Definitive Report - Report No 187, November 1978

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

1. 23. The Committee previously examined the present case at its November 1976 and February 1978 Sessions, when it submitted interim reports to the Governing Body.
2. 24. Since then the Government has sent a communication dated 7 May 1978.
3. 25. The Sudan has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), but has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 26. The complainants alleged that infringements of trade union rights had been perpetrated by the Sudanese Government against the Federation of Textile Workers of the Sudan. In particular, it was alleged that Mr. Gassim Amin, a member of the Executive Committee of the Trade Unions International of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Fur Workers and its former Secretary, has been in prison since August 1974 without having been informed of the charges brought against him.
2. 27. For its part, the Government requested that information be supplied as to the name of the Sudanese trade union of which Mr. Gassim Amin was a member or with whose activities he had been associated, and as to the trade union activities for which he had been detained. The Government said that investigations had been carried out at the Sudan Workers' Trade Union Federation and the Central Union of Textile Workers of the Sudan. The Sudan Workers' Trade Union Federation indicated, with the agreement of the Central Union of Textile Workers of the Sudan, that in 1952 the railway workers had employed Mr. Gassim Amin as a full-time official, but that he was later removed from office because of his activities in the Communist Party. He had then gone to Europe, where he had worked with organisations linked to the WFTU. Still, according to the Sudan Workers' Trade Union Federation, Mr. Gassim Amin had returned to the Sudan in October, where he had remained for not more than a month, and had not since returned it was also stated that Mr. Gassim Amin had had no connection with the trade union movement in the Sudan since the above date and that his imprisonment was not connected with the trade union movement.
3. 28. At its November 1976 Session, the Governing Body, on the recommendation of the Committee, requested the Government to obtain and supply full and precise information concerning the situation of Mr. Gassim Amin and, in the event of his being detained, to state the nature of any charges brought against him and what arrangements, if any, had been made to bring him to trial. The Governing Body also requested 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.
4. 29. In a communication of 24 January 1977 the Government stated that it was unable to make any further comments, since it had not received information as regards the name of the Sudanese trade union of which Mr. Gassim Amin was a member or on the trade union activities for which he was allegedly detained.
5. 30. In a communication of 30 March 1977, the WFTU stated that as far back as 1947 Mr. Gassim Amin had been one of the founders of the Sudanese trade union movement. He had been imprisoned several times as a result of his efforts to establish genuine trade union organisations in the Sudan. After the overthrow of the military regime in 1964 and the restoration of the trade union organisations, Mr. Gassim Amin had been designated to work in the WFTU and later or in the Trade Unions International of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Fur Workers. In August 1974, continued the WFTU, he had been sent to the Sudan on mission and on his arrival at the airport was arrested and taken to Khartoum North prison. Subsequently, he was transferred to Al Obaied in the western part of the country together with other detainees, and was still detained there. No charges had been made against him; he was detained under the State Security Act, which gave the police power to detain any person for an unlimited period.
6. 31. In a communication of 1 November 1977, the Government stated that it was encountering difficulties in pursuing the matter further in the absence of replies to its questions concerning the specific trade union membership of Mr. Gassim Amin and, further, the specific trade union mission on which he was engaged at the time of his arrest.
7. 32. At its February 1978 Session, the Committee felt that, in the light of the additional information transmitted by the complainants and taking account of the principles concerning the arrest, detention or sentencing of trade union officials recalled in its report, it should be possible for the Government to communicate information on the present situation of Mr. Gassim Amin and the charges which might have been brought against him in the circumstances the Governing Body, on the recommendation of the Committee, reiterated its request to the Government to supply full and precise information on the situation of Mr. Gassim Amin, on any charges which might have been brought against him and on any measures which might have been taken to bring him to trial.
8. 33. In its communication of 7 May 1978, the Government states that Mr. Gassim Amin was released on 4 May 1978 on the occasion of the general amnesty granted by the Government to all citizens formerly involved in political activities. The Government reiterates that Mr. Gassim Amin was not detained for his trade union activities, but solely for political activities against the State and outside the trade union sphere.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 34. The Committee notes with interest that Mr. Gassim Amin was released under the general amnesty granted by the Government. It nevertheless regrets that the Government has supplied no information on the precise grounds for the arrest of Mr. Gassim Amin, or for his detention which has, it appears, lasted for nearly four years. Nor has the Government indicated whether Mr. Gassim Amin was brought to trial before the competent judicial authorities. In this connection the Committee wishes to stress the importance which it attaches to the principle that all arrested persons should be subject to normal judicial procedure and should be brought without delay before the appropriate judge, in accordance with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 35. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to draw the attention of the Government to the principles and considerations set forth in the previous paragraph, and to note with interest that Mr. Gassim Amin has regained his freedom;
   • (b) to decide that, in view of these circumstances, the case calls for no further examination.