Interim Report - Report No 88, 1966

Case No 401 (Burundi) - Complaint date: 02-NOV-65 - Closed

4. In a cable dated 2 November 1965 the Secretary-General of the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions (I.F.C.T.U.) stated that Mr. Niyirikana, President of the Burundi Christian Trade Union, and Mr. Mayondo, counsellor of that organisation, had been executed on 25 October 1965 at Bujumbura, without trial, and that other trade union leaders had been placed on a list of persons to be executed. His Federation asked the Director-General to intervene urgently on behalf of other leaders who, it contended, were also to be executed.

1. 4. In a cable dated 2 November 1965 the Secretary-General of the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions (I.F.C.T.U.) stated that Mr. Niyirikana, President of the Burundi Christian Trade Union, and Mr. Mayondo, counsellor of that organisation, had been executed on 25 October 1965 at Bujumbura, without trial, and that other trade union leaders had been placed on a list of persons to be executed. His Federation asked the Director-General to intervene urgently on behalf of other leaders who, it contended, were also to be executed.
2. 5. Immediately upon receipt of this cable, on 3 November 1965, the Director-General despatched a cable to the Prime Minister of Burundi in which, after indicating the contents of the cable received from I.F.C.T.U, he stated that, in accordance with the existing procedure, the complaint would be brought to the notice of the Committee on Freedom of Association set up by the Governing Body for the purpose of examining such complaints in accordance with the procedure established at the request of the United Nations. The Director-General informed the Prime Minister that the Committee would meet on 8 November, but said that he felt obliged to bring the matter to the personal attention of the Prime Minister without delay, and that he would keenly appreciate receiving information on the matter.
3. 6. Having noted, at its meeting in November 1965, that no reply to the Director-General's cable had been received, the Committee recommended the Governing Body, in paragraph 324 of its 85th Report:
   • (a) to draw the attention of the Government of Burundi to the importance which it has always attached to the right of all detained persons to receive a fair trial by an impartial and independent judicial authority at the earliest possible moment;
   • (b) to express its grave concern in view of the allegations it has before it concerning executions and threatened executions of trade union leaders in Burundi without trial;
   • (c) to urge the Government to furnish to the Governing Body, as a matter of special urgency, its observations on the matters raised in the cable from I.F.C.T.U dated 2 November 1965 which the Director-General brought to the personal attention of the Prime Minister of Burundi in a cable dated 3 November 1965.
     • The Governing Body approved these recommendations on 18 November 1965.

7. The allegations made by I.F.C.T.U on 2 November 1965 followed earlier allegations made on 13 May, 10 July and 23 October 1964. The essence of these earlier allegations was that leading and active members of the Burundi Christian Trade Union were in prison in Burundi and, subsequently, that they were about to be executed.

