territories),
• recognised civic duties (e.g. dyke maintenance on the coast, but no national compulsory services)
• as required in the event of natural disasters
• an individual court conviction (work is therefore not simply part of a period of imprisonment)

The type of work permitted was subject to considerable restrictions. An individual had to be sentenced to carry out certain work. Work for economic gain was not allowed. It had to take place under international supervision to ensure compliance with certain minimum conditions.
The GDR did not comply with these and other ILO conventions. It forced prisoners and young people in homes and youth work centres to work without a relevant court conviction, set excessive quotas and reduced labour protection to a minimum. For this reason, the forced prison labour in the GDR penal system and similar institutions should be referred to as ‘internationally outlawed forced labour’.

ILO Convention 29

ILO Convention 105