Interim Report - Report No 112, 1969

1. 175. The complaint of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World Confederation of Labour is contained in a joint communication dated 31 December 1968. On 16 January 1969 the complaint was communicated to the Government, which forwarded its observations in a communication dated 13 February 1969.
2. 176. 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

• Allegations relating to the Arrest and Detention of Trade Union Leaders
  177. 177 After indicating that on 10 January 1968 the two national trade unions, the Chadian Confederation of Labour and the National Union of Workers of Chad, had amalgamated to form Unatrat, the complainants allege that on 21 February 1968 seven national leaders of this organisation were arrested on charges of conspiring against national security and were taken into custody.
  178. 178 The complainants state that these seven leaders were later transferred to the jail at Fort Lamy, where they are still being held in solitary confinement; nobody has been allowed to visit or contact them, not even the members of their families.
  179. 179 The complainants conclude by stating that " since they were arrested, these trade union leaders have remained without trial " and that " there is nothing to suggest that the Government of Chad is preparing to institute proper proceedings " after detaining these persons for a period which at the time of the presentation of the complaint, according to this complaint, amounted to ten months.
  180. 180 The Government, in its observations, declares first of all that "the Republic of Chad, whose Constitution proclaims its attachment to the principles of democracy and to the safeguarding of civil rights based on freedom, humanitarianism and equality, would not deliberately violate its Constitution by arbitrarily arresting citizens, let alone interfere with the exercise of the right to organise, recognised by the Labour Code and at the highest level by International Labour Convention No. 87, with the terms of which it scrupulously complies ".
  181. 181 The Government then states that the few members of Unatrat who are at present in preventive detention have been engaged in subversive activities contrary to national and international laws. Today only four of the persons concerned, and not seven, are imprisoned, continues the Government, the other three having been released in the meantime. These persons, by posting notices and distributing leaflets, incited the population to rebellion. Having failed in this approach, the Government states, they sent letters to the senior officers of the Chadian Army, urging them to seize power; " there exist authentic and irrefutable documents to substantiate this statement ", adds the Government.
  182. 182 The Government continues by indicating that " preliminary inquiries have indicated that their endeavour was guided by remote control. But the Government has been anxious to avoid a miscarriage of justice through bringing them to trial on the basis of this evidence, deemed to be insufficient. Accordingly, in the desire to ensure that full justice is done, the Government has requested the competent authorities to pursue the inquiry with a view to elucidating this affair."
  183. 183 The Government concludes that " in the meantime no atrocities or tortures are being inflicted upon " the persons concerned and that " they are allowed daily visits from their relatives and friends ".

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 184. It appears from the information available to the Committee that out of the seven leaders mentioned in the complaint four, at least, are still in custody. According to the Government, the measure taken against the persons concerned has no connection with trade union activities but is the result of a plot against the security of the State, in which these persons participated.
2. 185. In all cases involving the arrest, detention or sentencing of a trade union official the Committee, taking the view that individuals have the right to be presumed innocent until found guilty, has considered that it was incumbent upon the Government to show that the measures it had taken were in no way occasioned by the trade union activities of the individual concerned. That is why, in all such cases, if the Committee has concluded that allegations relating to the arrest, detention or sentencing of trade unionists did not call for further examination, it has done so only after receiving observations from the government concerned indicating sufficiently precisely and with sufficient detail that the measures taken against the persons in question had no connection with the exercise of trade union rights but were occasioned by activities outside the trade union sphere which were either prejudicial to public order or of a political nature.
3. 186. In view of the above-mentioned principle, the Committee feels bound, as in several previous cases, to recommend the Governing Body to request the Government to be good enough to indicate the precise reasons for the arrest of the persons in question, and in particular, the specific acts which, in the Government's view, justify the action taken against the individuals concerned and to specify, as the Government seems to be willing to do, the nature of the documents which it mentions and which are referred to in paragraph 181 in fine.
4. 187. Moreover, having noted that the Government does not deny the fact that at least four of the trade union leaders mentioned in the complaint are still in preventive detention, and apparently have been for over a year, the Committee considers that it must recall that, in numerous cases in the past in which trade union officers or members were preventively detained, it has always pointed out that such measures might constitute a grave interference with the exercise of trade union rights, which it would seem necessary to justify by the existence of a serious emergency and which would be open to criticism unless accompanied by adequate judicial safeguards applied within a reasonable period, and 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.
5. 188. In this particular case it would appear from the statements of the Government, set out in paragraph 182 above, that inquiries are at present being carried out in connection with this affair. In view of the principle mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the Committee considers that it must recommend the Governing Body to express the hope that the persons concerned will either be released or brought before a court of law as soon as possible, and to request the Government to be good enough to keep the Governing Body informed about the development of the situation.
6. 189. Moreover, if the persons concerned are brought before a court, the Committee, in accordance with its constant practice, recommends the Governing Body to request the Government to be good enough to communicate the decision in the case and the full text of the judgment.