Interim Report - Report No 363, March 2012

1. 468. The Committee last examined this case at its March 2011 meeting [see 359th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 310th Session, paras 395–413]. The Djibouti Labour Union (UDT) sent further information in a communication dated 29 August 2011.
2. 469. The Government sent its observations in a communication dated 20 October 2011.
3. 470. Djibouti 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. Previous examination of the case

1. 471. At its March 2011 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations [see 359th Report, para. 413]:
   • (a) 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 allegations, even though it has been requested several times, including through an urgent appeal, to present its comments and observations on this case. The Committee urges the Government to be more cooperative in the future.
   • (b) The Committee urges the Government to send its observations without delay concerning the intervention by the police and the need to obtain authorization from the Ministry of the Interior for organizing trade union meetings such as the union congress.
   • (c) The Committee urges the Government to explain the reasons for the arrest and interrogation of Mr Anouar Mohamed Ali, general secretary of the STED, and Mr Abdourachid Mohamed Arreh, member of the SEP, following the intervention by the police on 13 October 2009.
   • (d) The Committee urges the Government to reply to the allegations by the UDT concerning the intervention by the police to prevent the UDT general secretary from entering the union premises, the confiscation of the key to the union’s letter box and the appropriation by a member of the Djiboutian delegation of mail addressed to the UDT during the International Labour Conference.
   • (e) The Committee is bound to note with deep concern the blatant lack of progress and the apparent unwillingness on the part of the Government to settle the pending issues, particularly to stop the harassment suffered by the UDT. The Committee expresses, in the strongest terms, its expectation that the Government will take concrete measures without delay to improve the situation.

B. Additional information from the complainant

1. 472. In a communication dated 29 August 2011, the UDT indicates that its general secretary was still being harassed and had been prevented from boarding an aeroplane in order to attend a tripartite regional conference organized by the ILO and the Arab Labour Organization (ALO) in Morocco. The complainant maintains that the police withheld Mr Adan Mohamed Abdou’s passport at the airport on 12 December 2010 and that it has still not been returned to him.
2. 473. The complainant further states that 62 dockworkers, members of the Dock Workers’ Union, were brutally arrested by the police on 2 January 2011 and were imprisoned and subjected to violent treatment while in detention, which lasted for three months. All that they had done was to peacefully demand compensation to which they were entitled but which had been withheld by the authorities for more than a year.
3. 474. The UDT regrets that regional and international trade union organizations appear to want to cooperate with a Government which has continued to violate the standards and principles of freedom of association for more than a decade and which is regularly found guilty by the ILO. The UDT would like an awareness-raising campaign and sustained pressure at the international level to condemn the persistent violations of freedom of association by the Government of Djibouti, described as an autocratic and despotic regime, which affect the organization of the independent trade union movement and the training of its members and threaten the security of trade unionists and their families.

C. The Government’s reply

1. 475. In a communication dated 20 October 2011, the Government refutes all of the complainant’s allegations, in particular those concerning acts of intimidation towards trade union leaders, prevention of access by union officials to UDT premises and tampering with UDT correspondence.
2. 476. The Government states with regard to the union meeting of 13 October 2009 that the meeting was a UDT seminar for which a public establishment – the Palais du Peuple – had been made available by the authorities. According to the Government, the event had turned into a congress, resulting in differences of opinion between participants and physical clashes. The Government states that the authorities had to intervene in order to end the violence between trade union members. Moreover, the Government disputes the allegations that trade union members were arrested, that access to UDT premises was monitored or letter box keys confiscated.
3. 477. The Government concludes by stating that the allegations made by the UDT are unfounded and are intended only to obstruct Government action. The Government requests that the Committee verify the complainant’s allegations, which merely obstruct the social dialogue to which social partners in Djibouti aspire.

D. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 478. The Committee notes that the present case concerns allegations of interference by the authorities in trade union activities and acts of intimidation against the trade union movement, prevention of access by the UDT to its premises and to its correspondence and of tampering with its mail during an international conference. The Committee notes that the allegations also concern the confiscation of the passport of the complainant organization’s general secretary as he was preparing to leave the country to attend an activity organized by the ILO, in addition to acts of violence by the authorities against trade union members who were holding a peaceful demonstration.
2. 479. The Committee observes that the Government does not refute the fact that law enforcement officers intervened in the trade union meeting held by the UDT on 13 October 2009. According to the Government, law enforcement officers were obliged to intervene in order to ensure public security as differences between the participants in the UDT activity had led to physical clashes involving the use of knives.
3. 480. The Committee notes that the Government rejects the complainant’s allegations regarding the arrest of trade union members following the intervention of law enforcement officers, in particular the arrest and interrogation of Mr Anouar Mohamed Ali, general secretary of the Djibouti Electricity Workers’ Union (STED) and Mr Abdourachid Mohamed Arreh, member of the Primary School Teachers’ Union (SEP).
4. 481. The Committee observes that in its communication, the Government also denies having ordered the police to intervene to prevent union officials from gaining access to UDT premises and having confiscated the key to the letter box of the UDT. The Government maintains that the allegation that a member of the Djiboutian delegation appropriated mail addressed to the UDT during the International Labour Conference is unfounded and aims to undermine the credibility of the Government’s action.
5. 482. The Committee notes with deep concern the information that the passport of the general secretary of the UDT was withheld on 12 December 2010 and that he was not able to leave the country when he was supposed to take part in a regional activity organized jointly in Morocco by the ALO and the ILO, and the absence of reply from the Government. The Committee recalls that participation by trade unionists in international trade union meetings is a fundamental trade union right; governments should therefore abstain from any measure, such as withholding travel documents, that would prevent representatives of workers’ organizations from exercising their mandate in full freedom and independence. Moreover, the Committee has already had cause to indicate that participation as a trade unionist in symposia organized by the ILO is a legitimate trade union activity and a government should not refuse the necessary exit papers for this reason [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth (revised) edition, 2006, paras 153 and 765]. Under these circumstances, the Committee urges the Government to report without delay on the reasons why the police withheld the passport of Mr Adan Mohamed Abdou, general secretary of the UDT, on 12 December 2010, and to indicate whether the document has been returned to him in order to ensure that he is able to move freely in order to carry out his mandate.
6. 483. The Committee also notes with deep concern the allegation that 62 dockworkers, members of the Dock Workers’ Union, were brutally arrested by the police on 2 January 2011 during a peaceful demonstration in front of the Parliament and that they were imprisoned and subjected to violence while in detention, which lasted for three months, and the absence of reply from the Government. The Committee wishes to recall that workers should enjoy the right to peaceful demonstrations to defend their occupational interests. The use of the forces of order during trade union demonstrations should be limited to cases of genuine necessity, and the police authorities should be given precise instructions so that, in cases where public order is not seriously threatened, people are not arrested simply for having organized or participated in a demonstration [see Digest, op. cit., paras 133, 150 and 151]. The Committee urges the Government to provide without delay explanations concerning the arrest of 62 dockworkers, members of the Dock Workers’ Union, during the demonstration of 2 January 2011 in front of the Parliament and concerning the conditions of their detention.
7. 484. The Committee recalls that it had previously noted the complainant’s allegation that the management of the hotel where its congress was due to take place had informed it that its reservation had been cancelled by order of the authorities and that it was necessary to obtain authorization from the Ministry of the Interior to organize such an activity. According to the UDT, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed the prohibitive measures against it. The Committee once again urges the Government to provide explanations without delay concerning the need to obtain authorization from the Ministry of the Interior for organizing trade union meetings such as a trade union congress. The Committee once again recalls that in view of the fact that in every democratic trade union movement the congress of members is the supreme trade union authority which determines the regulations governing the administration and activities of trade unions and which establishes their programme, the prohibition of such congresses would seem to constitute an infringement of trade union rights [see Digest, op. cit., para. 456].
8. 485. Lastly, the Committee notes with concern the contradictory information supplied by the complainant and the Government in this case. It notes with regret that the Government essentially limits itself to refuting the allegations of interference and harassment made by the complainant, without further explanation. In addition, the Committee is bound to recall that it has been urging the Government for many years to give priority to promoting and defending freedom of association and to give effect as a matter of urgency to the specific commitments that it has made before international bodies to settle pending issues and to enable the development of free and independent trade unionism, as the only guarantee of sustainable social dialogue in Djibouti. The Committee is bound to note with deep concern, based on the additional information provided by the complainant and the Government’s brief observations, the lack of progress in this direction to date. The Committee finds itself obliged once again to urge the Government to maintain a social climate free from acts of anti-union interference and harassment, in particular against the UDT.