Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1998, publiée 87ème session CIT (1999)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government's report has not been received.

However, it notes with interest that, at the request of the Government, an ILO direct contacts mission visited the country from 11 to 18 January 1998 in the context of two complaints of violation of freedom of association from the Inter-Trade Union Association of Labour/General Union of Djibouti Workers (UDT/UGTD) (Cases Nos. 1851 and 1922), leading to the restitution of the premises of the UDT/UGTD and the restoration of social dialogue (see 309th Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association, approved by the Governing Body in March 1998).

However, the Committee notes once again that, in its conclusions in November 1998, the Committee on Freedom of Association notes with great concern that, despite the promises made by the Government to the direct contacts mission, no tangible progress has been achieved since then in the restoration of freedom of association in full (see 311th Report, approved by the Governing Body in November 1998). In the same way as the Committee on Freedom of Association, the Committee of Experts urges the Government to provide detailed information on any concrete measures that it has taken to restore freedom of association in full, and particularly to lift the anti-trade union reprisals against the leaders of the UDT/UGTD and their lawyer, and to ensure that the legislation is revised in consultation with the social partners.

On this latter point, the Committee recalls that its previous comments concerned the need to repeal or amend the following provisions:

-- section 5 of the Act on Associations, as amended in 1977, to ensure that prior authorization for the establishment of associations may not be imposed for the establishment of trade unions, so as to guarantee the application of Article 2 of the Convention, under which workers shall have the right to establish organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization;

-- section 6 of the Labour Code, which limits the holding of trade union office to Djibouti nationals, in order to allow foreign workers to hold trade union office, at least after a reasonable period of residence in the country, so as to guarantee the application of Article 3, under which workers' organizations shall have the right to elect their representatives in full freedom;

-- section 23 of Decree No. 83-099/PR/FP of 10 September 1983, establishing the conditions governing the right to organize and the right to strike of public servants, which confers on the President of the Republic the power to requisition public servants who are indispensable to the life of the nation and to the operation of essential services, so as to limit this power of requisitioning to cases in which, in the Committee's opinion, restrictions or prohibitions on the exercise of the right to strike are admissible, namely with regard to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State or in essential services in the strict sense of the term, that is those the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population, or in the event of an acute national crisis.

The Committee urges the Government to restore freedom of association as rapidly as possible in law and in practice and requests it to keep it informed of all progress made in this respect.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary measures in the near future.