Interim Report - Report No 27, 1958

Case No 160 (Hungary) - Complaint date: 14-MAR-57 - Closed

417. By two communications dated 15 and 14 March 1957 respectively the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Federation of Free Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe and Baltic and Balkan Countries submitted to the I.L.O complaints containing allegations of infringements of the exercise of trade union rights in Hungary.

1. 418. The former complaint deals with the general trade union situation in Hungary while the latter complaint relates to more limited aspects of trade union rights ; the Government, moreover, presented its observations on each complaint separately. For these reasons, and for the sake of clarity, the two complaints submitted to the I.L.O are analysed separately below.
2. Complaint of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
3. 419. After referring to the decisions taken by the Governing Body at its 133rd and 134th Sessions (Geneva, November 1956 and March 1957) with respect to the two cases relating to Hungary on which the Committee had already submitted reports, the complainant expresses the opinion that the Hungarian authorities have shown no willingness to take into consideration the Governing Body's recommendations with a view to securing complete freedom and independence to the Hungarian trade unions. For this reason, declares the complaining organisation, it has submitted a further complaint to the I.L.O, in order that the Governing Body may examine it and take such steps as lie within its power to redress the violations of freedom of association committed by the Government of Hungary.
4. 420. The complaint of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions contains the following allegations:
5. (a) The Provisional Executive Committee of the National Federation of Free Trade Unions of Hungary, set up in Budapest on 31 October 1956, is alleged to have been dissolved by the Kádár Government.
6. (b) The Government is alleged to have done away with the " genuine representation of the workers " ensured by the " workers' councils " set up at the time of the insurrection in the undertakings and at the regional and national levels by promulgating a decree calling for new elections of council members and by arresting many leading members of the councils, including Mr. Sandor Racz and Mr. Sandor Bali, respectively leader and member of the Central Workers' Council.
7. (c) It is alleged that on 12 January 1957 the Government promulgated a decree to institute a more expeditious summary procedure for a number of " crimes ", which included any act with intent to cause a stoppage or disorganisation of work in public utility undertakings, i.e. all undertakings employing more than 100 workers. Under the new law the public prosecutor is relieved of the obligation to draw up a written bill of indictment and courts martial are established throughout the country. On the basis of this legislation, the purpose of which, it is alleged, is to intimidate the workers so that they will refrain from carrying on genuinely independent trade union activity, mass arrests of workers have already been made.
8. (d) It is alleged that a Decree of 20 January 1957 makes the Minister of the Armed Forces and Internal Security responsible for the control and supervision of all cultural and occupational associations ; in implementation of this decree a further governmental decree is stated to have come into effect which sets up an armed " factory militia " composed of hired militiamen whose task it is to " defend the régime " in labour circles. These measures, it is alleged, deny the workers any effective opportunity of carrying on any independent trade union activity whatsoever.
9. 421. From the legal point of view the complainant contends that the foregoing facts constitute so many infringements of the principles contained in the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and, particularly, of the stipulations that workers shall have the right to establish organisations of their own choosing, to elect their representatives in full freedom, etc., that the public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would impede the exercise of trade union rights, and that trade union organisations shall not be liable to be dissolved by administrative authority.
10. 422. In conclusion, the complaining organisation requests the Governing Body: (a) to place on record that the trade union policy adopted by the Kádár Government since its usurpation of power constitutes a continuing violation of the undertakings binding upon each member Government of the I.L.O; (b) to bring to the attention of the public the facts adduced in the present complaint ; (c) to take whatever action is within the power of the I.L.O to secure in Hungary recognition of the principle of the independence of the trade union movement with respect to the " Party ", the latter being strictly identical with the Government, and repeal of all measures at variance with this principle ; release of all persons exercising trade union functions who have been arrested ; repeal of legal provisions and other measures constituting an intimidation to workers as regards trade union activities ; abolition of control and supervision of trade union organisations by the Minister of the Armed Forces and Internal Security ; disbandment of the " factory militia " on duty on working premises, and, in general, the restoration of complete freedom of association by abrogating all legal and administrative provisions which impede the said freedom.
11. Complaint of the International Federation of Free Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe and Baltic and Balkan Countries
12. 423. After indicating that, like other occupational organisations, journalists' associations in Hungary have been placed under the direct control of the Minister of the Armed Forces and Internal Security, the complainant alleges more specifically that the Hungarian Union of Journalists has been dissolved and that many journalists or authors have been arrested and are threatened with prosecution because of the opinions which they have expressed. Among those alleged to have been arrested in this way, the complainant cites the names of Messrs. Gyula Hay, Zoltan Zelk, Domobas Varga, Tibor Kardos, Balaza Lengyel, Sandor Novovacky, Pal Loecsei and Gabor Folly.
13. ANALYSIS OF THE REPLIES
14. 424. By two communications dated 14 and 21 May 1957 the Hungarian Government presented its observations on the complaints submitted respectively by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Federation of Free Journalists of Central and Eastern Europe and Baltic and Balkan Countries. These two communications are analysed separately below.
15. Observations of the Government on the Complaint of the I.C.F.T.U.
16. 425. In its reply the Government begins by declaring that the I.C.F.T.U complaint is based solely on erroneous and tendentious data intended to convey a false picture of the trade union situation in Hungary, and gives it to be understood that the I.C.F.T.U, in submitting its complaint, has acted only from political motives entirely unconnected with any desire to defend trade union rights. The Government states that if, in spite of this, it has presented its observations, it has done so in order to establish the truth and also to demonstrate its willingness to co-operate to the greatest possible extent with the organs of the International Labour Organisation.
17. 426. Next, with reference to the allusion made by the complainant to the decisions with regard to Hungary taken by the Governing Body at its 133rd and 134th Sessions, the Government recalls-and summarises-the observations which it has already made with respect to those decisions.
18. 427. Passing thence to the specific allegations formulated in the I.C.F.T.U complaint, the Hungarian Government makes the following observations.
19. 428. The counter-revolutionary developments that occurred in the autumn of 1956 in Hungary also had an effect on the normal operation of the trade unions. In the course of this troubled period trade union executive organs, works councils and trade union leaders were removed by force. These no doubt are the facts to which the I.C.F.T.U is referring when it speaks of " the freedom which the determination of an entire people had lately established in Hungary ". It was also during that period that a provisional executive committee was arbitrarily appointed within the Central Council of Trade Unions. This provisional executive committee, having no mandate either from the Central Council of Trade Unions or from its presidium and, even more obviously, not having received any powers directly from trade union members, could not take valid decisions on behalf of the trade union movement. As soon as, in accordance with the trade union rules, the Central Council of Trade Unions was able to meet, it disowned the provisional executive at its session of 25 and 26 January 1957.
20. 429. All this, however, states the Government, took place within the unions themselves. Neither the Hungarian Government nor the Soviet troops stationed in Hungary under the Warsaw Treaty, whose assistance was summoned by the Government to crush the counter-revolutionary forces, had any influence on the work of the provisional executive committee or on the election of the executive organs of the trade unions. Contrary to the statement in the I.C.F.T.U complaint, there is no reason to suppose that the Hungarian Government dissolved the provisional executive committee.
