Definitive Report - Report No 124, 1971

1. 26. This case was examined by the committee at its session in May 1969, when it submitted to the Governing Body an interim report, which is contained in paragraphs 175190 of its 112th Report, as adopted by the Governing Body at its 175th Session (May 1969). The case was subsequently examined by the Committee at its session in February 1970, when it submitted to the Governing Body a further interim report, which is contained in paragraphs 262-275 of its 116th Report, as adopted by the Governing Body at its 178th Session (March 1970).
2. 27. It will be recalled that the case concerned the allegation that, in February 1968, seven national leaders of the National Union of Workers of Chad (UNATRAT) had been arrested on charges of conspiring against national security and taken into custody. These trade union leaders, it was alleged, had remained without trial and there was nothing to suggest that the Government was preparing to institute proceedings against them. At its session in May 1969 the Committee noted that the Government, in its reply to the allegation, had stated that three of the persons had been released but did not deny the fact that at least four of the trade union leaders mentioned in the complaint were still in preventive detention, and apparently had been since February 1968.
3. 28. Chad has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 29. In response to a request to specify the precise reasons for the arrest of the trade union leaders in question, the Government, in a communication dated 20 December 1969, informed the Committee that these trade unionists had been arrested as a result of their implication in a plot imperilling the security of the State. The Government added that, bearing in mind the question of sovereignty, only Chad institutions were competent to give valid rulings on the manner in which the persons concerned should be dealt with.
2. 30. The Committee noted at its session in February 1970 that the Government's reply contained no indication of the situation of the trade unionists who had been arrested nor did it state whether they had been tried or not. In the circumstances the Committee recommended the Governing Body to press the Government to state the exact grounds on which the trade union leaders mentioned in the complaint had been arrested and, in particular, the specific acts which it saw as justifying their arrest, and to describe the documents which the Government had regarded as constituting vital evidence. It also recommended the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government to the principle that it should be the policy of every government to take care to ensure the observance of human rights and especially the right of all detained persons to be tried promptly by an impartial and independent judicial authority, and to request the Government to state whether the persons concerned were being or had been tried and, if so, to provide the text of the decision and of the judgment.
3. 31. In a further communication addressed by the Government to the Director-General of the ILO dated 21 April 1971 the Government states that at the last congress of the only party in Chad, the PPT-RDA, it was decided to liberate all political prisoners, whatever the reasons for their arrest. Thus, states the Government, on 18 April 1971 the President announced on the national radio the liberation of political prisoners, including the trade unionists in question. The Government adds that it accordingly considers the matter closed.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 32. While the Committee notes the Government's statement that the trade unionists who were the subject of the complaint have now been liberated, it feels obliged to express its grave concern that, for a period of more than three years, at least four of the persons in question remained in preventive detention without any observations being received from the Government indicating whether these persons had been brought to trial or concerning the specific acts which, in the Government's view, justified the measures taken against them. The Committee recalls, as it did at its sessions in May 1969 and February 1970, that in numerous cases in the past in which trade union officers or members were alleged to have been preventively detained, it has always expressed the view that such measures might constitute a grave interference with the exercise of trade union rights which would be open to criticism unless accompanied by adequate judicial safeguards applied within a reasonable period. The Committee also wishes to recall that, on several occasions, it has emphasised the importance which it attaches to the principle of prompt and fair trial by an independent and impartial judiciary in all cases, including cases in which trade unionists are charged with political or criminal offences which the Government considers have no relation to their trade union functions.