Definitive Report - Report No 332, November 2003

1. 957. The complaint is contained in a communication dated 12 December 2002 from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). The Government provided its observations in a communication dated 2 January 2003.
2. 958. Zimbabwe has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), and the Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154).

A. The complainant’s allegations

1. 959. In its communication of 12 December 2002, the ICFTU states that on 9 December 2002, nine trade union leaders were arrested while attending a symposium organized by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). They were held in police detention until 11 December, when they were released by judicial order. These persons are: Mr. Wellington Chibebe, Mr. Tambaoga Nyazika and Mr. Timothy Kondo (respectively general secretary, regional officer and advocacy coordinator of the ZCTU) and Ms. Patience Mandozana, Mr. Settlement Chikwinya, Mr. David Shambare, Mr. Thomas Nyamanza, Mr. Gideon Shoko and Mr. Hwinya Matambo (leaders of various unions affiliated to the ZCTU).
2. 960. Mr. Chibebe was subjected to intimidation during his time in police custody. He was beaten, although not severely, and warned that he should cease all trade union activities. He was threatened that if he persisted in his activities, he would be removed or “eliminated”.
3. 961. According to the complainant, this was just the latest incident of harassment, following an intimidation attempt less than one week earlier where riot police disrupted a meeting organized by the ZCTU on 4 December at Harare Gardens; after the disruption, the organizers tried to reconvene the meeting at another venue (Gorlon House) but riot police scaled the security fence and brutally assaulted workers as they arrived. Mr. Collin Gwiyo, deputy general secretary of the ZCTU, was arrested but later released through the intervention of ZCTU lawyers.
4. 962. The complainant submits that the Government of Zimbabwe continues to violate fundamental trade union rights, particularly through continued police harassment of trade union leaders.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 963. In its communication of 2 January 2003, the Government states that Mr. Chibebe and his colleagues were taken by the police on 9 December for questioning about a mass stay away which had been called for by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and were released the following day, i.e. 10 December.
2. 964. The persons in question are members of the NCA, a quasi-oppositional political organization whose agenda is to topple the legitimate Government of Zimbabwe. They were therefore taken for questioning in connection with activities which are not directly linked to ZCTU’s mission, but with a planned mass stay away, which the people of Zimbabwe ignored.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 965. The Committee notes that this complaint concerns allegations of arrests of trade union leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), of anti-union intimidation and harassment through repeated interventions by the authorities and the police. The Committee also notes that the arrests of 9 December followed similar incidents just the week before, where the ZCTU was prevented from holding two meetings through violent police intervention and its deputy general secretary was arrested. According to the Government, the arrests and questioning of the nine ZCTU members had nothing to do with the union’s mandate but were related to a mass stay away planned by the NCA, a quasi-oppositional political organization, to which all these individuals belonged.
2. 966. The Committee notes that Mr. Chibebe was allegedly intimidated and beaten during his detention, and warned that he would be removed or “eliminated” if he did not cease all trade union activities. The Committee further observes that these incidents took place only nine months after the events of March 2002 which also involved police intervention and interference in ZCTU’s activities and, as a result of which, the Committee requested the Government to exercise great restraint in relation to intervention in the internal affairs of trade unions [see 329th Report of the Committee, paras. 818-831, approved by the Governing Body at its 285th Session].
3. 967. Regarding the political aspect raised by the Government, the Committee recalls that trade union activities cannot be restricted solely to occupational matters since government policies and choices are generally bound to have an impact on workers; workers’ organizations should therefore be able to voice their opinions on political issues in the broad sense of the term. While trade union organizations should not engage in political activities in an abusive manner and go beyond their true functions by promoting essentially political interests, a general prohibition on trade unions from engaging in any political activities would not only be incompatible with the principles of freedom of association, but also unrealistic in practice. Trade union organizations may wish, for example, to express publicly their opinion regarding the Government’s economic and social policy [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 1996, 4th edition, paras. 454-455].
4. 968. Irrespective of the considerations above, the Committee emphasizes that in the present case, both the symposium of 9 December 2002 and the tentative meetings of 4 December 2002 were legitimate trade union activities; no evidence has been adduced that these meetings had purposes other than regular trade union activities; indeed, according to the allegations, Mr. Chibebe was intimidated during his detention and warned of dire consequences if he did not cease “all trade union activities” which confirms that the arrest and detention were related to trade union activities. The Committee recalls that the right to organize public meetings constitutes an important aspect of trade union rights [Digest, ibid., para. 464] in which the Government should not interfere. It once again requests the Government to refrain in future from interfering in ZCTU’s trade union activities, including the holding of public meetings.
5. 969. As regards the detention of nine ZCTU leaders, and the earlier imprisonment of Mr. Collin Gwiyo, the Committee recalls that the detention of trade union leaders or members for reasons connected with their activities in defence of the interests of workers constitutes a serious interference with civil liberties in general and with trade union rights in particular [see Digest, ibid., para. 71]. The Committee is particularly concerned since this kind of government interference seems to be recurrent in the country, and may create an atmosphere of intimidation and fear prejudicial to the normal development of trade union activities [see Digest, ibid., para. 76]. While noting that the trade union leaders in question have been released by judicial order, the Committee requests the Government to abstain in future from resorting to such measures of arrest and detention of trade union leaders or members for reasons connected to their trade union activities. The Committee also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to institute a thorough and independent investigation and to punish those responsible for these detentions.