Definitive Report - Report No 199, March 1980

Case No 925 (Yemen) - Complaint date: 14-FEB-79 - Closed

1. 21. The complaint of the World Federation of Trade Unions is contained in a communication of 14 February 1979. The Government submitted its observations in a communication of 1 February 1980.
2. 22. The Yemen Arab Republic has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1946 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 23. The complaint by the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) states that repressive measures are being taken against the General Federation of Yemen Workers (GFYW) by the Government. A long wave of arrests is said to have taken place in the capital and in the mouhafazat (departments) of Taaz, El-Hadida and Ab against trade unionists. It is alleged that the authorities have admitted to having arrested 3,000 people amongst whom are 350 unionised workers. The detainees include Abdel Alim Abdel Rab and Abdel Rahman Galeb, who are members of the Executive Committee of the GFYW, and seven other named persons. In addition, the complainant states that Mrs. Zaarafran, the wife of Mr. Ahmed Fareh, was arrested in place of her husband even though she is pregnant; and Mrs. El-Sinjabi was arrested with her two children aged 12 and 14 years. It is finally alleged that these detainees are undergoing moral and physical torture which have brought about the death of several detainees and the rear death of others.
2. 24. The Government states that the complaint is totally unfounded and untrue, and is aimed at the defamation of the Yemen Arab Republic. Public and private liberties, including freedom of expression, are protected by the Constitution. Workers' associations and trade unions, of which workers, doctors, lawyers and engineers are members, are not prohibited, but are allowed to perform their role within the limits set by the laws and regulations. There is no single trade unionist detained in the country.
3. 25. With regard to the persons named in the complaint as having been arrested, the Government indicates that Abdel Alim Abdel Rab is a customs clerk who was convicted of theft and that Abdel Rahman Chaleb left the country years ago. The Government also provides information on most of the other persons listed, stating that in one case one person, was convicted of a crime, then released, while others are working in various places or unknown.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 26. The Committee notes that the complainant did not allege that particular persons were arrested for their trade union activities, though it does state generally that repressive measures are being taken against trade unions. In the absence of more detailed and substantial information, the Committee can only note the contradictory nature of the statements made by the complainant and by the Government, and conclude that this case does not call for further examination.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 27. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to note that the complainant did not allege that the persons mentioned were arrested for their trade union activities;
   • (b) to note also that the Government states that the allegations are unfounded and its statement that the persons which the Government acknowledges to have been arrested were arrested for common law crimes;
   • (c) to note, consequently, as stated in paragraph 26 above, the contradictory nature of the information provided by the complainant and by the Government, but to decide in the absence of detailed information from the complainant on the grounds for the arrests that the case does not call for further examination.