Rapport intérimaire - Rapport No. 62, 1962

1. 178. The original complaints are contained in two communications dated 7 February and 19 May 1961 addressed directly to the I.L.O by the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq and the W.F.T.U respectively.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 179. The complainants make numerous and detailed allegations relating to the arrest of the principal officers of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq, the ban on the Federation and its unions sending delegates abroad, the arrest and sentencing by military tribunals of striking workers and of trade unionists who submitted wage claims, the use of firearms by the police on the orders of the Government against demonstrating workers, as a result of which eight persons were killed, the dismissal of thousands of workers because of their trade union activities, the arrest of the chief editor of the main trade union newspaper, the banning of all trade union conferences, the armed occupation of trade union premises, the serious and repeated interference by the authorities in trade union elections, the faking of election results, the closing down of unions and the establishment of puppet unions, the repression of trade union rights by arbitrary decrees, etc.
2. 180. In view of later developments referred to subsequently, it is appropriate to analyse further, at this juncture, certain particular aspects of these allegations. The General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq declares that its rules provide, in accordance with the national law and universal practice, for the holding of trade union elections by direct secret ballot. It is alleged that the authorities interfered, with no legal justification, to force the workers to hold trade union elections in the workplaces, after the employers had been given time to dismiss many of the workers and others had been arrested to prevent them voting, while those who did vote were required, without any legal sanction, to produce a certificate to the effect that they had a clean police record. The employment offices themselves are alleged to have closed down unions and union branches to facilitate the installation of puppet union committees whose members had never even belonged to a union before. The complainant declares that union representatives have been prevented from performing their functions with regard to union elections and that non-unionists have been allowed by the authorities to vote for lists of officers drawn up by the employers, that the armed forces have prevented certain workers from voting, that elections which did not produce the result desired by the authorities have been cancelled, and that ballots are public, contrary to all the rules. The whole object of this campaign, allied with proposed legislative amendments, was, according to the complainant, to bring about a situation in which the Ministry of Social Affairs would be able to establish or abolish trade unions at will and to keep the entire union movement under its control.
3. 181. The complainant goes in very considerable detail into the question of the Tobacco Workers' Union elections in 1960. It is alleged that supporters of the Federation won the elections on 17 June 1960 and that the election was cancelled by the authorities on the pretext that there had not been a quorum. A new election was held on 28 October 1960, prior to which, states the complainant, many trade unionists were dismissed, the collective agreement was unilaterally set aside and the executive committee members were deprived of any supervisory powers; the membership register was ignored and many workers prevented from voting. When the Ministry of Defence refused a request for a further, free election, the workers called a strike in support of new elections and reinstatement of the dismissed workers. The police, it is alleged, fired on a crowd of workers' families and others who supported the strike. The strike was finally called off when a new election was promised for 9 November. But on 30 October, says the complainant, more workers were dismissed and the leader and various members of the union were arrested and the elections were postponed; again there was a strike and, in the course of one demonstration, the police fired on the crowd and a number of persons were killed, including the former leader of the Tourist Industry Workers' Union. There were strikes at various tobacco factories, and many workers were imprisoned. It was because the union newspaper protested against the shootings and spoke in favour of the workers' claims, it is alleged, that its chief editor was arrested. In the end union elections were held on 28 November 1960. In this connection, it is alleged, workers who distributed pamphlets before the elections were arrested, employers at the polling stations threatened candidates on the list sponsored by the Federation and, in order to secure a victory for the candidates favoured by the authorities, dozens of people not connected with the union were allowed to vote and more than 2,000 union members were prevented from entering the polling stations.
4. 182. It should be remembered that this complaint is dated 7 February 1961 and is signed by Mr. Ali Choukr, the then President of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq, and that it is not contended therein that any principal officer of the Federation had been arrested at that date.
5. 183. The complaint of the W.F.T.U is dated 19 May 1961, i.e. over three months later. While it corroborates the complaint of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq in various respects, it also furnishes details of alleged further developments. In particular, it is alleged that Mr. Ali Choukr, President of the Federation, was arrested on 1 May 1961, together with Mr. Ara Khachadoor, its General Secretary, and Messrs. Sadik El Falahi and Kuleban Salih, members of its executive committee, while the offices of the Federation were occupied by force. It is further alleged that the proposals to amend the labour legislation published in January 1960 would authorise the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs unconditionally to set up and dissolve trade unions arbitrarily and to intervene in the internal affairs of trade unions.
6. 184. The complaints of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq and of the W.F.T.U were transmitted to the Government of Iraq, for its observations, by letters dated 18 May and 27 June 1961 respectively. When the Committee met in February 1962 it noted that, although the Government had been informed that the case fell within the category of cases regarded by the Governing Body as urgent and subsequent letters had been sent to the Government on 5 September and 28 November 1961 and 23 January 1962, no acknowledgment of any of these communications had then been received from the Government; the Committee therefore recommended the Governing Body to request the Government of Iraq to furnish its observations on the two complaints as a matter of urgency, a recommendation which was approved by the Governing Body at its 151st Session (March 1962) and brought to the notice of the Government by a letter dated 16 March 1962.