21. 430. With regard to the allegation that the Hungarian unions are dependent on the Communist Party or the Government, the latter states in its reply that it has already expressed its views on this matter on several occasions. However, the Hungarian Government emphasises once again the following points. The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party is a political organisation set up by the Hungarian workers on the basis of voluntary membership, the purpose of the organisation being to frame a policy that will meet the requirements of the working classes. The Hungarian trade unions are voluntary associations of Hungarian workers for the protection of their interests. The purpose of both organisations is, therefore, to create a situation which will be favourable to the workers, but as they are of a different character, their fields of activity are also different. Contrary to what occurs in many countries, in Hungary nobody has to be a member of a political party to be able to hold executive office in the trade unions. Moreover, the national leadership of the Hungarian trade unions includes officials who belong to no party.
22. 431. In this connection, the Government declares that the statement of Mr. Kádár which the I.C.F.T.U saw fit to cite was in fact cited by that organisation incorrectly and incompletely. The relevant passage of the speech was in fact as follows : " The Party must be the ideological and political leader of the working class, and it is in that sense that it must also influence the trade unions. But it is precisely because of this common ideological starting point that it is self-evident that unions must run their own activities independently. If this is not the case, the Party too will suffer, for the prestige of the Party will not grow through authoritarian interference in the day-to-day work of the unions in connection with everyday issues. When I speak of independence I also mean this : it is not proper that all the organs of the Party should take special decisions that are binding on trade union organs that fall within their jurisdiction. It is true that a party organ can and must take a decision concerning a decision with which the union is also dealing, and must specify what its own views are. But these views are binding only on the members of the Party, and if the members of the Party speak at a meeting of a trade union body they must support these views. Their weapons are persuasion and argument : they have to show that their line is correct. They cannot say, instead of arguing : such and such a thing must be done because such and such an executive committee of the Party has so decided."
23. 432. The fact that certain members of the Government have come from the ranks of this Party with which the unions co-operate in several respects, far from leading to the dependence of these unions on the Government means, on the contrary, that the unions exercise a great influence on the Government. Thus, the allegations in the I.C.F.T.U complaint that "since the Party in Hungary is indistinguishable from the Government, this implies the complete subordination of the trade unions to the Government " is far from being proved by the misquotation in the complaint. On the contrary, the accurate citation given above emphasises precisely the need for trade union independence.
24. 433. As regards the point in the complaint concerning workers' councils, the allegation that " the Hungarian workers set up workers' councils ... with the task of upholding the interests of the workers " is not in accordance with the true facts. The Constitution of workers' councils in undertakings was proposed by the presidium of the Central Council of Trade Unions in a draft published on 25 October 1956. That draft already did not state that the councils' purpose was to perform the functions of trade union works committees in protecting and representing the interests of the workers but proposed that the workers' councils should take part in the business management of undertakings. The passage in the draft concerning the duties of workers' councils read as follows : " The workers' council shall take a decision on any issue connected with production, management and the organisation of workplaces." The statement in the complaint that " the workers' councils have ... been converted into organs of management in the undertakings " seems to amount to an objection to the fact that the workers' councils cannot do trade union work. The workers' councils were never set up to engage in trade union activities : they could not be " converted " into organs of management since that is what they were from the first. In fact, it would not be possible for the managing body of the undertaking to exercise at the same time the function of defending the workers' interests, to represent both workers and employers and to protect interests which are often divergent. The workers' councils, not being organs of a trade union character and not being intended to defend occupational interests, the questions raised with respect to these councils lie outside the competence of the Committee on Freedom of Association.
25. 434. The allegation that the Government, by decreeing that new elections should be held for workers' councils, " has done away with this genuine representation of the workers " is also, according to the Government, not in conformity with the facts. The election of the first workers' councils was far from being democratic. The workers' councils were formed at a time when counterrevolutionary elements were active in Hungary with the intention of subverting the order of the Hungarian State as established by law, and were also attempting to infiltrate into administrative bodies. Most of the workers were not in the factories at that time. The counter-revolutionary elements in several cases simply appointed the members of the workers' councils. That is how certain elements expressly hostile to the cause of the working class managed to obtain seats among the members of the workers' councils. In these circumstances the Hungarian Government desired, with good reason, that the workers' councils should be re-elected in a democratic manner. That is why section 2 of Government Decree No. 2/1956/XI.16 provides that " whereas, however, the workers' councils as now constituted have not in all cases been elected by a majority of the workers, the workers' councils are to be re-elected in each factory and workplace, all the workers in the factory taking part, within three weeks of the time when work is resumed ".
26. 435. After recalling that the complainant refers to the fact that workers' councils had also been set up " at the local and national levels ", the Government states that, in dissolving these workers' councils it acted in accordance with the Hungarian Constitution and Hungarian laws. In fact, states the Government in its reply, there is even less ground for considering the workers' councils set up at the local and national levels as representing the workers' interests than there is in so considering those set up in the undertakings. The workers' councils set up at the local and national levels adopted political aims. They intended to take into their hands or to influence the local and central organs of state power and state administration, with a view to assuming political leadership at the local and national levels. The provisions of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Hungary do not allow such tasks of national importance at the local and central levels to be performed by organs of state power and of the state administration elected otherwise than in accordance with the law. Under article 30 of the Hungarian Constitution, the local organs of state power (the local councils, i.e. the members of the local councils) are elected by the electors of the particular electoral district on the basis of the principles laid down for parliamentary elections. Under article 62 of the Constitution these principles are universal, equal and direct suffrage and the secret ballot. The establishment of the workers' councils set up " at the local and national levels " was not, therefore, in accordance with these principles and with the legal rules laid down to safeguard them. Consequently it was precisely in dissolving these organs that the Hungarian Government acted in accordance with the law.
27. 436. The Government further points out that in fact neither the Workers' Council of Budapest, which had been illegally constituted, nor the workers' councils under its influence, put forward claims of a trade union character and performed trade union functions. The claims they put forward were almost exclusively of a political character, and the strikes they organised were also of a political character.
28. 437. " When the Hungarian authorities ", declares the Government in its reply, " in accordance with the procedure that applies in criminal cases, instituted proceedings against certain elements that had infiltrated into the workers' councils and had organised in order to subvert the order established by law, they did not prosecute persons performing trade union functions, and even less so because they were performing such functions." Some of these persons were arrested as a result of offences such as incitement against the established order in the State and concealing arms, that is to say for offences which under Hungarian penal laws were regarded, even before October 1956, as criminal offences and which are, moreover, so described in the criminal laws of all States. The arrest of Sandor Racz and Sandor Bali, both mentioned in the I.C.F.T.U complaint, was also carried out for the above-mentioned reason, in accordance with the existing criminal law.
