Interim Report - Report No 70, 1963

Case No 260 (Iraq) - Complaint date: 07-FEB-61 - Closed

1. 134. The Committee examined this case at its meeting in May 1962, when it submitted an interim report in paragraphs 178 to 191 of its 62nd Report.
2. 135. In that report the Committee, in addition to analysing in detail the complaints of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq and the W.F.T.U, on which the Government had furnished only a number of general observations, noted that the executive committee which had presented the complaint of the first-mentioned organisation had been succeeded by another executive which wished to withdraw it.
3. 136. It was in these circumstances that the Committee submitted to the Governing Body the recommendations contained in paragraph 191 of its 62nd Report, which reads as follows:
4. 191. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to take note of the general observations presented by the Government in its communication dated 24 April 1962;
   • (b) to take note also of the fact that the executive committee of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq which presented the complaint of that organisation has been succeeded by a new executive committee which has intimated its desire to withdraw the complaint, but that the other complainant in the case, the World Federation of Trade Unions, has made no such intimation with regard to its own complaint;
   • (c) to point out to the Government that in all the circumstances of this case, and having regard both to the detailed nature and serious character of the allegations, the Governing Body cannot, for the reasons indicated in paragraphs 188 to 190 above, take a decision on the request to withdraw the complaint of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq until the Government has furnished its full and detailed observations on the specific allegations made in that complaint and in the complaint of the World Federation of Trade Unions, and that the latter in any case remains outstanding;
   • (d) to request the Government once again to furnish such observations as a matter of urgency so that they may be taken into account when the Committee examines the case in substance at its next session, when it will submit its recommendations on the case to the Governing Body.
5. 137. The 62nd Report was approved by the Governing Body on 1 June 1962 and the conclusions and request for observations contained in paragraph 191 thereof cited above were brought to the notice of the Government of Iraq by a letter dated 6 June 1962.
6. 138. At its meeting in October 1962 the Committee adjourned its examination, as it had not received the observations requested from the Government.
7. 139. The Committee again adjourned its examination of the case at its meeting in February 1963 and decided, as indicated in paragraph 4 of its 68th Report, to address a special request to the Government to furnish the observations in question as a matter of urgency. This request was brought to the notice of the Government by a letter dated 14 March 1963. The Government replied by a communication dated 10 April 1963.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 140. The Government refers to the signatory of the original complaint of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq dated 7 February 1961, Mr. Ali Choukr or Shukur, the then President of the Federation, as being one of a group of persons whose claims to office depended on the help of the Government of the late Abdul Karim Kassem. It states that the Kassem Government fabricated quarrels in the trade unions but that the national unions performed their duties correctly despite the opposition directed against them. The present Government asks that the complaint and the reply thereto made by the Kassem Government should be regarded as null.
2. 141. When the Committee considered the request of the new executive committee of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq to withdraw the complaint the Committee observed, firstly, that the W.F.T.U had made no similar request and, secondly, that it could not decide, in the absence of fuller information, whether the withdrawal request was made freely by a democratically elected executive committee independent of governmental influence. For this reason the Government was asked to furnish observations on the substance of the precise and detailed allegations which had been made.
3. 142. The letter from the Government dated 10 April 1963 contains no specific comments on the detailed allegations contained in the complaint signed by Mr. Ali Choukr or Shukur, concerning interference with union elections by the Kassem Government in order to put the Federation under the control of its supporters, and in the complaint of the W.F.T.U, to the effect that this interference had succeeded, Mr. Choukr and the principal officers having been arrested by that Government. The Committee, therefore, in the absence of observations by the present Government on the specific matters alleged, is still not in a position to appreciate whether the request to withdraw the former complaint is to be regarded as a bona fide request.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 143. The Committee, moreover, while realising that a fundamental change of régime recently came about in Iraq, has also to be satisfied, when dealing with a request to withdraw a complaint which is made, as in the present case, by persons other than those who presented it, that the original complainants are not prejudiced by its decision and that the facts alleged are not continuing to have detrimental consequences for them. In other cases, in comparable circumstances, the Committee has taken the view that there exists a bond of continuity between successive governments within the same State and that, while a new government can obviously not be held responsible for events which took place under its predecessor, it clearly is responsible for any continuing consequences which such events may have had since its accession to power. Only fuller observations from the Government can enable the Committee to judge whether such continuing consequences of the events alleged still exist-to take one instance, the alleged arrest by the Kassem Government of the original complainant and all the principal officers of the General Federation of Trade Unions.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 144. In these circumstances the Committee, while fully appreciating the change in the nature of the régime which has taken place in Iraq, recommends the Governing Body to address to the Government of Iraq, without in any way prejudging the merits of the request to withdraw the complaint of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq, an earnest request to furnish, as a matter of urgency, its detailed observations on the complaints presented by Mr. Choukr, on behalf of the said Federation, and by the World Federation of Trade Unions.