7. 185. Since that time there have been two further developments. Firstly, on 24 April 1962, certain observations were forwarded by the Government. Secondly, in a communication dated 25 February 1962, received only on 2 April 1962, the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq expressed a desire to withdraw its complaint; this communication, having been sent to the Government for its observations on 9 May 1962, has not yet been commented upon by the Government.
8. 186. In its communication dated 24 April 1962 the Government states in general terms that the present régime has enacted legislation to protect the working class and that the Prime Minister has preoccupied himself with the interests and welfare of the workers. Thirty-six central trade unions have been established, most of them having provincial branches, which combine in the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq, within which, declares the Government, free elections are held annually. To improve the situation of the workers, the Government has taken various measures in the fields of wages, housing, etc. It is unbelievable, says the Government, that the army and police would arrest workers who demand their rights or fire on strikers; therefore, the complainants' allegations " are false and void of reality ". The Government refers to Mr. Ali Choukr as one of those who deceived the workers into electing them to trade union office and who seek to guide the workers in a manner contrary to the public interest; he and his fellows, declares the Government, wished to use the money of the General Federation of Trade Unions unlawfully and complained when the workers elected other persons in their place. The newspaper of the Federation, states the Government, " dissented from the public interest " and slandered the authorities, so that its editor was brought to court.
9. 187. In its communication dated 25 February 1962, signed by a new president, the General Federation of Trade Unions refers to the former executive committee as having lodged its complaint in an attempt to cover " its disreputable methods of dealing with the workers and the illegal manner in which it disposed of the funds". The new executive alleges that, under the influence of the former executive, Communist doctrine was spread among the workers, they were forced to buy publications dealing with news in socialist countries, production suffered and strikes were called, and workers were forced to pay " voluntary contributions " which went to the Communist party. The new executive states that during the last union elections the workers abandoned the former leaders and that now there is " perfect harmony and understanding " between the workers and the Government, which had taken immediate measures to protect them against " the despotic domination of the former members of the General Federation of Trade Unions ". It is stated that the Government has enacted new protective labour legislation, has granted an annual subsidy to the Federation and has distributed land cheaply to the workers. In conclusion, the new executive asks the I.L.O to take no further notice of the complaint. The communication indicates that copies thereof were sent to the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Head Office of the Labour Department.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 188. The immediate issue before the Committee is the request to withdraw the complaint of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq. This raises a procedural point which the Committee has already been called upon to examine in the past. In Case No. 66 relating to Greece, the Committee expressed the view that the desire shown by a complaining organisation to withdraw its complaint, while constituting a factor to which the greatest attention must be paid, is not, however, in itself sufficient reason for the Committee to cease automatically to proceed with the examination of the complaint. The Committee considered in that case that it should be guided in this respect by the conclusions approved by the Governing Body in 1937 and 1938 with regard to two representations submitted by the Madras Labour Union for Textile Workers and by the Société de Bienfaisance des Travailleurs de l'Ile Maurice, in accordance with article 23 of the Constitution of the Organisation (now article 24). The Governing Body at that time established the principle that, from the moment that a representation was submitted to it, it alone was competent to decide what effect should be given to it, and that " the withdrawal by the organisation making the representation is not always proof that the representation is not receivable or is not well founded". The Committee considers that, in implementing this principle, it is free to evaluate the reasons given to explain the withdrawal of a complaint and to investigate whether these appear sufficiently plausible to lead one to believe that the withdrawal was made in complete independence. The Committee observed that cases might exist in which the withdrawal of a complaint by the organisation presenting it would be a result not of the fact that the complaint had become without purpose but of pressure exercised by the Government against the complainants, the latter being threatened with an aggravation of the situation if they did not consent to this withdrawal.
2. 189. In the present case the complaints of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq and of the W.F.T.U are presented in very detailed terms. As indicated in paragraph 184 above, the Government ignored several urgent requests to furnish its observations on the complaints, and it was not until it received a direct request from the Governing Body itself that it furnished, in its communication dated 24 April 1962, observations of a very general nature, commenting only in a few instances on any of the numerous specific and comprehensive allegations made by the complainants. The executive of the General Federation of Trade Unions which now seeks to withdraw the complaint is not the executive which made the original complaint and the members of which are alleged by the W.F.T.U to have been arrested and replaced. It is also to be observed that the second complainant, the W.F.T.U, has evinced no desire to withdraw its own complaint.
3. 190. In these circumstances the Committee cannot, in the absence of fuller information, determine whether the present request to withdraw the complaint is made freely by a democratically elected union executive which is independent of governmental influence. In this connection the Committee recalls that, in its First Report, it pointed out that, where precise allegations are made, it cannot regard as satisfactory replies from governments which are confined to generalities, and expressed the hope that, where precise allegations are made, governments will recognise the importance for the protection of their own good name of formulating, for objective examination, detailed factual replies to such detailed factual charges; the Committee indicated that, in all cases in which the information supplied by governments to which complaints had been communicated appeared to be inadequate or of too general a character, the government concerned would be requested to supply the Committee with more detailed information in order to enable it to express a considered view to the Governing Body. The Committee stated further that, in any case in which a government did not respond within a reasonable period to such a request for more detailed information, the Committee would report the circumstances to the Governing Body.