Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 375, June 2015

1. 102. The complaint is contained in a communication from the Workers’ Trade Union Confederation of Benin (CSTB), the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Benin (CSA-Bénin), the General Confederation of Workers of Benin (CGTB), the Confederation of Independent Trade Union Organizations of Benin (COSI-Bénin), the Confederation of Private and Informal Sector Trade Unions of Benin (CSPIB) and the Federation of Trade Unions of Financial Workers (FESYNTRA-Finances) dated 25 February 2014.
2. 103. Since there has been no reply from the Government, the Committee has been obliged to postpone its examination of the case twice. At its March 2015 meeting [see 374th Report, para. 5], the Committee made an urgent appeal to the Government indicating that, in accordance with the procedural rules set out in paragraph 17 of its 127th Report, which was approved by the Governing Body, it could present a report on the substance of the case at its next meeting, even if the requested information or observations had not been received in time. To date, the Government has not sent any information.
3. 104. Benin has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), and the Workers’ Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135).

A. The complainants’ allegations

1. 105. In a communication dated 25 February 2014, the CSTB, the CSA-Bénin, the CGTB, the COSI-Bénin, the CSPIB, and the FESYNTRA-Finances stated that they organized a peaceful march on 27 December 2013 to protest against the imprisonments and growing insecurity in the country and against the validation of the results of the competitive examination in the public administration for the Finance Ministry, which the complainants considered to be fraudulent.
2. 106. According to the complainants, all the administrative formalities for the organization of the march had been fulfilled. A written statement was sent to Cotonou City Council, which did not object to the march, and the central police station was then informed for the purposes of overseeing the marchers. However, to everyone’s surprise, the peaceful march was violently suppressed by the law enforcement authorities. More than 20 people were left seriously injured as a result of the brutality. Among them were general secretaries of confederations, who had to be taken to Cotonou Hospital for first-line emergency treatment.
3. 107. The complainants recall that they already submitted a complaint to the Committee on Freedom of Association in 2012 as a result of police violence against striking teachers. They condemn the fact that acts of violence by the law enforcement authorities against trade union activities are now commonplace, and provide as examples the army’s occupation of the labour exchange in October 2013, thereby preventing the general secretaries of the confederations from accessing it, and the dispersal of a peaceful march organized jointly by the Patriotic Alliance, left wing forces, civil society and the trade union confederations to protest against an attempt to revise the national constitution.
4. 108. The complainants denounce the fact that these serious acts of violence by the authorities not only contravene articles 9 and 25 of the national constitution, but they are also inconsistent with the principles of freedom of association under Convention No. 87, which Benin has ratified.

B. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 109. The Committee regrets that, despite the time that has elapsed since the presentation of the complaint, the Government has not replied to the complainant’s serious allegations, even though it has been requested several times to present its comments and observations in this case, including through an urgent appeal. The Committee urges the Government to cooperate with the procedures in the future.
2. 110. Under these circumstances, and in accordance with the applicable rules of procedure [see 127th Report, para. 17, which was approved by the Governing Body], the Committee is obliged to present a report on the substance of the case without being able to take account of the information which it had hoped to receive from the Government.
3. 111. The Committee reminds the Government that the purpose of the whole procedure established by the International Labour Organization for the examination of allegations of violations of freedom of association is to ensure respect for trade union rights in law and in practice. The Committee is confident that, while this procedure protects governments against unreasonable accusations, they must recognize the importance of formulating, for objective examination, detailed replies concerning allegations brought against them [see First Report of the Committee, para. 31].
4. 112. The Committee notes that the complainants’ allegations concern the violent repression by the law enforcement authorities of a peaceful march organized by the country’s main trade union confederations in December 2013 that had been authorized by all of the competent authorities. The Committee notes that the complainants attached to their complaint photographs taken during the peaceful march, some of which show seriously injured individuals being evacuated.
5. 113. In this respect, the Committee must express its deep concern at the alleged acts of violence that violated the safety and physical integrity of trade unionists conducting a peaceful demonstration. In the absence of information from the Government, the Committee considers that the purposes of the peaceful demonstration included the defence of occupational interests and considers it useful to remind the Government that freedom of association can only be exercised in conditions in which fundamental human rights, and in particular those relating to human life and personal safety, are fully respected and guaranteed. In the particular case of meetings and public demonstrations, the Committee recalls that it considers that workers should enjoy the right to peaceful demonstration to defend their occupational interests. [See Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth (revised) edition, 2006, paras 43 and 133].
6. 114. Given the lack of response from the Government in the present case, and mindful of the fact that it recently issued recommendations to the Government of Benin on a case concerning police brutality against teacher trade unionists on strike [see 367th Report, Case No. 2938, paras 213–231], the Committee strongly urges the Government immediately to take the necessary measures to conduct an investigation into the alleged acts of violence, and to take all the appropriate steps and issue the relevant instructions to the law enforcement authorities to ensure that in the future the workers’ right to demonstrate peacefully to defend their occupational interests may be exercised in accordance with the aforementioned principles of freedom of association. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this regard.