Interim Report - Report No 85, 1966

Case No 191 (Sudan) - Complaint date: 07-DEC-58 - Closed

1. 247. The Committee has already examined this case at its sessions in May 1960, February 1961, February 1962 and February 1964.
2. 248. Sudan has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), but has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 249. When it examined the case at its meeting in February 1962 the Committee, in paragraph 162 of its 60th Report, made the following recommendations to the Governing Body:
   • ...the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
     • (a) to decide, with respect to the allegations relating to the suspension of the trade unions of Sudan:
     • (i) to take note of the Government's statement that 48 trade unions, representing 42,000 have now been registered under the Trade Unions (Amendment industrial workers,) Ordinance, 1960, and that ten further applications for registration are under consideration;
     • (ii) to request the Government to be good enough, bearing in mind the hope expressed by the Governing Body when it adopted paragraph 90 (a) (ii) of the Committee's 48th Report, cited in paragraph 117 above, to continue to keep the Governing Body informed of further developments with regard to the formation and functioning of trade unions in Sudan;
     • (b) to decide, with respect to the allegations relating to the trade union press:
     • (i) to take note of the Government's statement that it has no objection in principle to allowing trade unions to express their opinions by publishing their own newspapers;
     • (ii) to request the Government to inform the Governing Body whether this statement means that the freedom of the trade union press has now been re-established or will now be re-established in Sudan, in accordance with the hope expressed by the Governing Body when it approved paragraph 90 (b) (ii) of the Committee's 48th Report;
     • (iii) to request the Government to furnish its observations on the allegations made by the World Federation of Trade Unions in its communication dated 5 June 1961, to which reference is made in paragraph 123 above;
     • (c) to request the Government to furnish its observations on the allegations relating to arrests of trade unionists made by the World Federation of Trade Unions in its communication dated 5 June 1961 and which are referred to in paragraphs 129 and 130 above;
     • (d) to decide, with respect to certain matters arising out of the Trade Unions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1960:
     • (i) to draw the attention of the Government to the importance which the Governing Body accepted principle that workers without distinction whatsoever attaches to the generally should have the right to establish and join trade union organisations;
     • (ii) to express the hope that the Government will now consider amending section 2 of the Trade Unions Ordinance, as amended in 1960, so as to give full effect to the principle enumerated in subparagraph (i) above;
     • (iii) to request the Government to be good enough to keep the Governing Body informed as to further developments in this connection;
     • (iv) to draw the attention of the Government to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the generally accepted principle that workers should have the right to establish and join organisations of their own choosing;
     • (v) to express the hope that the Government, having regard to the considerations set forth in paragraphs 134, 136 and 137 above, will now consider amending sections 9 (1) and 27 (3) of the Trade Unions Ordinance, as amended in 1960, so as to give full effect to the principle enunciated in subparagraph (iv) above;
     • (vi) to request the Government to be good enough to keep the Governing Body informed as to further developments in this connection;
     • (vii) to draw the attention of the Government to the importance which it attaches to the generally recognised principles that workers' organisations should have the right to establish and join federations and Confederations and that any such organisation, federation or Confederation should have the right to affiliate with international organisations of workers;
   • (viii) to point out to the Government that the question as to whether a need to form federations and Confederations is felt or not is a matter to be determined solely by the workers and workers' organisations themselves after their right to form them has been legally recognised;
     • (ix) to express the hope that the Government will now consider amending the provisions of the Trade Unions Ordinance, as amended in 1960, so as to give full effect to the principles enunciated in subparagraph (vii) above;
     • (x) to request the Government to be good enough to keep the Governing Body informed as to further developments in this connection;
     • (e) to decide, with respect to the allegations relating to the dissolution of the Sudan Railway Workers' Union:
     • (i) to draw the attention of the Government to its view that dissolution by the Executive in exercise of the legislative functions with which the Government is endowed, like dissolution by virtue of administrative powers, does not ensure the right of defence which normal judicial procedure alone can guarantee, and to the importance which it attaches to the principle that workers' and employers' organisations should not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority;
     • (ii) to suggest to the Government that it may care to reconsider the provisions of sections 9 and 16 of the Trade Disputes Act, 1960, in the light of the considerations set forth in paragraph 160 above.
   • 250. At its meeting in February 1964 the Committee had before it a communication from the Government dated 2 December 1963 in which the Government stated that the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces had accepted the principle of the establishment of a trade union federation, had decided to authorise the establishment of a railway workers' union and had accepted the amendment of the Trade Unions Ordinance so as to extend the right of organisation to all workers who were not yet organised. These decisions were noted by the Committee in paragraphs 152, 153, and 154 of its 74th Report.
2. 251. The Committee made the following recommendations to the Governing Body in paragraph 156 of its 74th Report:
   • Having regard to the foregoing, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
     • (a) to thank the Government for the information which it has been good enough to communicate, and to take note of that information with interest;
     • (b) to request the Government to furnish to the Committee, as it has already declared its intention of doing, more detailed information on the matters mentioned in paragraphs 152, 153 and 154 above;
     • (c) to request the Government again to be good enough to furnish the further information requested in subparagraphs (a) (ii), (b) (ii) and (iii), (c), (d) (iii), (vi) and (x) of paragraph 162 of the 60th Report of the Committee;
     • (d) to express the hope that the Government will furnish the information referred to in subparagraphs (b) and (c) above at an early date;
     • (e) to take note of the present interim report, it being understood that the Committee will report further to the Governing Body when it has received the additional information in question.
   • 252. These recommendations were approved by the Governing Body at its 159th Session (June-July 1964) and were brought to the notice of the Government by a letter dated 18 June 1964.
3. 253. On 9 September 1964 the World Federation of Trade Unions submitted a further document of complaint.
4. 254. In this communication W.F.T.U alleged that on 14 August 1964 the Government banned the Constituent Congress of the Sudanese Federation of Unions just before it was due to be held, dissolved the constituent committee and ordered its functions to be transferred to an executive committee composed of the presidents of the ten main unions of the country, which was to draw up a Constitution for the Federation. It was ordered that no workers' Congress should be called before the executive committee had finished its work and the Minister of Information and Labour had given his agreement, and that all the trade unions should retain their existing executives until the end of 1965 except for necessary changes with the consent of the Trade Union Registrar. The complainant considered that these measures were in violation of the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), ratified by Sudan, and disregarded the recommendations contained in the reports of the Committee on Freedom of Association.
5. 255. This complaint was transmitted to the Government for its observations by a letter dated 18 September 1964.
6. 256. The Government furnished observations in a communication dated 24 June 1965.
7. 257. The Government begins by stating that the complaints relate to the period of the military régime in Sudan between December 1958 and October 1964, whereas on 1 November 1964 the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces was replaced by a National Government, in accordance with a new National Charter signed by representatives of all democratic organisations and providing, among other things, for " total freedom of organisation, association and freedom of expression ". A caretaker government was formed, in which the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs was Mr. Shafia Ahmed El Sheikh, the newly elected Secretary-General of the reformed Sudan Trade Union Federation.
8. 258. Under the military régime there had been 88 trade unions, a number which, according to the Government, had grown to 200 by June 1965. The Government declares that unions enjoy complete freedom to send their elected representatives abroad to international conferences, to associate with international federations and Confederations of their own choosing and to express their views freely in the press. The Trade Union Federation's organ, El-Taliaa, is now published weekly. All trade unionists, says the Government, now have complete freedom of movement.
9. 259. The Government states that, on 7 April 1965, the Sudan Council of Ministers repealed the Trade Unions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1960, and that " the 1948 Ordinance, now back in full force, extends the right of organisation to all workers who are not yet organised ".
10. 260. On 10 June 1965 an elected government took office. The Prime Minister declared in the Constituent Assembly that his Government is bound by all international agreements entered into by previous governments.
11. 261. In conclusion, the Government expresses the view that the previous grounds for complaint no longer apply.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 262. In earlier cases the Committee has taken the view, when it has had before it allegations relating to violations of trade union rights by an earlier government, that although the government in power could obviously not be held responsible for events which took place under its predecessor, it is clearly responsible for any continuing consequences which they may have had since its accession to power.
2. 263. It would appear from the Government's reply that trade union freedom has been restored and that the legal situation relating to freedom of association is that which prevailed before the military authorities assumed power in 1958, that is to say, it is governed entirely by the Trade Unions Ordinance, 1948, the amending ordinance of 1960 having been repealed. There would therefore appear to be no purpose in pursuing further the matters arising from the fact that the trade unions were dissolved in 1958 or those arising out of the Trade Unions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1960. In other words, the questions referred to in paragraph 156 (b) of the Committee's 74th Report appear to have been disposed of as a result of the information now furnished by the Government, as do those referred to in subparagraphs (a) (ii) and (d) (iii), (vi) and (x) of paragraph 162 of the 60th Report of the Committee cited in paragraph 249 above. Moreover, the points referred to in subparagraph (b) (ii) and (iii) of paragraph 162 of the said report now appear to require no further consideration in view of the Government's statement that the freedom of the trade union press has been restored.
3. 264. There remains the point covered by subparagraph (c) of paragraph 162 of the Committee's 60th Report. This related to allegations of arrests of trade unionists referred to by W.F.T.U in its communication dated 5 June 1961 and analysed in paragraphs 129 and 130 of the Committee's 60th Report. According to those allegations three officers of the Sudan trade unions, Messrs. El Shafia Ahmed El Sheikh, Shakir Mursal and Taha Mohamed Ali were still in prison. In a communication dated 25 August 1959 the Government had said that they had been sentenced by court martial to five years' imprisonment. Further, it was alleged, the following trade unionists had been sentenced at Atbara to varying terms of imprisonment: Messrs. Abdul Fattah Osman, Khidir Nasr, Khalifa Mahgoub, Sir El Khatim Rashwan, Ahmed El Badawi El Salflawi, Ahmed Ali Ibrahim and El Hag Mohammed Salih. In its latest reply the Government makes no specific reference as to the liberation of trade unionists imprisoned under the preceding régime beyond what may be implied from its statement that " all trade unionists now have complete freedom of movement ", and apart from the fact that Mr. El Shafia Ahmed El Sheikh is now the Secretary-General of the reformed Sudan Trade Union Federation.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 265. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to note with satisfaction that the Trade Unions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1960, which has been the subject of various allegations, was repealed on 7 April 1965;
   • (b) to note the Government's statements, in its communication dated 24 June 1965, that the right of organisation is now governed, as before the events of 1958 which gave rise to the complaints, by the Trade Unions Ordinance, 1948, that trade unions are now being formed and operating in freedom and that the freedom of the trade union press has been restored;
   • (c) to request the Government, having regard to its statement that all trade unionists now have complete freedom of movement, to confirm that all the trade unionists sentenced to imprisonment by court martial under the military régime, including in particular those indicated in paragraph 264 above, are now at liberty.