Interim Report - Report No 81, 1965

Case No 419 (Congo) - Complaint date: 07-NOV-64 - Closed

1. 176. The original complaint was submitted in a communication dated 7 November 1964 addressed to the I.L.O by the National Union of C.A.T.C. Unions of the Republic of the Congo. This complaint was supported on 17 November 1964 by the Permanent Representative of the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions in Geneva, who on 20 November 1964 submitted further allegations to the effect that arrests had been made. Lastly, in a cable dated 23 November, the African Trade Union Confederation made allegations concerning the same occurrences.
2. 177. The foregoing three complaining organisations were informed by letters dated 27 November 1964 of their right to furnish further information in substantiation of their complaints within a period of one month.
3. 178. Copies of all the communications mentioned in paragraph 176 above were forwarded to the Government for its observations by a letter dated 27 November 1964; at the same time the Government's attention was drawn to the urgency of the matter.
4. 179. On 24, 25 and 29 November 1964 three telegrams were received by the I.L.O from the I.F.C.T.U representative in Geneva, the Assistant Secretary-General of I.F.C.T.U in Brussels and (jointly) the Secretary-General and President of I.F.C.T.U, referring to the arrest of Mr. Fulgence Biyaoula, president of the National Union of C.A.T.C. Unions of the Republic of the Congo, the maltreatment he was alleged to have suffered and the fears which were held for his life. The latter message was communicated on receipt to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Congo (Brazzaville) in a cable which, in view of the seriousness of the allegations, invited him to forward any relevant information as speedily as possible.
5. 180. At the same time, on the occasion of the Second African Regional Conference of the I.L.O held in Addis Ababa from 30 November to 11 December 1964, the Director-General had several interviews concerning the matter with the Minister of Labour of the Congo (Brazzaville), who was attending the Conference. The Director-General informed the Minister of Labour of the keen concern aroused by the allegations referred to in the preceding paragraph. The Minister stated to the Director-General that Mr. Biyaoula had been arrested not because of his trade union activity but by reason of his having engaged in subversive political activities. In reply to questions put to him by the Director-General the Minister assured him that Mr. Biyaoula was not being subjected to torture, that his life was not in danger at all and that he would enjoy the guarantees of normal judicial procedure when he appeared in the near future before the courts, whose decision, according to the Minister, would be rendered in December 1964, at the time when the National Assembly would be meeting.
6. 181. Copies of the three telegrams from LF.C.T.U mentioned in paragraph 179 above, as well as of a letter from that organisation dated 26 November 1964, were, moreover, forwarded to the Government in accordance with the normal procedure by a letter dated 3 December 1964. Statements by witnesses which had been sent to the I.L.O were also forwarded to the Government for its observations by a letter dated 4 December 1964.
7. 182. In a communication dated 10 December 1964 the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical and Technical Employees made further allegations concerning infringements of trade union rights in the Congo (Brazzaville). This organisation was informed by a letter dated 23 December 1964 of its right to furnish further information in substantiation of its complaint within a period of one month. A copy of the complaint was forwarded to the Government for its observations by a letter dated 23 December 1964.
8. 183. In a communication dated 6 January 1965 I.F.C.T.U submitted further allegations in support of its complaint, and a copy of this communication was forwarded to the Government for its observations by a letter dated 18 January 1965.
9. 184. The Government, in a communication dated 19 January 1965, gave its reply to the original complaint submitted by the National Union of C.A.T.C. Unions on 7 November 1964.
10. 185. The Congo (Brazzaville) has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), but has not ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 186. In its communication dated 7 November 1964 the National Union of C.A.T.C. Unions gives the following account of the events. In August 1963, in view of the developments which led to the revolution, the most representative trade union organisations in the Congo (Brazzaville)-C.A.T.C, C.G.A.T and C.C.S.L.-decided to form a single national committee. This committee was intended to be independent of any political organisation and was also expected to respect the independence of its member bodies. After the revolution, however, C.G.A.T and C.C.S.L. " were declared to be official trade union organisations of the single M.N.R party " and C.A.T.C withdrew from the committee.
2. 187. Since this refusal on the part of C.A.T.C to subject itself to the party in power, the Government is stated to have placed every obstacle in the way of its activities. It is alleged that its meetings have been systematically forbidden, its leaders have not been allowed to leave the country, have been threatened with trial by the People's Court on the pretext of endangering the security of the State and, in general, have been in danger of losing not only their possessions but also their lives.
3. 188. The communications subsequently received from I.F.C.T.U allege that the C.A.T.C premises were ransacked and that a number of its leaders, including the President, Mr. Fulgence Biyaoula, were arrested, tortured and later interned by administrative order. Lastly, a law is stated to have been passed establishing a single nation-wide trade union organisation-the Congolese Trade Union Confederation-and dissolving all other central trade union organisations.
4. 189. For its part, the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical and Technical Employees in a letter dated 10 December 1964 alleges that two trade unionists from Malawi who were going to Lagos to attend a seminar organised by the complaining organisation were arrested when they stopped at Brazzaville, imprisoned, beaten and kept without food for nearly five days. The Government furnished observations on this aspect of the case in a communication dated 19 February 1965, which the Committee will consequently examine at its next session.
5. 190. In a communication dated 19 January 1965 the Government forwarded to the Director-General the reply by the Minister of Labour, which was concerned solely with the complaint by the National Union of C.A.T.C. Unions dated 7 November 1964. In this reply the Minister confines himself to stating that " the Committee on Freedom of Association might designate one or more of its members to visit the Congo (Brazzaville) at the I.L.O's expense to inquire on the spot into the allegations made by the critics of my country's Government ".

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 191. While taking note of this statement and without prejudice to any action that may later be taken on it, the Committee considers that at the present stage it should once more urge the Government to be good enough to furnish detailed observations on each of the specific allegations made by the various complaining organisations.
2. 192. Further, having noted the assurances given to the Director-General by the Minister of Labour, as indicated in paragraph 180 above, the Committee wishes to have information as to whether the said assurances have in fact been implemented.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 193. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to reaffirm strongly the importance it attaches to the principles:
   • (i) that workers should have the right to establish and join organisations of their own choosing;
   • (ii) that workers' organisations should have the right to elect their representatives in full freedom, and that such representatives should be protected against any action being taken against them by reason of their trade union activities;
   • (iii) that trade unions should not be liable to be dissolved by administrative authority;
   • (b) to emphasise that measures of detention of trade unionists may involve a serious interference with the exercise of trade union rights if they are not accompanied by adequate judicial safeguards and to stress that it should be the policy of every government to take care to ensure the observance of human rights and especially of the right of all detained persons to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment by an impartial and independent judicial authority;
   • (c) to request the Government to be good enough to furnish detailed observations on the allegations referred to in paragraphs 187 and 188 of this report and information as to whether the assurances given to the Director-General by the Minister of Labour in the course of their interviews in Addis Ababa, referred to in paragraph 180 of this report, have been respected and, in particular, as to whether Mr. Biyaoula has received a fair trial attended by all the guarantees of normal judicial procedure and, if so, to be good enough to furnish a copy of the judgment and of the reasons adduced therein.