29. 438. As regards the part of the I.C.F.T.U complaint which refers to the more expeditious summary procedures, the following points are made by the Government: Hungary has been the scene of a counter-revolutionary insurrection which was supported by foreign reactionary forces and was aimed at subverting the order legally established in the country. The preservation of the Constitutional order of the State called for extraordinary measures in accordance with the Hungarian Constitution and the Constitutional legal principles. Such measures are taken by any State in the event of a revolt against it. Among them were measures of a legal nature which are applied only in exceptional circumstances and which are, moreover, fully in accordance with the international standards appropriate to such circumstances and provide the necessary legal safeguards. " The institution of a more expeditious summary procedure was justified by the circumstances that followed the repression of the armed forces of the counter-revolution."
30. 439. After the events in the autumn of 1956 the economic position of the country reached an extremely critical stage. There was every reason to fear that it would not be possible to meet the population's essential needs for the barest necessities of life. But the dispersed forces of the counter-revolution tried to prevent conditions being brought back to normal. Open attack having failed, they hindered the resumption of productive work by violence and intimidation ; factories and mines were occupied by small armed groups which prevented workers from reaching their workplaces. Counter-revolutionary elements opened the prisons and armed common-law criminals. This led to a situation in which the lives and property of the citizens were in constant peril. In these circumstances the Government's prime duty was to restrict the activities of these bandits, to ensure the normal prosecution of productive work and to guarantee the lives and property of the citizens. Legislative Decree No. 4 of 1957 to institute a more expeditious summary procedure was intended " to consolidate public order and general security and to render more effective the campaign against counter-revolutionary activities ". The rules of this procedure apply only to the most serious offences against the State, constituting sabotage.
31. 440. The legal safeguards of the Code of Procedure also apply under the summary procedure. In case of arrest the Public Prosecutor must within 72 hours issue an order for the prisoner's detention under remand ; the maximum duration of such detention is limited ; proceedings are held in public ; admissions by the accused must be spontaneous ; the judge is alone competent to appraise the truth of the evidence ; and both sides are given a full hearing. Apart from that, the convicted person may appeal against the sentence of a court of first instance for the annulment of a decision that is unfavourable to his interests. Under the summary procedure a sentence other than the death sentence may also be imposed. Having weighed all the circumstances of a case the court may impose instead of a death sentence one of imprisonment for life or for between five and 15 years. " This rule enables a court trying a case very largely to adjust the sentence to the particular case and to suit the punishment to the real seriousness of the crime committed and to the actual degree of the danger to society involved."
32. 441. The allegation in the complaint that mass arrests of workers have been made is absolutely baseless. During the first two months following the introduction of the summary procedure and on the basis of the legislative decree to institute a more expeditious summary procedure, the courts of first instance pronounced sentence on a total of 54 persons. Of these 23 were convicted of murder, armed robbery or looting, 22 of concealing arms and nine of organising a plot against the State. As regards the penalties laid down, the courts, in spite of the fact that the law entitles them to impose the death sentence for any of the offences covered by it, sentenced only three persons to death, two of them for murder. Over half of those convicted were habitual offenders. In these circumstances, states the Government, " the courts must be regarded as having been moderate and forbearing rather than severe and merciless ".
33. 442. The complaint of the I.C.F.T.U gives the impression that the legislative decree to institute a more expeditious summary procedure provided that a sentence could be imposed for organising strikes. There is no legal provision in the Hungarian Criminal Code, including Decree No. 4 of 1957, which provides that a sentence is to be imposed merely for organising a strike. The offences specified in section 1 (f) of the above decree are " crimes covered by the notion of sabotage and other destructive acts, and the decree does not cover such crimes unless the object was a large-scale stoppage of work or unless some great danger was involved ". Persons convicted of such offences are liable to the most severe penalties in all States. " Being conscious of the fact that the masses recognise where their real interests lie, the Government, far from punishing ordinary strikers, allowed the payment of wages for the duration of the strikes." It follows that the expeditious summary procedure bears no relation to a limitation of the workers' trade union rights.
34. 443. Invoking Government Decree No. 3 of 1957, which made the Minister of the Armed Forces and Internal Security provisionally responsible for the supervision, from the point of view of state security, of the associations covered by Legislative Decree No. 18 of 1955, the I.C.F.T.U reaches the conclusion that the Government made it impossible to carry on any independent trade union activities. But the scope of Legislative Decree No. 18 of 1955 does not extend to Hungarian trade unions, nor therefore does that of Government Decree No. 3 of 1957.
35. 444. The complainant also claims that the task of the factory militia " is to defend the régime in labour circles ". Legislative Decree No. 3 of 1957 provides that units of the factory militia shall be recruited from among the workers on the basis of voluntary membership, and the task of this militia is precisely to ensure tranquillity for the working people and to repel attempts to restore counter-revolutionary elements. Hence, the factory militia has nothing to do with the unions, either in the factories or elsewhere. Besides, the factory militia is organised in territorial units and not by factories or by undertakings.
36. 445. From the juridical point of view the Government puts forward the following arguments in its reply. The Hungarian Government has not infringed Article 4 of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), since it did not dissolve the provisional executive committee. Moreover, that committee had been set up in defiance of trade union rules and could not be regarded as a workers' organisation.
37. 446. In accordance with Article 2 of Convention No. 87 the workers in Hungary have the right, without distinction or prior authorisation whatsoever, to establish and join organisations of their own choosing. In Hungary the unions are fully independent ; state organs may not interfere in the internal affairs of trade unions.
38. 447. The workers' councils are management bodies which direct the work of undertakings ; they are not and never have been responsible for defending the interests of the workers and do not come within the category of organisations as defined by Article 10 of Convention No. 87. Consequently, all the measures taken with regard to the workers' councils bear no relation to the safeguard of freedom of association.
39. 448. The arrest of Sandor Racz, chairman of the Central Workers' Council of Budapest, and of certain elements which had infiltrated into the workers' councils, was carried out as a result of offences committed and not owing to the exercise of trade union functions. Their prosecution on a criminal charge, therefore, was in no way a violation of Article 3, paragraph 2, of Convention No. 87.
40. 449. It is not for a stoppage of work but for an act of sabotage and for other destructive acts that the law provides for the imposition of a penalty. There has been no violation of Article 3 of Convention No. 87 in this regard either.
41. 450. In conclusion, the Hungarian Government asks that the Governing Body should reach the following view:
42. " The Hungarian Government safeguards freedom of association. Although there is no formal international obligation binding on Hungary to apply Convention No. 87, the provisions of the Convention are already applied in Hungary. The Governing Body notes the communication from the Hungarian Government informing it that 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) will be ratified in the near future by the Presidium of the People's Republic. On the basis of the accurate information supplied by the Hungarian Government the allegations in the I.C.F.T.U complaint have been found to be contrary to the actual facts. Since the Hungarian Government guarantees freedom of association (a) there is no need to take action to secure the repeal of measures at variance with the principle of freedom of association ; (b) nobody has been arrested for exercising trade union functions and no elected trade union official is under arrest; (c) there are no provisions that constitute intimidation of the workers as regards trade union activities : on the contrary, the Hungarian legal provisions give the unions extensive powers in connection with their activities for the protection of the workers' interests; (d) the unions are fully independent, and the Minister of the Armed Forces and of Internal Security and the police authorities do not exercise supervision over trade union organisations; (e) the factory militia has no influence on trade union activities : and (f) in Hungary there are no statutory or administrative provisions that limit freedom of association in any way."