1. 8. In November 1965 the Committee observed that, after having failed to reply to six separate requests to furnish its observations thereon, the Government, in a communication dated 8 September 1965, had declared simply that " the persons concerned in the complaint have been dealt with not as trade unionists but as individual persons ". The Committee, following its constant practice in cases in which a government replies that criminal proceedings have no relationship to the exercise of trade union rights, therefore recommended the Governing Body, in paragraph 319 of its 85th Report:
2. (a) to draw the attention of the Government to the fact that the question as to whether the matter in respect of which sentences have been imposed on trade unionists or detentions ordered is to be regarded as a matter relating to a criminal offence or a matter relating to the exercise of trade union rights is not one which can be determined unilaterally by the government concerned, in such a manner as to prevent the Governing Body from inquiring further into it;
3. (b) to request the Government to be good enough to furnish, as a matter of urgency, information as to the exact reasons for the detentions of the persons referred to in the complaints dated 10 July and 23 October 1964 and as to their present situation, and to state whether legal proceedings have been instituted against any of the persons concerned and, if so, to furnish copies of the judgments given and of the reasons adduced therein;
4. ......................................................................................................................................................
5. The Governing Body approved these recommendations on 18 November 1965.
6. 9. A still earlier series of allegations that on 15 January 1962 four trade unionists, Messrs. Nduwabike, Ndinzurwaha, Ntaymerijakiri and Baravura, had been assassinated at Usumbura at the instigation of the authorities, has been under review by the Committee since 1962. The Government has been requested no less than 15 times to furnish its observations on these allegations, without any reply to these requests ever having been received. In these circumstances the Committee, in November 1965, recommended the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government to the resolution concerning freedom of association and protection of the right to organise adopted unanimously by the First African Regional Conference of the International Labour Organisation (Lagos, December 1960) and, more particularly, to paragraphs 7 and 8 thereof, which read as follows:
7. 7. [The Conference] Requests the Governing Body of the International Labour Office to invite governments in respect of whose countries complaints may be made to the Governing Body Committee on Freedom of Association to give their wholehearted co-operation to that Committee, in particular by replying to requests for observations made to them and by taking the fullest possible account of any recommendations which may be made to them by the Governing Body following examination of such complaints;
8. 8. Requests the Governing Body to accelerate as far as possible the procedure of its Committee on Freedom of Association and to give greater publicity to the conclusions of that Committee, particularly when certain governments refuse to co-operate loyally in the consideration of complaints submitted against them.
9. The Governing Body likewise approved this recommendation on 18 November 1965.
10. 10. These conclusions were brought to the notice of the Government, in accordance with the normal procedure, by a letter dated 23 November 1965. The Director-General drew these conclusions to the personal attention of the Prime Minister of Burundi by a telegram of the same date. In accordance with the wishes expressed during the discussion of the matter by the Governing Body on 18 November 1965, he informed him of the anxiety manifested by the Governing Body with regard to the matter and pointed out to him that, at the request of the Governing Body, the Committee's conclusions had been brought to the notice of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. No reply has been received to these various communications, despite a letter of reminder having been sent to the Government on 10 January 1966.
11. 11. The Secretary of State for Justice of Burundi was received at the International Labour Office at his own request, on 19 November 1965, by a representative of the Director-General. During the interview which took place explanations were given to him concerning the circumstances in which the complaints against his country had been received, the general procedure established jointly with the United Nations in accordance with which complaints are examined and the steps taken in the case relating to Burundi up to the discussion to the Governing Body and the taking of its decisions. It was emphasised to him how important it was that his Government should furnish observations on the questions raised in the case, especially as regards the circumstances in which the trade unionists referred to in the complaints had been executed. After having stated that the trade unionists concerned had been executed in accordance with judgments rendered in due and regular form, the representative of the Government of Burundi gave an assurance that the texts of the judgments would be transmitted to the I.L.O in the course of the month of December 1965. So far, no information of this kind has been received by the Director-General.
12. 12. The Committee deplores the fact that, in spite of the assurances which have been given, all requests addressed to the Government to furnish its observations on the matters raised in the complaints have elicited no reply.
13. 13. In these exceptional circumstances the Committee, having received no co-operation from the Government in respect of a matter of the utmost gravity, has decided to request the complainants to furnish any information that they may have concerning recent developments in Burundi. It has also taken into account the fact that further executions are widely reported to have taken place in Burundi since its conclusions on the case were adopted by the Governing Body in November 1965. In particular, the Committee has had before it a statement issued by the International Commission of Jurists-a non-governmental organisation seeking to foster respect for the rule of law whose members include the present or former Chief Justices or Justices of Australia, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, Chile, India, Nigeria, Norway, Senegal and Sudan-on the basis of information furnished by its observer, Professor Philippe Graven, of Swiss nationality and a Doctor of Laws of the University of Geneva, who arrived in Burundi on 14 December 1965.
14. 14. According to this statement some 86 persons have been sentenced to death by military tribunals and executed since 19 October 1965, including the President and the First and Second Vice-Presidents of the House of Representatives, the President and both Vice-Presidents of the Senate, the Minister of Economic Affairs, the President of the People's Party and the President of the Christian Trade Union.
15. 15. Even after the arrival of the observer of the Commission in Burundi, the statement continues, 22 persons, including the President of the Senate, were executed. The statement also mentions that something between 500 and 1,200 persons are detained.
16. 16. The statement concludes:
17. No responsible body could pass over in silence the executions of all the officers of both houses of parliament of a country and of many of the principal leaders of a racial group without some evidence that justice and legality had not been violated. That these events should have occurred with little or no publicity is in itself a disquieting factor.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 17. The responsibility of the International Labour Organisation in the matter is limited to the protection of trade union rights, in respect of which it has responsibility under the I.L.O. Constitution and has accepted responsibility in agreement with the United Nations. It is evident that the tragic events in Burundi extend far beyond the scope of violation of trade union rights and concern directly the fundamental human rights of a considerable sector of the population of Burundi, and that, in these circumstances, the responsibility of the International Labour Organisation for the protection of trade union rights cannot be exercised effectively without parallel action by the United Nations to protect the fundamental human rights of the Burundi population as a whole. In the United Nations responsibility for matters relating to human rights rests with the Commission on Human Rights of the Economic and Social Council, the Economic and Social Council itself and the General Assembly. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to ask the Director-General to request the Secretary-General of the United Nations to bring to the attention of the Commission on Human Rights of the Economic and Social Council at its forthcoming session as a matter of urgency the question of the violation of human rights in Burundi.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 18. In all the circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to express its grave concern with regard to the very serious allegations of arrests and executions of trade union leaders contained in the complaints, and its profound regret that the Government of Burundi has refused to lend its co-operation in the examination thereof;
   • (b) to reaffirm the importance which it has always attached to the right of all detained persons to receive a fair trial by an impartial and independent judicial authority at the earliest possible moment;
   • (c) to repeat its request to the Government to be good enough to furnish, as a matter of urgency, information with regard to the matters referred to in paragraphs 4, 7 and 9 above;
   • (d) to note that the Committee has decided to request the complainants to furnish any information that they may have concerning recent developments in Burundi;
   • (e) to ask the Director-General to request the Secretary-General of the United Nations to bring to the attention of the Commission on Human Rights of the Economic and Social Council at its forthcoming session as a matter of urgency the question of the violation of human rights in Burundi.
     • Geneva, 21 February 1966. (Signed) Roberto AGO, Chairman.