Interim Report - Report No 27, 1958

Case No 152 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - Complaint date: 19-SEP-56 - Closed

1. 400. The Committee, at its 16th Session (Geneva, February 1957), had before it a number of complaints contained in the following communications from different trade union organisations in respect of all of which it had received the observations of the Government of the United Kingdom : a communication dated 19 September 1956 from the Miners' Trade Unions International (W.F.T.U.) ; communications dated 25 October and 7 November 1956 from the World Federation of Trade Unions ; and communications dated 16 October and 23 November 1956 from the Northern Rhodesia Trade Union Congress (I.C.F.T.U).
2. 401. In its 25th Report the Committee submitted conclusions and recommendations, which were approved by the Governing Body at its 134th Session (Geneva, March 1957), on the following allegations with respect to the exercise of trade union rights in Northern Rhodesia raised in the different complaints : (a) allegations relating to the state of emergency in Northern Rhodesia ; (b) allegations relating to the prohibition of meetings ; (c) allegations relating to an order to resume work ; (d) allegations relating to government interference in the administration of the African Mineworkers' Union ; (e) allegations relating to a press censorship ; (f) allegations relating to various provisions of the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes (Amendment) Ordinance, 1956. These allegations, therefore, are not referred to further in the present report of the Committee. With respect to certain allegations relating to arrests or restrictions on the movements of trade union leaders and to intervention by the security forces, the Committee presented an interim report to the Governing Body (see below, " Request for Further Information ", paragraphs 406 and 407) ; these allegations, which are still before the Committee, are analysed below.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

• Allegations relating to Arrests or Restrictions on the Movements of Trade Union Leaders
  402. 402 It is alleged by the Miners' Trade Unions International, in its complaint dated 19 September 1956, that on 13 September 1956 the Government, utilising its exceptional powers during a state of emergency, arrested 32 Africans, mainly leaders of the African Mineworkers' Union, and including Mr. Nkoloma, the General Secretary of that organisation, and that on 15 September another nine persons were arrested. According to the complaint presented on 16 October 1956 by the Northern Rhodesia Trade Union Congress, 75 leaders of the African Mineworkers' Union have been arrested and it has been bereft of its elected leaders. This complainant alleges that the Government has deprived this union of its leaders in a deliberate attempt to destroy it and to support the mining companies, and that " the imprisonment of almost all well-known trade union leaders " is disrupting the trade union movement. In its further communication dated 23 November 1956, the Northern Rhodesia Trade Union Congress gives the names of 28 of the trade union leaders alleged to be detained at a point 200 miles from the mining territory where their union existed ; they include eight persons who are also officials of the complaining organisation.
• Allegations relating to Intervention by the Security Forces
  403. 403 It is alleged that batons and tear gas have been used against the African workers, that the police have fired on them, that police reinforcements, riot squads and, according to some reports, troops, have been brought from Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland to be used against the workers and that police are patrolling the mine compounds.
• ANALYSIS OF THE GOVERNMENTS FIRST REPLY (Communication of 28 January 1957)
• Allegations relating to Arrests or Restrictions on the Movements of Trade Union Leaders
  404. 404 The Government stated that 50 members or employees of the African Mineworkers' Union had been arrested and detained ; six of them had been released altogether and 44 were still subject to orders restricting their areas of residence to varying degrees, but, in all cases, prohibiting entry into the Copperbelt ; restrictive orders had been issued against another nine members of the union. The Government denied that these measures were intended to help the mining companies or to destroy the union.
• Allegations relating to Intervention by the Security Forces
  405. 405 The Government stated that police reinforcements, riot squads and troops were introduced into the emergency areas as a precaution, but that the troops were not used. On several occasions, but notably in Ndola, which is not one of the mining townships, batons and tear gas were used to the minimum extent necessary to disperse illegal assemblies; on one occasion shots were fired.
• REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
  406. 406 At its 16th Session (Geneva, February 1957) the Committee decided to ask the Government to furnish further information with regard to certain matters raised in the allegations relating to arrests or restrictions on the movements of trade union leaders and in the allegations relating to intervention by the security forces. In particular, the Committee requested the Government to furnish information as to what charges had been brought against the persons, including the 28 named as trade union officials in the complaint of the Northern Rhodesia Trade Union Congress, whose movements had been restricted and as to the judgments given, and also as to when it was intended to bring to trial, and on what charges, those of the persons concerned against whom proceedings might not yet have been taken. The Committee further requested the Government, in connection with the allegations relating to intervention by the security forces, to furnish more detailed information concerning the nature and purpose of the demonstrations which were regarded as illegal assemblies and the actual circumstances in which batons and tear gas were used and shots were fired.
  407. 407 In response to the Committee's request the Government furnished further information in a communication dated 22 May 1957. At its 17th Session (Geneva, May 1957), the Committee, considering that this reply was received too late to permit of its being considered at that session, decided to adjourn its examination of the case until its present session.
• ANALYSIS OF THE GOVERNMENT'S SECOND REPLY (Communication of 22 May 1957)
• Allegations relating to Arrests or Restrictions on the Movements of Trade Union Leaders
  408. 408 The Government declares that the 28 persons named by the Northern Rhodesia Trade Union Congress were arrested and detained under the Emergency Powers Regulations of 1956, which, states the Government, were necessary for the restoration and preservation of public order. The descriptions of their offices, etc., given by the complainant do not in all cases correspond with the government records ; the Government states that one of these, Edward Mungoni Liso, was not an official, member or servant of the union. The Government declares that all the detained persons availed themselves of the opportunity given to them to make their objections and have been heard by the " Advisory Committee ", and that the Governor had received a report from this Advisory Committee in each case before restriction orders were made. In conclusion, the Government states that no criminal proceedings have been instituted or are contemplated in this connection against the persons concerned, whose movements were restricted only for the purpose of maintaining public order.
• Allegations relating to Intervention by the Security Forces
  409. 409 The Government recalls the information previously given to the effect that, under the security measures taken pursuant to the state of emergency, assemblies of more than five persons became illegal. The Government declares that all gatherings dispersed by the police were illegal assemblies and that nothing in the allegations transmitted to the Government discloses a basis for suggesting that the dispersal of illegal assemblies was ordered as a means of breaking a strike or otherwise than as a security measure ; any such suggestion is repudiated. The Government concludes by stating that if the Committee has allegations in mind which, if not explained or rebutted, would lead it to reach a contrary conclusion, it would be glad to have particulars of these and to consider them.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

• Allegations relating to Arrests or Restrictions on the Movements of Trade Union Leaders
  410. 410 When it examined these allegations at its 16th Session (Geneva, February 1957), the Committee recalled, in paragraph 219 of its 25th Report, that, in previous cases in which it had been alleged that trade union officers or members had been preventively detained, it had expressed the view that measures of preventive detention may involve a serious 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 of the right of all detained persons to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment. In paragraph 220 of its 25th Report, the Committee went on to express the opinion that the restriction of a person's movements to a limited area accompanied by a prohibition of entry into the area in which his trade union operates and in which he normally carried on his trade union functions is also inconsistent with the normal enjoyment of the right of association and with the exercise of the right to carry on trade union activities and functions, and should also be accompanied by adequate judicial safeguards applied within a reasonable period and, especially, by observance of the right of those concerned to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment. In those circumstances, the Committee asked the Director-General to request the Government to furnish information as to what charges had been brought against the persons-including the 28 named as trade union officials in the complaint of the Northern Rhodesia Trade Union Congress-whose movements had been restricted and as to the judgments given, and also as to when it was intended to bring to trial, and on what charges, those of the persons concerned against whom proceedings might not yet have been taken.
  411. 411 The Government now declares, in its reply dated 22 May 1957, that no criminal proceedings have been taken and that none are contemplated against the persons whose movements have been restricted in respect of the matters in which such restriction was imposed. The Government adds that the restriction order in every case was issued after receiving a report from the Advisory Committee after it had taken account of the objections pleaded before it by the persons concerned. It would nevertheless appear that at this date, some eight months after measures were first taken against the trade union leaders concerned, the restrictions on the movements of these persons and, in particular, the prohibition on their entry into the areas where their trade union operated and they normally carried on their trade union functions, were still being maintained, although, according to the Government, no charges had been brought against them or were contemplated.