43. Observations of the Government on the Complaint of the International Federation of Free Journalists
44. 451. The Government begins its reply by declaring that the complaint of the International Federation of Free Journalists is based on " a tendentious presentment of the events, distortion of the truth and calumnies and is expressly directed to political ends ".
45. 452. The Government then goes on to say that the National Union of Hungarian Journalists, mentioned by the complainant, is not the trade union organisation representing the interests of journalists. The trade union organisation representing the interests of journalists is the Printing and Paper Workers' Union. The Government states that steps are being taken to set up an independent professional section for journalists within the framework of this trade union. It follows, argues the Government, that investigation of matters relating to the National Union of Hungarian Journalists is not within the terms of reference of the Committee on Freedom of Association, because this organisation is not a body for trade union representation.
46. 453. The Government declares that the allegation that it has dissolved the National Union of Hungarian Journalists has no foundation. During the occurrences in October and November of 1956, counter-revolutionary elements seized control of the National Union of Hungarian Journalists. The Union's club premises remained a nest of counter-revolutionary elements, even after the crushing of the armed counter-revolutionary attempt to overthrow the Constitutional and social order of the Hungarian People's Republic. When bringing to trial those counter-revolutionary forces which still existed and which still carried on activities directed towards the overthrow of the Constitutional and social order, the Hungarian Government also took the necessary action with regard to the illegal manner in which the National Union of Hungarian Journalists was functioning. This action was entirely in conformity with the law of the land already in existence before October 1956.
47. 454. Article 55, paragraph 1, and article 56, paragraph 2, of the Hungarian Constitution guarantee freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and freedom of association, in accordance with the interests of the workers. The action taken by the Hungarian Government was designed to defend these freedoms against all those whose activities are directed against the State and against law and order, i.e. against the interests of the workers.
48. 455. Under Legislative Decree No. 18 of 1955 associations must be registered, for purposes of control, by the supervisory authority. National associations are under the supervision and control of the relevant Ministers. Pursuant to section 13, paragraph 2, of the legislative decree, the supervisory authority must suspend the right of an association to manage its own affairs and appoint an official controller (or government commissioner) to run the association if the management of the association endangers the proper working of the association ; and if the association functions in such a way as to violate or compromise the Constitutional or social order of the Hungarian People's Republic (and thus the interests of the people) the supervisory authority will dissolve the association. The Hungarian Government, contrary to what is alleged in the complaint, did not dissolve the National Union of Hungarian Journalists but, on the basis of the foregoing section, it did temporarily suspend its right to manage its own affairs pending the election of a new board of officers by a general meeting of the journalists and it did appoint a government commissioner to head the Union in order to ensure the necessary supervision and control. Further, states the Government, the suspension of its right to manage its own affairs does not mean that the association has stopped functioning. Under the direction of the government commissioner thus appointed the staff of the Union continue to perform all their duties as before.
49. 456. The Union of Hungarian Writers-having regard to the fact that an active group of Union members used it as a weapon of offence against the social order of the Hungarian People's Republic-was dissolved by the Ministry of the Interior in the exercise of its rights as set forth in section 13 of the aforesaid legislative decree.
50. 457. It is true that, under Government Decree No. 3 of 1957, associations are placed under the supervision and control of the Minister for the Armed Forces and Public Safety. But, under section 2 of the decree, the Ministry of the Interior is actually responsible for exercising supervision.
51. 458. Trade unions enjoy complete independence in Hungary, and do not fall within the definition of an " association ". The operation of Legislative Decree No. 18 of 1955 does not extend to the trade unions.
52. 459. With reference to the arrest of certain Hungarian journalists and writers, the Hungarian Government makes the following observations. It follows from the principle set forth in article 49, paragraph 1, of the Hungarian Constitution, to the effect that citizens are equal before the law and enjoy equal rights, that every person-irrespective of his occupation-who commits an offence constituting a breach of the rules of law for the time being in force must be prosecuted according to the rules of procedure. This applies equally to journalists and writers ; those who are on trial have not been prosecuted-as stated in the complaint-" for having exercised freedom of expression ", but for having committed crimes and for having pursued activities leading to murders and acts of terrorism. For having taken part in the commission of acts of subversion they were sentenced pursuant to the Penal Code already in force before October 1956.
53. 460. In this connection the Hungarian Government considers that every State has the unquestionable right, in the normal exercise of its sovereignty, to indict for trial persons who commit offences aiming to overthrow the legal Constitutional order. In consequence the Hungarian Government firmly maintains the view that the question of the arrest of certain Hungarian journalists and writers constitutes a matter within the domestic jurisdiction of the Hungarian People's Republic, and hence any examination of the question is outside the competence of international organisations.
54. 461. Human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully guaranteed by the National Constitution, which guarantees also freedom of meeting and freedom of association. Temporarily, the exercise of these rights is subject to governmental authorisation ; the reason for this restriction is to be found in the fact that, during the period of counter-revolutionary activity, abuse of the freedom of meeting and of freedom of association resulted in the commission of common-law offences and acts of terrorism. The measures taken by the Government of Hungary are intended to institute a freedom of meeting and of association serving the peaceful objects enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
55. 462. In short, declares the Government, it can be seen that the measures taken by the Hungarian Government with regard to the National Union of Hungarian Journalists, the Union of Hungarian Writers and certain Hungarian journalists and writers have not - contrary to the allegations in the complaint - violated either the Charter of the United Nations or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
56. 463. In conclusion the Hungarian Government expresses the hope " that the competent organs of the International Labour Organisation, after making an objective investigation, on the basis of the information supplied by the Hungarian Government, of the complaint lodged by the International Federation of Free Journalists, will be bound to come to the conclusion that discussion of the complaint (which is, moreover, devoid of any foundation) is not within the competence of the International Labour Organisation, and even less within that of the Committee on Freedom of Association ".
57. 464. The Committee has also noted that the United Nations Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary has commented in the following terms on the trade union situation in Hungary and on the position of the workers' councils
58. 539. Since 1947, trade unions in Hungary had become instruments of the Government and eventually agents of the Hungarian Workers' (Communist) Party. From then on they were exclusively used to establish production standards, working conditions and wage scales in such a way as to serve the interests of the State. Their leaders were appointed by the Government, under the direction of the Party, and the chairman of the shop committee in each plant picked the committee members from workers trusted politically by the Party. Only one candidate was put up for election, and he was elected by show of hands. In these circumstances, as witnesses stated, workers ceased to consider the trade unions as their true representatives, but looked toward the establishment of genuine workers' organisations which would not remain indifferent to their complaints and their demands. This criticism of the unions had become widespread before the uprising, and Népszava, the central organ of the National Council of Trade Unions (Szakszervezetek Országos Tanácsa) (SZOT), declared on 9 September 1956 in an editorial : " Trade union activities in Hungary became distorted and for years have been run on the wrong lines. The time has come now for the trade union movement to become, once again, a workers' movement."
