Definitive Report - Report No 172, March 1978

Case No 824 (Benin) - Complaint date: 12-SEP-75 - Closed

1. 45. The Committee already examined this case at its session in May 1976, when it submitted an interim report. The Government has since then forwarded a new communication dated 7 May 1977.
2. 46. Benin has ratified both 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).
3. 47. It will be recalled that the allegations still outstanding concern the arrest of certain trade unionists and the appointment by the Government of members of the executive Committees of certain unions.

A. Allegations relating to the arrest of certain trade unionists

1. 48. The complainants had alleged that, following the assassination of the minister of the Interior, the unions had called a general unlimited strike on 24 June 1975 as a protest against the assassination and the manner in which the President of the Republic had set himself above the law in administering justice. According to the complainants the decision to strike had been transmitted to the Minister of the Interior 48 hours in advance in accordance with the law.
2. 49. During the demonstrations the soldiers had opened fire and several trade unionists were among the dead and wounded. Following this, the trade union leaders who had called the strike had been arrested and transported to the military camp at Dodja, where they had been beaten. Further, on 9 July 1975, the Council of Ministers had adopted a number of measures whereby all those who had taken part in the strike from 24 to 27 June 1975 would suffer deductions from their pay corresponding to the duration of the strike; all those who were not back in their jobs on 30 June 1975 would be dismissed from the public service or from the jobs they held; all those who had signed the decision to strike, the leaders and activists arrested before 30 June or at their posts on 30 June, or arrested after 30 June, would be suspended from their jobs and sent to an agricultural production centre until 31 December 1975; and all workers in the public and private sectors would require authorisation before leaving the country.
3. 50. The World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP) had appended to its communication a list of 26 trade unionists who, it alleged, had been interned in military camps and subjected to torture. The persons detained were not allowed visits from their families. The WCOTP also appended a further list of 13 trade unionists who were said to have fled. Finally, the complainants had alleged that Mr. Akan Hilaire, an official of the National Union of Public School Teachers of Benin (SYNEPDA), had died on 9 September 1975 in the military camp of Dodja where he had been interned for having gone on strike. According to the complainants, Mr. Akan Hilaire had been suffering from asthma and his death was due to the bad treatment he had received while in detention.
4. 51. According to the Government the strike of 24 June 1975 had been a political one which met with political retaliation. The strike order had called for the immediate resignation of the Head of State and of the Government of the President of the Republic, Lieutenant-Colonel Mathieu Kerekou, and his immediate inculpation for voluntary and premeditated homicide.
5. 52. The Government had explained that, in accordance with the law of Benin, public officials did not have the right to strike except in defence of their collective occupational interests; workers in the private sector were subject to the same requirements. Furthermore, the right to strike had to be exercised in accordance with the procedure laid down in the legislation. Finally, the Government had pointed out that no trade unionist was recorded as having been killed during the demonstrations of 24 June 1975.
6. 53. At its May 1976 session the Committee noted that the strike had been called for reasons of a political rather than an occupational character. In this connection, the Committee recalled the view it had previously taken that the prohibition of strikes by reason of their non-occupational character, or where they had been designed to coerce a government with respect to a political matter and were not in furtherance of a trade union dispute, did not constitute an infringement of trade union rights. However, the Committee also noted that the Government did not deny the allegation relating to the 26 named trade unionists who were said to have been interned in military camps and subjected to torture.
7. 54. In view of this, the Committee recommended the Governing Body to draw attention to certain principles and considerations regarding the right of arrested trade unionists to receive a prompt and fair trial by an independent and impartial judiciary, to request the Government to indicate whether the trade unionists named in the complaint as having been arrested were still in detention and, if so, to state the nature of the charges that had been brought against them and the date on which they would be brought to trial; and to request the Government to transmit the texts of any judgements delivered by the courts concerning these cases.
8. 55. In its communication of 7 May 1977 the Government indicated that all the trade unionists mentioned in the complaint as having been arrested had been released long ago and that they had resumed their normal occupational activities in their respective production units. No judicial proceedings had been instituted against any of the trade unionists and no judgements had been pronounced against them. The Government further stated that it could not answer for the trade unionists who had fled and who had thus gone into voluntary exile.
9. 56. According to the Government the measures of administrative internment against certain trade unionists on the occasion of the strike of 24 June 1975 could not in any way be construed as interference by the public authorities in the internal affairs of trade unions. The strike had been of an overtly political nature, and it was the duty of the public authorities to take appropriate measures to avoid abuse of the right to strike or its exercise in a manner contrary to the requirements of public order. Finally, the Government stated that the strike of June 1975 had been a preliminary move in a plot organised against the people of Benin, as is proved, according to the Government, by the events which took place in that country in January 1977.
10. 57. The Committee notes that the trade unionists arrested following the strike called on 24 June 1975 for reasons mainly of a political nature have been released, and that they have resumed their normal occupational activities. The Committee feels obliged to point out, however, that the Government has still not made any observations in reply to the allegations relating to the ill-treatment from which these trade unionists were said to have suffered during their internment and which is said to have caused the death of one of them. In the absence of comments from the Government on this point the Committee regrets that it is unable to reach definite conclusions concerning this matter. It must, however, stress that, generally speaking, arrested trade unionists should benefit from the guarantees provided for in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Furthermore, the Committee considers that exemplary penalties should be imposed on persons found guilty of acts of ill-treatment of detainees, in order to put an end to the commission of such acts. In addition, sanctions should be accompanied by precise instructions so as to ensure greater vigilance on the part of those concerned.

