Gabon

Article 1:

The Gabonese Republic recognizes and guarantees the inviolable and inalienable Rights, which are binding on government:

1) Every citizen has the right to free development of his personality, in respect of rights of others and public order. No one shall be humiliated, abused or tortured, even when it is under arrest or imprisonment;

3) The freedom to come and go within the territory of the Gabonese Republic, to leave and return, is guaranteed to all citizens of Gabon, subject to compliance with the order;

7) Each citizen has the duty to work and the right to obtain employment. No one shall be injured at work on grounds of origin, sex, race, political opinion;

17) The protection of youth against exploitation and against moral neglect, intellectual and physics is a duty for the state and local governments;

Constitution Republic of Gabon (PDF)

Article 260:

(supplemented by Law No 18/84 of 29 December 1984). Shall be considered as a pimp and, as such, shall be punished by imprisonment from six months to two years and by a fine of 50,000 to 1,000,000 francs:

(1) who in any way assists, knowingly assists or protects the prostitution of others or solicits for the purpose of prostitution;

(2) who, in any form, shares the proceeds of the prostitution of others or receives subsidies from a person habitually engaged in prostitution;

(3) who knowingly lives with a person habitually engaging in prostitution, can not justify sufficient resources to enable him to support his own existence;

(4) to hire, train or maintain, even with his consent, a person, even a person of full age, for prostitution or for prostitution or debauchery;

(5) acting as an intermediary in any capacity between persons engaging in prostitution or debauchery and individuals who exploit or pay for the prostitution or debauchery of others.

Will be punished with imprisonment of 3 months to 1 year and with a fine of 25.000 to 240.000 francs the one or that:

1- whose attitude on the public highway is likely to provoke debauchery;

(2) who, by gestures, words, writings or by any other means, proceeds publicly to solicit persons of one or the other sex, with a view to provoking debauchery.

In all the cases provided for in the present article, the guilty persons shall be sentenced to the additional penalty of the prohibition of residence.

Article 261:

The penalty shall be imprisonment of two to five years and a fine of 100,000 to 2,000,000 francs, in the case where:

1- the offense was committed in respect of an 18-year-old minor;

(2) the offense was accompanied by coercion, abuse of authority or fraud;

3- the perpetrator is the spouse, father, mother or guardian of the victim.

Article 264:

Whomever will give in customary marriage or customary wedding, a non-consenting daughter or a daughter below the age of 15 will be punished by imprisonment for 1-5 years.

Article 314:

Shall be punished by imprisonment of one month to three years and may be punished by a fine of up to 500,000 francs, who, by means of violence, Fraudulent threats or maneuvers, shall have caused or sustained, attempted to bring about or maintain a concerted cessation of labor.

Penal Code (PDF)

Article 4

Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited. The expression "forced or compulsory labor" means any work or service exacted from an individual under the threat of any penalty and for which the individual has not voluntarily offered himself.

However, the provisions of the above paragraph shall not apply to:

(a) work or service required under the military service laws, consisting of the performance of tasks of a purely military character or, in the case of conscientious objectors, tasks proposed as a substitute for military service;

(b) work or service exacted from an individual as a result of a conviction imposed by a court order, provided that such work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of the public authorities and that the said person Is not granted or made available to private individuals, companies or legal entities;

(c) work or service required in the case of force majeure, including wars, floods, famines, epidemics, epizootics, invasions of animals, insects or parasites

Harmful and, in general, any circumstances which endanger or may endanger the life or normal conditions of life of the whole or part of the population;

(d) minor communal, departmental or village works as defined and voted by the municipal, departmental or village council and which may be considered as normal civic obligations of the members of the said localities, To a maximum of six days per year.

Labour Code (PDF)

Article 198: requires the mutual acceptance of marriage vows.

Article 202: states that no action may be taken to force the fiancé or fiancée into marriage against his or her will.

Article 211: provides that each spouse must personally consent to the marriage during the marriage ceremony itself. Such consent shall not be considered valid if tainted by illegal actions. However, an exception is made in the case of the mentally unsound (article 204) and persons under 21 years of age. In such cases the legally responsible adult in question must either give or refuse consent for the marriage.

Article 264: any attempt to force either spouse into marriage is formally prohibited. Anyone who, in a traditional ceremony, gives away or marries a girl against her will, or who gives away or marries a girl under 15 years of age, shall be sentenced to between one and five years’ imprisonment.

Under Article 265: of the Code, whoever attempts to consummate such a forced marriage with a child under 15 years of age shall be sentenced to between one and 10 years in prison. Formerly, all marriages effectively represented the official confirmation of a prior family arrangement. The consent of the young woman was thus sometimes tainted by the influence of the parents, who would oblige her to marry, for their own personal reasons. Minimum age for marriage.

Article 203 of the Civil Code establishes the minimum age for marriage at 15 for young women and 18 for young men. However,

Article 492 of the Civil Code establishes the age of majority at 21 for men and women.

Note: Dowry is officially prohibited.

Chapter I: Definitions

Article 2:

For the purposes of this Act, the term "child" applies to all persons under the age of 18.

Article 3:

For the purposes of this Act, the "child trafficking" includes:

1. a) All forms of forced displacement, bargaining, exchange such as the sale, trafficking and bonded child debts;
2. b) The recruitment, supply and charge for payment or placement of children for domestic or business purposes within families.