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60. 560. The Committee concludes from its study of the Revolutionary Councils that they were the result of a spontaneous, nation-wide movement to assert the right of the Hungarian people to assume the direction of their affairs and lives. This movement took shape, as did the uprising itself, at the local level and there was in the beginning little or no contact between the various groups. Nevertheless, as in the case of the students and intellectuals, a broad identity of aim underlies both the demands and the methods. It is clear that the formation of these Councils met a need widely felt by the Hungarian people.
61. 561. The same is true of the Workers' Councils. All witnesses confirmed that dissatisfaction with the trade unions of the régime was one of the most important grievances of the Hungarian workers. In addition, they demanded a genuine voice in the control of the undertaking in which they worked, and this they set out to obtain by electing Councils along democratic lines. These Councils at once assumed important responsibilities in the factories, mines and other undertakings, and they exerted a considerable influence upon the Government, with which delegations from a number of them maintained direct contact. The overwhelming support given by Hungarians to these Workers' Councils confirms the impression that they were among the most important achievements of the Hungarian people during their few days of freedom.
62. On 14 September 1957 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted, by 60 votes to 10, with 10 abstentions, the following resolution:
63. The General Assembly,
64. Recalling its resolution 1132 (XI) of 10 January 1957, establishing a Special Committee, consisting of representatives of Australia, Ceylon, Denmark, Tunisia and Uruguay, to investigate, and to establish and maintain direct observation in Hungary and elsewhere, taking testimony, collecting evidence and receiving information, as appropriate,
65. Having now received the unanimous report of the Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary,
66. Regretting that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the present authorities in Hungary have failed to co-operate in any way with the Committee,
67. 1. Expresses its appreciation to the Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary for its work ;
68. 2. Endorses the report of the Committee ;
69. 3. Notes the conclusion of the Committee that the events which took place in Hungary in October and November of 1956 constituted a spontaneous national uprising ;
70. 4. Finds that the conclusions reached by the Committee on the basis of its examination of all available evidence confirm that:
71. (a) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, in violation of the Charter of the United Nations, has deprived Hungary of its liberty and political independence and the Hungarian people of the exercise of their fundamental human rights ;
72. (b) The present Hungarian régime has been imposed on the Hungarian people by the armed intervention of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ;
73. (c) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has carried out mass deportations of Hungarian citizens to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ;
74. (d) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has violated its obligations under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 ;
75. (e) The present authorities in Hungary have violated the human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty of Peace with Hungary ;
76. 5. Condemns these acts and the continued defiance of the resolutions of the General Assembly ;
77. 6. Reiterates its concern with the continuing plight of the Hungarian people;
78. 7. Considers that further efforts must be made to achieve the objectives of the United Nations in regard to Hungary in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter and the pertinent resolutions of the General Assembly ;
79. 8. Calls upon the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the present authorities in Hungary, in view of evidence contained in the report, to desist from repressive measures against the Hungarian people, to respect the liberty and political independence of Hungary and the Hungarian people's enjoyment of fundamental human rights and freedoms, and to ensure the return to Hungary of those Hungarian citizens who have been deported to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ;
80. 9. Requests the President of the Eleventh Session of the General Assembly, H.R.H. Prince Wan Waithayakon, as the General Assembly's special representative on the Hungarian problem, to take such steps as he deems appropriate, in view of the findings of the Committee, to achieve the objectives of the United Nations in accordance with General Assembly resolutions 1004 (ES-II) of 4 November 1956, 1005 (ES-II) of 9 November 1956, 1127 (XI) of 21 November 1956, 1131 (XI) of 12 December 1956 and 1132 (XI) of 10 January 1957, to consult as appropriate with the Committee during the course of his endeavours, and to report and make recommendations as he may deem advisable to the General Assembly ;
81. 10. Decides to place the Hungarian item on the provisional agenda of the Twelfth Session of the General Assembly.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

• Preliminary Question as to the Competence of the Committee
  465. 465 In its replies the Hungarian Government maintains that the questions raised in the complaint of the International Federation of Free Journalists and certain aspects of the complaint of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions are outside the competence of the Committee on Freedom of Association. In support of this argument the Government contends that neither the workers' councils mentioned in the complaint of the I.C.F.T.U nor the National Union of Hungarian Journalists referred to by the International Federation of Free Journalists are trade union organisations within the meaning of Article 10 of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).
  466. 466 The Committee has already had occasion to express its opinion concerning the workers' councils, when it examined Case No. 158, also relating to Hungary. In this connection, the Committee recalled that in its First Report it had been called upon to study the meaning of the term " organisation of workers " for the purpose of determining the organisations entitled to submit complaints to the Committee. It adopted for this purpose criteria which were based on the conclusions unanimously approved by the Governing Body in 1937 in the Labour Party of the Island of Mauritius Case when considering a representation under article 24 of the Constitution of the Organisation (then article 23). In that case, the Governing Body affirmed that it was the function of the Governing Body to examine in each individual case what the nature of an association making a representation in fact is, irrespective of its name, which might be determined by local circumstances having no bearing on its real character. In the report which it approved, it is stated, in particular : " In one country the right of workers and employers to form industrial associations may be subject to restrictions, and trade unions in the true sense may exist under a name concealing their exact identity. In another country an industrial association may bear a name that would suggest that it is of the character of a political party. It is the duty of the Governing Body to determine in each case, independently of the terminology employed and of the name that may have been imposed on the association by circumstances or selected by it, whether the association from which the representation emanates is in fact an industrial association of employers or workers' in the natural meaning of the words. In particular, when considering whether a body is an industrial association, the Governing Body could not be bound by any national definition of the term industrial association." The Governing Body also declared in the Island of Mauritius Case that ". although the Governing Body, when deciding whether a body making a representation is or is not an industrial association, enjoys full discretion within the limits of the Constitution, and is not bound by the legislative or customary terminology of the State concerned, it must nevertheless, before it decides a representation to be receivable, be convinced that the association making it is, in fact, an industrial association ". The Committee reaffirmed these principles in Case No. 137, relating to Brazil.
  467. 467 When it examined Case No. 158 relating to Hungary, referred to above, the Committee considered that the principles which are applicable for the purpose of determining whether an organisation is entitled to submit a complaint to the Committee are equally applicable for the purpose of determining whether an organisation, the freedom of which is the subject matter of a complaint submitted to the Committee, is an organisation to which the procedure for the examination of allegations of infringements of trade union rights applies. In the case of the workers' councils, the Committee took the view that the relationship between the trade unions and the workers' councils was so close that measures which restricted the freedom of the one also restricted the freedom of the other. It appeared to the Committee from the text of Legislative Decree No. 25 of 24 November 1956, communicated to the Committee by the Hungarian Government, that the Legislative Decree in question provided for considerable intervention by the trade unions in the workers' councils : preparations for the elections of workers' councils were the duty of the factory trade union committee (article 3 (1)) ; representatives of the trade union centre could participate in the meetings of the councils (article 5 (2)) and in the meetings of the presidium of a workers' council (article 7 (2)); the presidium of a workers' council must consult the trade union committee before taking decisions (article 9 (5)) ; it was the function of the workers' council to ensure the fulfilment of the collective agreement within the undertaking with the participation of the trade unions (article 8 (4) ).