B. Allegations relating to the nomination by the Government of officials of certain trade unions

1. 58. The complainants had alleged that the trade union leaders who had been properly elected by the congresses of their unions had been replaced by persons chosen by the Government. In support of its allegation the WCOTP had transmitted the text of a written protest by the National Union of Public School Teachers of Benin (SYNEPDA) against an attempt by the Minister of National Education to impose a national executive on the union. In this text it was alleged that shortly after the arrest of the trade unionists the Government had imposed executive Committees on the unions to replace the imprisoned leaders. On 3 October 1975, when the Minister attempted to impose on SYNEPDA an executive Committee whose composition had been broadcast over the national radio, the teachers had protested vigorously and had forced the minister to receive the legally appointed members of the SYNEPDA executive who had not been arrested. According to the complainants, the Minister had requested that a more representative executive Committee be appointed.
2. 59. At its May 1976 session the Committee noted that the Government did not refer to these allegations in its reply to the complaint. The Committee pointed opt that the nomination by the authorities of members of executive Committees of trade unions constituted direct interference in the internal affairs of trade unions and was incompatible with Convention No. 87, ratified by Benin. The Committee also recommended the Governing Body to request the Government to supply detailed information regarding the allegations made.
3. 60. In its communication of 7 May 1977, the Government stated that these allegations were untrue. It added that, out of concern to ensure the protection of trade union rights, it had refrained from any kind of interference whatsoever.

C. C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 61. The Committee notes these statements by the Government. Nevertheless, it considers that the Government has not replied in detail, as requested, on the specific allegations made by the complainants as regards the attempt which is said to have been made to impose an executive Committee on the National Union of Public School Teachers of Benin. The Committee therefore wishes once again to draw the attention of the Government to Article 3 of Convention No. 87, in accordance with which workers' and employers' organisations shall have the right to elect their representatives in full freedom and the public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 62. In the circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) as regards the allegations relating to the arrest of certain trade unionists:
   • (i) to express its concern at the allegations relating to the ill-treatment said to have been suffered by the trade unionists, and which is said to have resulted in the death of one of them;
   • (ii) to draw the attention of the Government to the principles and considerations relating to the allegations of ill-treatment as expressed in paragraph 57 above;
   • (iii) to note, however, with interest that the persons detained have been released and that they have resumed their normal occupational activities;
   • (b) as regards the allegations relating to the nomination by the Government of leaders of certain unions:
     • - to draw the attention of the Government to Article 3 of Convention No. 87, according to which workers' and employers' organisations shall have the right to elect their representatives in full freedom and the public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof.