Interim Report - Report No 76, 1964

1. 95. The present case has already been examined at length by the Committee on a number of previous occasions. The conclusions reached by the Committee on the subject are contained in paragraphs 178 to 191 of its 62nd Report, 134 to 144 of its 70th Report and 55 to 92 of its 72nd Report. At the end of its most recent examination of the case the Committee made the Governing Body the following recommendation, which was approved by the Governing Body at its 157th Session (November 1963)
2. 92. ...the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to express its keen disappointment that the present Government, like the preceding Government of General Kassem, has limited its reply to generalities concerning the political implications of the situation in Iraq and has not seen fit to furnish observations dealing with the specific allegations raised in the complaints ;
   • (b) to note that, in these circumstances, the Committee has rejected the request of the executive committee of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq to withdraw the complaint submitted, in due and proper form, according to the procedure for the examination of alleged infringements of trade union rights, on behalf of the executive committee previously in office, and has, therefore, examined that complaint and the complaint of the World Federation of Trade Unions on their merits ;
   • (c) to draw attention to the importance which the Governing Body has always attached to the principle that workers' organisations should have the right to elect their representatives in full freedom, to organise their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes and that the public authorities should refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof, and to the principle that workers' organisations should not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority ;
   • (d) to express the view, on the basis of the detailed evidence submitted by the complainants and in the absence of any specific observations in refutation of those allegations on the part of either the Kassem Government or the present Government, that serious violations of the principles enunciated above appear to have taken place when the Kassem Government was in power;
   • (e) to request the present Government, which cannot be held responsible for events which took place under its predecessor but is responsible for any continuing consequences which such events may have had since its accession to power, to inform the Governing Body as to the measures which it has taken to ensure the restoration of full freedom of association in Iraq and, in particular, the right of workers' organisations to function in accordance with the principles enunciated in subparagraph (c) above;
   • (f) to draw the attention of the Government to the importance which the Governing Body has always attached to the right of all detained persons to receive a prompt and fair trial by an impartial and independent judicial authority, and to request the Government to be good enough to furnish as a matter of urgency, having regard to this principle, information as to the legal or judicial proceedings taken in the cases of Mr. Ali Shukur, former President of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq, Mr. Ara Khachadoor, its former General Secretary, Messrs. Sadik El Falahi and Kuleban Salih, former members of its executive committee, stated to have been arrested on 1 May 1961, and Mr. Issataha, stated to have been arrested when he was the Chief Editor of the press organ of the Federation, or, if proceedings have not been taken, information as to the present situation of those persons.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 96. These recommendations by the Committee, as approved by the Governing Body, were brought to the knowledge of the Government by a letter from the Director-General dated 21 November 1963. In addition, on 3 March 1964, the Director-General communicated to the Government the text of a letter dated 11 February 1964 from the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq which alleged that Mr. Issa Khidir Taha, Vice-President of the complaining organisation, had been arrested and exiled, the purpose being to influence the outcome of the Federation's elections. The Government replied to both these communications by a letter dated 29 March 1964.
2. 97. In its reply the Government states that Mr. Ali Shukur and his colleagues were placed in their positions in the union by the then ruling authority, and that their appointment to posts of union leadership was far from reflecting the will of the workers. The Government adds that, having been defeated in the annual union elections, the persons concerned no longer held office at the time when they were summoned to answer the accusations levelled against them. They were arrested, goes on the Government, on account not of activities relating to trade unions or to labour but of acts calculated to cause a breach of the peace, which they committed not as labour leaders but as members of an unlicensed party.
3. 98. As for the present situation of the persons mentioned in subparagraph (f) quoted in paragraph 95 above, the Government gives the following information in its reply. Firstly, the Government states that Mr. Issataha and Mr. Ara Khachadoor have been released after being questioned by the judicial authority, and that both of them have now gone into voluntary exile. In these circumstances, taking the view that there is no longer any object in proceeding with the examination of this aspect of the case, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to take note of the release of the two persons in question.
4. 99. As concerns the other persons about whom the Governing Body requested information, the Government declares that, being accused of acts against the national interest, they have been summoned by the judicial authority to appear before the competent courts for trial in accordance with the prevailing laws of the country. The court has fixed the date of their trial as 12 May 1964.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 100. In past cases the Committee has followed the practice of postponing the examination of matters which were the subject of pending national judicial proceedings, where such proceedings might make available information of assistance to the Committee in appreciating whether or not allegations were well founded.
2. 101. In the present instance the Committee considers it advisable to follow the same practice by recommending the Governing Body to request the Government to be good enough to inform it of the outcome of the proceedings before the national courts against Messrs. Ali Shukur, Sadik El Falahi and Kuleban Salih, and, in particular, to supply the text of the judgment pronounced together with the reasons therefor ; and to adjourn further examination of this aspect of the case for the time being.
3. 102. In its communication of 29 March 1964 the Government declares that it has " enacted laws for the protection of workers against anti-union and arbitrary dismissal ", and " taken other measures that reflect the extent of the attention the Government pays to matters relating to labour and workers ".
4. 103. While taking note of this declaration, the Committee feels that it constitutes only a partial answer to the question put by the Governing Body in subparagraph (e) of paragraph 92 of the 72nd Report of the Committee, as quoted in paragraph 95 above.
5. 104. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to request the Iraqi Government to be good enough to specify more precisely what steps it has taken to ensure the restoration of full freedom of association in Iraq and, in particular, the right of workers' organisations to function in accordance with the principles enunciated in subparagraph (c) of paragraph 92 of the 72nd Report of the Committee.
6. 105. Finally, as regards the allegation contained in the communication from the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq dated 11 February 1964, to the effect that Mr. Issa Khidir Taha, Vice-President of the complaining organisation, had been arrested and then exiled, the Government states first of all that the person concerned, not being a citizen of Iraq, is not legally entitled to membership of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq, and has therefore come by his position in the union illegally. The Government goes on to declare that "as a member of the dissolved National Guard, he has undertaken acts causing a breach of the peace of the State", and that "for these acts he has been deported, and not because of an anti-union measure taken against him".
7. 106. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to note the Government's statement that the basis for a deportation order being made against Mr. Issa Khidir Taha was the fact that he was an alien who committed unlawful acts, but to draw attention to the principle that all persons lawfully resident within a country should have the right to join trade unions without discrimination.