  468. 468 In Case No. 158, therefore, the Committee considered itself competent to report to the Governing Body concerning the allegations relating to the arrest of members of workers' councils.
  469. 469 With respect to the National Union of Hungarian Journalists, the Government states that this organisation is not " the trade union organisation representing the interests of journalists ", their interests being represented by the Printing and Paper Workers' Union. It follows, concludes the Government, that investigation of matters relating to the National Union of Hungarian Journalists is not, in view of the fact that it is not a representative trade union body, within the terms of reference of the Committee on Freedom of Association.
  470. 470 In would appear from the Government's statements that the National Union of Hungarian Journalists is not recognised as representing the interests of journalists and that, in reality, another organisation represents such interests. The fact that an organisation is not regarded by a government as having a representative character does not necessarily deprive such organisation of the status of an industrial association. In the present case, although there is another organisation which the Government regards as representing the interests of journalists, there is nothing to make it appear that the National Union of Hungarian Journalists is not an " industrial association in the natural meaning of the words ". In view of the fact that the Committee, when considering whether a body is an industrial association, is not bound by any national definition of the term " industrial association " and, in particular, by the legislative or customary terminology of the State concerned, it considers that it is competent to report to the Governing Body on the allegations relating to the dissolution of the National Union of Hungarian Journalists and the arrests of numerous journalists, and has examined the complaint of the International Federation of Free Journalists on its merits, especially as the Government itself has presented its observations on the substance of the complaint.
  471. 471 In the examination of the present case it is necessary to have regard to the fact that the Government of Hungary 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). These instruments enter into force for Hungary on 6 June 1958. The Committee has noted that, while the Government's first reports on these Conventions under article 22 of the Constitution of the I.L.O would not normally be due until 15 October 1959, the Conference has expressed the hope that for the period 1956-57 a voluntary report on the position of the law and practice in the field of freedom of association in Hungary may be communicated in time for examination by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations at its next session.
• Allegations relating to the Dissolution of the Provisional Executive Committee of the National Federation of Free Trade Unions of Hungary
  472. 472 The complainants declare that on 31 October 1956 a Provisional Executive Committee of the National Federation of Free Trade Unions of Hungary was set up in Budapest, the programme of which included, in particular, the restoration of freedom of association and trade union independence and the withdrawal of the reorganised trade union federation from the World Federation of Trade Unions. It is alleged by the complainants that nothing further has been heard of this committee since the reversal of the situation in Hungary and that they have " every reason to believe that the Kádár Government has taken action to dissolve this committee ".
  473. 473 The Government states that this committee was arbitrarily appointed within the Central Council of Trade Unions and had no mandate either from the Council or from its presidium and, even less so, had it received any powers directly from trade union members ; in consequence the Government considers that it had no valid existence. Further, states the Government, as soon as the Central Council of Trade Unions was able to meet in accordance with the trade union rules, it immediately disowned the provisional committee. This decision, arrived at during the session of the Central Council on 25 and 26 January 1957, was taken by that organ, and only by that organ, without any intervention on the part of the Government.
  474. 474 It would appear from this information that a " Provisional Executive Committee of the National Federation of Free Trade Unions of Hungary " was set up in Hungary in October 1956 and dissolved in circumstances which are difficult to establish with certainty, but which are described in the Report of the United Nations Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary referred to in paragraph 464 above.
• Allegations relating to the Subordination of the Trade Unions to the Government and the Communist Party
  475. 475 The complainants allege that the Hungarian trade unions are subordinated to the Communist Party and therefore, as the Party and the Government in Hungary are identical, to the Government itself. In support of this allegation the I.C.F.T.U cites a statement by Mr. Kádár in which he is purported to have said that " it is unthinkable that the trade unions should be independent of the Party ".
  476. 476 In its reply the Government declares that the I.C.F.T.U has misquoted the statement in question and furnishes a complete text of the statement in the form in which the Government says it was made. In the version given by the Government, Mr. Kádár explains in what respects he considers that the trade unions should be independent : the Party must not intervene in the day-to-day work of the trade unions ; however, the Party must take decisions in matters with which the trade unions are also dealing and, within the trade unions, members of the Party should defend its position. Mr. Kádár defines the role of the Party in relation to the trade unions as follows : "the Party must be the ideological and political leader of the working class, and it is in that sense that it must also influence the trade unions ".
  477. 477 While it may be true that the Communist Party does not intervene authoritatively and directly in the functioning of the trade unions, it would nevertheless seem to be clear from the statement referred to by the Government that the Party exercises at least strong moral suasion over the trade unions, both through the attitude which it adopts on questions which engage the attention of the trade unions and through its members in the trade unions. It is appropriate to recall, in this connection, that, when it examined similar allegations in Case No. 19, also relating to Hungary, the Committee affirmed the principle expressed by the International Labour Conference in the resolution concerning the independence of the trade union movement that " governments should not attempt to transform the trade union movement into an instrument for the pursuance of political aims, nor should they attempt to interfere with the normal functions of a trade union movement because of its freely established relationship with a political party ".
• Allegations relating to the Replacement of the Workers' Councils and to the Arrest of Certain Members of Such Councils
  478. 478 The complainants allege that by ordering new elections for the workers' councils the Government did away with " the genuine representation of the workers ". They allege also that several leaders of these councils have been arrested, including Mr. Sandor Racz and Mr. Sandor Bali, respectively a leader and a member of the Central Workers' Council.
  479. 479 The Government argues that the first workers' councils, set up when " counter-revolutionary " elements gained control, could not be regarded as having been established regularly and democratically. Far from ensuring the defence of the occupational interests of the workers, states the Government, these councils adopted exclusively political aims contrary to the desires of the working class. In these circumstances the Government considers that it had good reason for ordering the holding of new elections.
  480. 480 Without expressing any opinion as to whether the old or the new councils " genuinely " represented or represent the workers, it is nevertheless to be observed that, contrary to what appears to have happened in the case of the provisional executive trade union committee (see paragraph 473 above), when the decision taken would seem to have been taken by the Central Council of Trade Unions itself, in the present instance it was the Government which, by decree, ordered the elections and not the workers' councils which took steps to hold elections.
  481. 481 It is appropriate to recall in this connection that Article 3 of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) provides that workers' organisations shall have the right to draw up their Constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives in full freedom and to organise their administration and activities, and that the public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof.
  482. 482 With regard to the workers' councils set up at the local and national levels referred to by the complainants, the Government declares that, because the councils were established in violation of legislative and Constitutional provisions, it took steps to dissolve them. The complainants contend that these councils exercised trade union functions ; the Government maintains that the councils alleged by the complainants to have been dissolved were political in character. On the basis of the information before it, it would be difficult for the Committee to express a view in full knowledge of the circumstances. However, even if it be conceded that the activities of these workers' councils were political in character and that this character may have justified their dissolution, it does not appear from the Government's reply that such dissolution was brought about by judicial means, in accordance with Article 4 of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), which provides that workers' organisations shall not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority.