  412. 412 In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government of the United Kingdom to the view already expressed by the Committee and endorsed by the Governing Body that the restriction of a trade union officer's movements, including the prohibition of his entry into the areas in which his trade union operates and in which he normally carries on his trade union activities, is inconsistent with the normal enjoyment of the right of association and with the exercise of the right to carry on trade union activities and functions, and should be accompanied by adequate judicial safeguards applied within a reasonable period. While the question of actual physical detention of any of the persons concerned does not appear to be in issue, the Committee considers that, as there appears to be no likelihood of their being tried before the courts, it should recommend the Governing Body to request the Government to furnish information as to what judicial safeguards are available to the trade union officers whose movements are restricted, including information as to the nature of the Advisory Committee referred to in the Government's latest reply, and the extent to which measures are being taken or are envisaged to lift restrictions so that such trade union officers may resume their trade union functions in full freedom.
• Allegations relating to Intervention by the Security Forces
  413. 413 It is alleged that batons and tear gas have been used against the African workers, that the police have fired on them and that police reinforcements, riot squads and troops have been brought in. In its first reply the Government admitted the introduction of such security forces to the emergency area (but stated that the troops were not used), that batons and tear gas were used to the minimum extent necessary to disperse illegal assemblies and that shots were fired on one occasion. When it examined these allegations at its 16th Session (Geneva, February 1957), the Committee recalled that in a number of previous cases it had recommended the dismissal of allegations of intervention by security forces when the facts showed that such intervention was limited to the maintenance of public order and did not restrict the legitimate exercise of the right to strike, but that it had implied in those cases that it would have regarded the use of police for strike-breaking purposes as an infringement of a trade union right. Accordingly, the Committee decided to request the Government to furnish more detailed information concerning the nature and purpose of the demonstrations which were regarded as illegal assemblies and the actual circumstances in which batons and tear gas were used and shots were fired.
  414. 414 In its communication dated 22 May 1957 the Government explains that the assemblies in question were illegal because they contravened the measure taken under the emergency regulations to prohibit assemblies of more than five persons. The Government denies any suggestion that the measures were taken for the purpose of breaking a strike or for any reason other than the maintenance of security, and contends that nothing in the allegations supports any such suggestion.
  415. 415 The Government stated in its first reply that batons and tear gas were used to the minimum extent necessary to disperse illegal assemblies on several occasions, but notably in Ndola, which is not one of the mining townships. The Committee now has before it a specific statement to the effect that the assemblies were illegal because they contravened the emergency prohibition of assemblies of more than five persons, coupled with a specific denial that any of the measures were taken for strike-breaking purposes. Finally, while the Government still gives no details in its second reply as to the one occasion on which shots were fired, there is no evidence before the Committee which would make it appear that there was any loss of human life or injury caused to persons on the occasion in question. Having regard to the explanations furnished by the Government and bearing in mind that the allegations themselves, which are in general terms, contain no specific charge that the security measures taken in the instances mentioned exceeded what was necessary for maintaining public order, the Committee considers that the complainant has not offered sufficient evidence to show that the measures in question constituted an infringement of trade union rights. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to decide that these allegations do not call for further examination.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 416. In all the circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) with respect to the allegations relating to arrests or restrictions on the movements of trade union leaders:
   • (i) to draw the attention of the Government of the United Kingdom to the view already expressed by the Committee and endorsed by the Governing Body that the restriction of a trade union officer's movements, including the prohibition of his entry into the areas in which his trade union operates and in which he normally carries on his trade union activities, is inconsistent with the normal enjoyment of the right of association and with the exercise of the right to carry on trade union activities and functions, and should be accompanied by adequate judicial safeguards applied within a reasonable period ;
   • (ii) to request the Government to furnish information as to what judicial safeguards are available to the trade union officers whose movements are restricted, including information as to the nature of the Advisory Committee referred to in the Government's latest reply, and the extent to which measures are being taken or are envisaged to lift the restrictions so that such trade union officers may resume their trade union functions in full freedom ;
   • (b) to decide, while emphasising the importance which it attaches to intervention by security forces being limited to the maintenance of public order and not being used to restrict the legitimate exercise of the right to strike, that the allegations relating to intervention by the security forces do not, for the reasons indicated in paragraphs 414 and 415 above, call for further examination.