Interim Report - Report No 160, March 1977

Case No 840 (Sudan) - Complaint date: 12-MAR-76 - Closed

1. 326. The complaint of the Trade Unions International of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Fur workers was contained in a letter dated 12 March 1976; the complaint of the World Federation of Trade Unions was contained in a telegram dated 15 March 1976.
2. 327. The Government, to which the complaints were transmitted for observations on 18 March 1976, supplied its comments in a communication dated 20 April 1976.
3. 328. Sudan has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87); it has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 329. The complainant organisations alleged that infringements of trade union rights had been perpetrated by the Sudanese Government against the Federation of Textile Workers of Sudan, an affiliate of the Trade Unions International of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Fur Workers. In particular, it was alleged that Gassim Amin, a member of the Executive Committee of the last-mentioned organisation and former secretary thereof, had been imprisoned since August 1974 without having been informed of the charges brought against him.
2. 330. In its reply to the allegations dated 20 April 1976, the Government stated that the complaints lacked certain vital information. The Government requested that information be supplied as to the name of the Sudanese trade union of which Mr. Amin was a member or with whose activities Mr. Amin had been associated, and as to the trade union activities for which Mr. Amin had been detained. Investigations, stated the Government, had been carried out to obtain further information from the Sudan Workers Trade Unions Federation and the Central Union of Textile Workers of Sudan. A copy of the reply from these organisations, addressed to the Government on 13 April 1976, was supplied by the Government. In this reply, information was given by the Federation to the effect that Mr. Amin completed his studies in 1946 and worked in the electricity department in Atbara until 1948 when, it is stated, he was imprisoned. He had been dismissed on being released from prison and remained unemployed. In 1952, the railway workers' union had employed him as a full-time trade unionist but he was later removed from office because of his activities in the Communist Party. Since 1952, continued the reply, he had occupied no trade union post. He did go to Europe, where he worked with organisations linked to the WFTU. It was also stated in the reply that he had returned to the Sudan in October for not more than a month, then departed again. He had not since returned to Sudan. The Federation states that it is clear that Mr. Amin had no connection with the trade union movement in the Sudan since the above date. Furthermore, at the time he left the Sudan, there was no weaving industry in the country. As for his imprisonment, the Federation stated that this was not connected with the trade union movement.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 331. In the present case, the Committee notes that it has not received any precise information about the present situation of Mr. Gassim Amin, and that the Government itself, without denying that this person has, since August 1974, been imprisoned, has made inquiries about him from trade union organisations. These organisations, namely the Sudan Workers Trade Unions Federation and the Central Union of Textile Workers, whose comments have been transmitted by the Government, are not organisations of which Mr. Gassim Amin is stated by the complainants to have been a member. The information supplied by these organisations is also contradictory since, although referring to the imprisonment of Mr. Gassim Amin, it indicates that Mr. Amin left Sudan at one point and never returned to the country.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 332. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to request the Government to obtain and supply full and precise information concerning the present whereabouts and situation of the person alleged to be in detention, viz. Mr. Gassim Amin;
   • (b) in the event of Mr. Gassim Amin being detained, to request the Government to state the nature of any charges brought against this person and what arrangements, if any, have been made to bring him to trial;
   • (c) to request the complainants to supply their comments on the reply of the Government as well as precise information concerning Mr. Gassim Amin and his present situation; and
   • (d) to take note of this interim report, it being understood that the Committee will submit a further report as soon as it has received the information requested in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) above.