  483. 483 The question of the arrest of certain members of the workers' councils has already been examined by the Committee in Case No. 158 (Hungary), on which the Committee submitted a report to the Governing Body which the latter adopted at its 134th Session (Geneva, March 1957). Apart from the naming of Messrs. Racz and Bali, whose arrest the Government does not deny, this part of the I.C.F.T.U complaint adds no new elements to those contained in the complaint examined in Case No. 158. In these circumstances, it is appropriate to recall the conclusions which the Committee reached after examining that case and which are embodied in paragraphs 330-333 of its 25th Report, as follows
  330. 330 The International Federation of Christian Trade Unions alleges that members of workers' councils have been arrested by the Hungarian authorities in violation of freedom of association. The Government admits that a number of members of workers' councils have been detained, stating that counter-revolutionary elements hostile to the working class, who had infiltrated into the workers' councils and engaged in subversive activities against the State, have been proceeded against in accordance with the provisions of Hungarian penal law. The Government states that the participants in these subversive activities were guilty of concealing arms and of carrying on a campaign of sedition against the State order of the Hungarian People's Republic. The Government declares that, as it is the sovereign right of every State to begin criminal proceedings against persons who have committed subversive acts, the question of the arrest of certain workers' council members does not fall within the competence of international organisations.
  331. 331 The Government of Hungary admits that certain members of workers' councils have been detained because of their alleged subversive activities. The International Federation of Christian Trade Unions has not, however, mentioned any specific case of a trade unionist being detained and has not furnished further information in substantiation of its complaint, as it had the opportunity to do.
  332. 332 In several cases which have come before the Committee, in which it was alleged that trade union officers or members had been preventively detained, the Committee has 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 right of all detained persons to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment. In the present case, the Government declares that the detentions have taken place in exceptional circumstances, in that counter-revolutionary elements have endeavoured to overthrow the régime of the People's Republic. The detained persons, continues the Government, are being proceeded against in respect of subversive activities against the State before the competent Hungarian authorities, in accordance with Hungarian penal law. While noting the Government's statement that those detained are being proceeded against before the competent authorities, the Committee observes that it has no information as to whether those authorities are independent judicial authorities and, therefore, considers it necessary to reaffirm the importance which it has always attached in such cases to the guarantees of due legal process. In the past, moreover, where allegations that trade union leaders or workers have been arrested for trade union activities have been met by governments with statements that the arrests were made because of the subversive activities of those detained, the Committee has followed the rule that the governments concerned should be requested to submit further and as precise information as possible concerning the arrests, particularly in connection with the nature of the proceedings instituted as a result thereof and the result of such proceedings. The Committee has also indicated the importance which it attaches to these guarantees of due process including safeguards against the retroactive application of any penal law.
  333. 333 The present complaint is of strictly limited scope. Apart from a general charge of " new flagrant violations of freedom of association and workers' fundamental rights ", in respect of which the complainant has not exercised the right to furnish further information in substantiation of the complaint, it deals only with the arrest of members of workers' councils. It therefore does not raise the larger issues on which the views expressed by the Committee in its 21st Report have already been approved by the Governing Body. In these circumstances the Committee considers that the most appropriate course for it to follow in respect of the present complaint is for it to recommend the Governing Body:
       • (a) to reaffirm the importance which it has always attached to a prompt and fair trial by an independent and impartial judiciary in all cases, including cases in which trade unionists are charged with political or criminal offences which the Government considers have no relation to their trade union functions ;
       • (b) to reaffirm the importance which it attaches to full protection in such cases against the retroactive application of any penal law ;
       • (c) to declare that these principles are fully applicable to the arrest of members of workers' councils by the Hungarian authorities ;
       • (d) to reaffirm the willingness and desire of the International Labour Organisation to participate in establishing by means of objective investigation the facts of the present situation in respect of freedom of association in Hungary.
  334. Allegations relating to the Utilisation of the "Expedited Summary Procedure"
  484. 484 The complainants allege that a decree dated 12 January 1957 instituted a more expeditious summary procedure applicable, in particular, with respect to acts with intent to cause a stoppage or disorganisation of work in undertakings employing more than 100 workers. It is alleged that the purpose of this measure is to intimidate the workers so that they will refrain from carrying on genuinely independent trade union activity. Mass arrests are stated to have been made pursuant to the decree.
  485. 485 The Government declares that the institution of a more expeditious summary procedure is an exceptional measure rendered necessary by the insurrection which took place in Hungary and by the effects of that insurrection. It is intended, states the Government, to protect the lives and property of the citizens, to ensure the normal prosecution of productive work and, generally, to consolidate public order and general security and to render more effective the campaign against counter-revolutionary activities.
  486. 486 The Government declares that the procedure in question applies only to the most serious offences against the State, amounting to sabotage, and that it is accompanied by the legal safeguards of the Code of Procedure : limitation of the maximum period of detention under remand, public proceedings, right of appeal. It should be observed in this connection that, in cases in which it has noted the existence of procedures of an exceptional nature, the Committee has emphasised the importance that it attaches in such cases to the application of all the guarantees afforded by due legal process' (including the guarantee of the non-retroactive application of penal legislation ). Moreover, in cases in the past in which it was alleged that workers had been arrested by reason of their activities of a trade union character and governments replied that such arrests were occasioned by the subversive activities of the persons concerned, the Committee has always followed the rule that the governments concerned should be requested to submit as precise information as possible concerning the arrests, particularly in connection with the nature of the proceedings instituted and the results of such proceedings.
  487. 487 In reply to the allegation that mass arrests of workers have been made pursuant to the decree complained against, the Government states that the expedited summary procedure has been applied in the cases of 54 persons in all ; among these, 23 were convicted of murder, armed robbery or looting, 22 of concealing arms and 9 of organising a plot against the State. While it may appear, therefore, that the complainant has not offered sufficient evidence to show that " mass arrests " of workers were carried out under the decree of 12 January 1957, it seems appropriate, in this connection, to reaffirm the principles referred to in the preceding paragraph.
  488. 488 With respect to the allegation that the more expeditious summary procedure is applicable in the case of persons who commit acts intended to cause a stoppage of work or to disorganise the work, the Government declares that neither the decree of 12 January 1957 nor any provision in the Hungarian Criminal Code provides that a sentence shall be imposed merely for organising or participating in a strike. The decree is applicable only in the case of acts covered by the notion of sabotage and is in no way intended to restrict the exercise of trade union rights by the workers.
  489. 489 However, the Government points out in its reply that the notion of sabotage extends to acts " the object of which is a large-scale stoppage of work or if some great danger is involved ". The very lack of preciseness in this definition involves a danger of abuse in the practical application of texts which are already of an exceptional nature.
  490. 490 In several cases the Committee has recognised the importance of the right to strike in general terms. In Case No. 47 relating to India, the Committee stated that " the right to strike is generally admitted as an integral part of the general right of workers and their organisations to defend their economic interests ", but that " in the case of essential services ... strikes may be temporarily restricted until existing means of negotiation, conciliation or arbitration have been exhausted ". The Committee expressed a similar opinion when it examined Case No. 50 relating to Turkey. In Case No. 11 relating to Brazil, the Committee drew attention to the importance which it attaches, in cases in which strikes are prohibited in essential occupations, to ensuring adequate guarantees to safeguard to the full the interests of the workers thus deprived of an essential means of defending occupational interests-a principle which the Committee again affirmed in Case No. 60 relating to Japan.