Chapter IV: Prohibited Acts

Article 11:

It is forbidden for any natural or legal person to introduce or attempt to introduce the national territory a child in order to alienate, or without charge, his freedom.

Article 12:

It is prohibited for any person or company to conclude an agreement whose purpose is to alienate, or without payment, the freedom of a child.

Article 13:

It is prohibited for any person or company to avoid or oppose by any means whatsoever to controls, investigations and searches under the provisions of this Act.

Chapter VIII: The Final Provisions

Article 20:

Whoever organized, facilitated child trafficking or have participated, including transportation, introduction on the national territory, reception, accommodation, sale, unlawful use or have derived any benefit shall be punished by imprisonment in time and a fine of ten (10) million to twenty (20) million CFA francs.

Accomplices and instigators will be punished the same as the main perpetrators in accordance with Articles 6, 48 and 49 of the penal code and excluded from the stay.

The attempt is punishable by the same penalties.

Article 23:

Those guilty of offenses under this Act also incur the following additional penalties:

1) the confiscation of property used in the commission of the offense and the resultant traffic in favor of the State;

2) the posting or publication of the decision in the conditions provided by laws and regulations.

Title 2 - Other crimes against humanity

Art.330 –

Any of the following acts also constitutes a crime against humanity when committed in execution of a concerted plan against a population group, as part of a widespread or systematic attack:

[…]

- enslavement;

- enforced disappearance of persons;

- imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental provisions of international law;

- the practice of torture;

- the arrest, detention or abduction of persons followed by their disappearance and accompanied by a denial of recognition of the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of their fate or whereabouts with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time;

- rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;

[…]

Title 3 - War crimes

Art.331 –

For the purposes of this Code, war crimes shall mean atrocities or other offences committed during an international or non-international conflict and in relation to that conflict against persons and property in violation of the laws and customs of war, that is to say, atrocities or other offences committed in the course of an international or non-international conflict and in relation to that conflict against persons and property in violation of the laws and customs of war:

- wilful attacks on life, confinement or abduction as defined in this book;

- forcible confinement of a person protected by international law;

- ill-treatment or deportation for forced labour or any other purpose of civilian populations in occupied territories;

[…]

Title 5 - On trafficking in human beings

Art.342 –

Trafficking in human beings is the act, in exchange of remuneration or

any other benefit or a promise of compensation or benefits, to hire an

person, to transport, transfer, lodge or accommodate the person for the purpose of the make available to it or to a third party, even if not identified, for the purposes of:  

- allowing the commission against that person of offences of pimping, sexual assault or abuse, exploitation of begging, or imposition of lworking or housing conditions which are contrary to his dignity;

- compelling the person to commit any crime or offence or to helping him or her to immigrate or emigrate.           

Art.343.‐

The perpetrator of trafficking in human beings is punished by up to seven years imprisonment and a fine of up to FCFA 100,000,000. It is punishable by up to ten years imprisonment and a fine of up to 100,000,000 FCFA when it is committed under one of the following circumstances:

- either with the use of threats, coercion, violence or deception directed against the victim, his family or a person in a habitual relationship with him;

- or by a legitimate, natural or adoptive ascendant of that person or by a person who has authority over him or abuses the authority conferred on him by his functions;

- or by abuse of a position of vulnerability due to age, illness, infirmity, physical or mental disability or apparent or known state of pregnancy; - or in respect of a person who was outside the national territory or on arrival in the national territory;

- or for the purpose of servitude or slavery or of removal of one or more of his organs.

Trafficking in human beings with respect to a minor is punishable by up to fifteen years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of up to 100,000,000 FCFA.

Art.344.‐

The perpetrator of trafficking in human beings shall be punished by up to twenty years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of up to 100,000,000 FCFA, when it is committed with at least two of the circumstances provided for in points 1° to 7° below:

- 1° in respect of several persons;

- 2° in respect of a person who was outside the national territory or upon arrival on the national territory;

- 3° where the person was put in contact with the perpetrator through the use of an electronic communication network for the dissemination of messages to an undetermined public;

- 4° in circumstances which directly expose the person in respect of whom the offence is committed to an immediate risk of death or injury likely to result in mutilation or permanent disability;

- 5° with the use of violence which has caused the victim to be totally unable to work for more than eight days;

- 6° by a person called upon to participate, by virtue of his or her duties, in the fight against trafficking in human beings or the maintenance of public order;

- 7° where the offence has placed the victim in a serious material or psychological situation. Trafficking in human beings with respect to a minor shall be punishable by twenty years' imprisonment when it is committed with one of the circumstances listed in points 1° to 7° above.

Art.345 –

The offence is punishable by thirty years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of up to 50,000,000 FCFA, when it is committed in an organised gang.

The perpetrator of trafficking in human beings shall be punished by thirty years of life imprisonment and a fine of not more than FCFA 50,000,000 when the offence is committed by means of torture or barbaric acts.

Art.410.‐

Whoever gives in customary marriage or customarily marries a non-consenting woman or a minor under the age of sixteen years is punished by imprisonment for a maximum of five years.

CRIMINAL CODE (PDF)