  491. 491 In Case No. 148 relating to Poland, the Committee emphasised the importance which it attaches to the principle that the right to strike is generally admitted as an integral part of the general right of workers and their organisations to defend their economic interests, and expressed the view that, while strikes may be temporarily restricted by law, such restriction " should be accompanied by appropriate, impartial and expeditious procedures of conciliation and arbitration ".
• Allegations relating to Control of the Trade Unions by the Minister of the Armed Forces and Internal Security
  492. 492 The I.C.F.T.U alleges that a decree dated 20 January 1957 makes the Minister of the Armed Forces and Internal Security responsible for the " control and supervision " of all cultural and occupational associations, including, according to the complainant, trade union organisations. It is alleged that this decree is supplemented by a further decree setting up an armed factory militia to defend the régime in labour circles. The International Federation of Free Journalists protests against the application of the decree of 20 January 1957 to the National Union of Hungarian Journalists and alleges that it is equivalent in fact to a dissolution of that organisation.
  493. 493 The Government declares that Decree No. 3 of 1957 referred to by the complainants made the Minister of the Armed Forces and Internal Security provisionally responsible for the supervision of associations covered by Legislative Decree No. 18 of 1955. But the Government emphasises that this Legislative Decree and therefore Decree No. 3 of 1957-does not apply to trade unions but only to associations. The Government declares that the factory militia is recruited on a voluntary basis, that its task is to repel attempts to restore counterrevolutionary elements, that it exercises no influence on the trade unions, either in the factories or elsewhere, and that it is organised in territorial units and not by factories or by undertakings. With regard to the National Union of Hungarian Journalists, on the other hand, the Government states that Decree No. 3 of 1957 was applicable because it was an association within the meaning of Legislative Decree No. 18 of 1955.
  494. 494 In this connection the Government gives the following details : pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 18 of 1955, associations must be registered, for purposes of control, by " the supervisory authority "-for national associations this authority is the Minister of the Armed Forces and Internal Security. The " supervisory authority " must suspend the right of an association to manage its own affairs and appoint an official controller to run the association if the management of the association endangers its proper working. If the association functions in such a way as to violate or compromise the Constitutional or social order of the Republic, the " supervisory authority " will dissolve the association.
  495. 495 In the case of the National Union of Hungarian Journalists, the Government declares that the " supervisory authority " did not dissolve the association, as the complainant gives it to be understood, but temporarily suspended its right to manage its own affairs pending the election of a new board of officers by a general meeting of the journalists and appointed a government commissioner to head the union in order to ensure the necessary control. The Government adds that suspension of its right to manage its own affairs does not mean that the association has stopped functioning ; under the direction of the government commissioner it continues to perform all its functions as before. Finally, states the Government, the Union of Hungarian Writers, which committed acts contrary to the social order of the Republic, was dissolved pursuant to Decree No. 3 of 1957.
  496. 496 In the light of the information available, it is difficult to understand clearly according to what criteria the Government draws the distinction between " associations ", covered by Legislative Decree No. 18 of 1955 and Decree No. 3 of 1957, and trade unions properly so called, to which these texts do not apply. As observed in paragraphs 469 and 470 above, and in so far as the position can be assessed, the Government seems to mean by " trade unions " only the organisations which are recognised as representative of the workers, " associations " comprising other organisations. It would appear that, while not being recognised as representative, certain of these other organisations which have been subject to the measures of supervision, suspension and dissolution described by the Government-and, especially, the National Union of Hungarian Journalists-may be regarded as being industrial associations to which should be applied the principles relating to freedom of association which are enunciated in Articles 3 and 4 of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) with respect to non-interference by the public authorities in the functioning of workers' and employers' organisations and the prohibition of the suspension or dissolution of such organisations by administrative authority.
• Allegations relating to Arrests of Hungarian Journalists and Writers
  497. 497 The International Federation of Free Journalists alleges that several journalists and writers (whose names are given) have been arrested because of the opinions expressed by them. Here again, the Government declares that persons have been prosecuted as the result of subversive activities with the object of overthrowing the established order and not because of their trade union activities or of the opinions which they expressed. In these circumstances, the question now before the Committee being the same as the question which it examined in Case No. 158 (Hungary) already referred to, it is appropriate, as was done with respect to the matters dealt with in paragraph 483 above, to recall the conclusions reached by the Committee in Case No. 158 and which are contained in paragraphs 330-333 of its 25th Report, reproduced in paragraph 483 above.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 498. In these circumstances the Committee, while noting the ratification by Hungary of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948, recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to note the endorsement by the General Assembly of the United Nations, by 60 votes to 10, with 10 abstentions, on 14 September 1957, of the findings concerning the trade union situation in Hungary and workers' councils contained in the Report of the United Nations Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary ;
   • (b) to affirm that the principles concerning freedom of association enunciated in the Preamble to the Constitution of the I.L.O and in the Declaration of Philadelphia and defined in the Conventions relating to freedom of association are not observed in Hungary ;
   • (c) to draw the attention of the authorities in Hungary to the importance of securing the full application in practice of the provisions of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948, in accordance with the solemn obligation undertaken by Hungary and, in particular, of the following principles:
   • (i) workers shall have the right to establish and join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation (Article 2);
   • (ii) such organisations shall have the right to draw up their Constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives in full freedom, to organise their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes, and the public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof (Article 3) ;
   • (iii) such organisations shall not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority (Article 4) ;
   • (d) to reaffirm the importance which it attaches to the principles:
   • (i) that governments should not attempt to transform the trade union movement into an instrument for the pursuance of political aims, nor should they attempt to interfere with the normal functions of the trade union movement ;
   • (ii) that when trade unionists are accused of political or criminal offences which a government considers to be outside the scope of their trade union activities they should be judged promptly by an impartial and independent judicial authority, and that, in such cases, the observance of the guarantee of the non-retroactive application of penal law should be ensured ;
   • (iii) that the right to strike is generally regarded as an essential element of the general right of workers and their organisations to defend their economic interests and that, while strikes may be temporarily restricted by law, such restriction should be accompanied by the provision of appropriate impartial and expeditious procedures of conciliation and arbitration ;
   • (e) to draw the attention of the authorities in Hungary to the request of the International Labour Conference at its 40th Session (1957) that a voluntary report on the position of law and practice in the field of freedom of association in Hungary be communicated in time for examination by the Committee of Experts at its next session ;
   • (f) to request the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations to give special attention to the matter ;
   • (g) to request the authorities in Hungary to consent to the question of freedom of association in Hungary being referred to the Fact-Finding and Conciliation Commission on Freedom of Association ;
   • (h) to communicate these conclusions to the General Assembly of the United Nations and to indicate once again to the United Nations the continuing willingness and desire of the International Labour Organisation to participate in any arrangements which might be made in pursuance of the resolutions of the General Assembly to ascertain the facts of the present situation in respect of freedom of association in Hungary.