Interim Report - Report No 241, November 1985

Case No 1266 (Burkina Faso) - Complaint date: 10-MAR-84 - Closed

1. 649. The Committee examined this case at its November 1984 meeting, at which it submitted to the Governing Body an interim report contained in paragraphs 553 to 578 of its 236th Report, which the Governing Body approved at its 228th (November 1984) Session. Since then, the World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP) supplied additional information on this case on 28 March 1985, and the Government sent two replies in letters dated 29 and 31 May 1985. The WCOTP supplied certain information in a communication dated 18 July 1985.
2. 650. Burkina Faso has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No.087), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 651. This case refers to the arrest and detention in the internment camp of Koudougou or in the gendarmerie of Ouagadougou of trade union leaders Jean Pagnimda Bila, general secretary of the National Union of African Teachers of Upper Volta (SNEAHV), Bahiéba Joachim Sib, secretary for external relations, and Ismael Ousmane Kindo, deputy secretary of the union since March 1984. The case also involves the dismissal of a very large number of teachers (2,600 according to the complainants) in March 1984, following a 48-hour protest strike held by teachers on 20 and 21 March to obtain the release of their imprisoned trade union leaders. Lastly, it involves the illegality, according to the complainants, of an extraordinary congress of the SNEAHV held from 28 to 30 August 1984, during which an unlawful trade union leadership was allegedly elected without the participation of the striking teachers, but with that of two leaders of the national executive of the said union who disassociated themselves from the protest movement of 20 and 21 March 1984.
2. 652. The Government had countered in its communications of March and June 1984 that the arrests of the union leaders had been motivated by political rather than trade union activities. As proof, it had sent a copy of the motion of the SNEAHV of 7 August 1983 in which the union harshly criticised the action of the Government which had itself, by proclamation of 4 August 1983, suspended political parties and prohibited political activities. The Government accused the leadership of this union of being colonialist and reactionary. The Government had not replied to the allegation concerning the extraordinary congress of the SNEAHV held in August 1984 during which, alleged the complainants, an unlawful trade union leadership had been elected.
3. 653. In these circumstances, at its Session of November 1984, the Governing Body had approved the following conclusions of the Committee: "
   • a) With regard to the case as a whole, the Committee notes with grave concern that four trade union leaders have been interned by the administrative authorities for several months and that mass dismissals are said to have involved some 2,600 teachers for having taken part in a two-day strike.
   • b) The Committee urges the Government to release the trade union leaders who have been interned by the administrative authorities without having been judged or to ensure that they are brought rapidly before an independent and impartial court and, in the latter case, to communicate the text of the relevant judgements together with the reasons adduced therefor.
   • c) The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the situation of these trade union leaders.
   • d) The Committee urges the Government to reinstate the teachers who were dismissed only for having participated in a strike.
   • e) The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any measure taken to this effect.
   • f) The Committee requests the Government to send its observations on the allegation to which it has not yet replied, and which dates from 1 October 1984, according to which, at an extraordinary congress of the SNEAHV in August 1984, an illegal trade union executive was elected."

B. Further allegations

1. 654. According to the WCOTP, in its communication of 28 March 1985, the SNEAHV trade union leaders Bila, Kindo and Sib, were still being detained without having been tried.
2. 655. The archives of the SNEAHV had been seized.
3. 656. The Government had only reintegrated 100 teachers following the strike of March 1984, out of approximately 2,600 persons who had been dismissed. According to the WCOTP, the Government itself had permitted the dismissal of 1,466 teachers.
4. 657. The teachers had been made to undergo a political examination as a condition of their reinstatement, as was shown by a photocopy of the application form for readmittance in the public service of Burkina Faso, attached to the documentation, which read in part as follows:
   • "I. To be filled in by the dismissed teacher I, the undersigned,
   • I, the undersigned,
   • Name .............., Given name ............., Grade .......,
   • Last post before dismissal ......... ........................,
   • Department .................., Province ........... .........,
   • appeal to the mercy of the people of Burkina Faso for the revolutionary penalty which I fully deserve for having participated in the pro-imperialist and putschist strike organised by elements manipulated by the stateless, reactionary and counter-revolutionary former executive of the SNEAHV.
   • Henceforth, I undertake to be guided by the political orientation speech of 2 October and to be a devoted servant of the people of Burkina Faso for the success of the great struggle which it has taken up since 4 August 1983 for freedom, dignity and social progress.
   • "A second section, to be filled in by the Revolutionary Defence Committee (CDR), indicated that the CDR, having noted that the person concerned participated in the socio-economic activities, night meetings, individual debates and general meetings of the Revolutionary Defence Committee, gave its consent for the person concerned to join the revolutionary family of Burkina Faso.
5. 658. The WCOTP also enclosed with its documentation a photocopy of a letter, bearing the letterhead of the Minister of the Interior and Security, addressed to dismissed teachers who were former members of the executive of the SNEAHV (reference No. 3831/IS/CAB of 28 August 1984), in which the Director of the Minister's Office pointed out to the persons concerned that, in accordance with the statutory provisions, no person could carry on trade union activities if he was not an active member of a duly recognised trade union. The letter added: "Since your dismissal for holding a wildcat strike, you have lost the status of teacher and therefore that of member of the teachers' trade union. I therefore draw your attention to everything which could happen as a result of the illegal activities which you are currently carrying on, contrary to your obligations and your new status."
6. 659. The WCOTP also enclosed with its complaint a photocopy of a letter addressed to the President of Burkina Faso by a group of teachers dismissed on 23 January 1985, in which the persons concerned gave the assurance that the two-day strike of 20 and 21 March 1984, of which the only purpose was to request the release of trade union leaders, was not putschist in nature, and requested the release of the union leaders detained in Koudougou and in Ouagadougou and the reinstatement of primary school teachers and those employed in training services for young agricultural workers who have been dismissed for holding a strike. The letter stated in particular that, in view of the gravity of the situation, only the President could prevent teachers from emigrating, restore the confidence of the dismissed teachers (the letter mentioned that there had been several cases of suicide) and revive the school system in Burkina Faso. It was signed by the group's appointed reporter, Daniel Ouedraogo.
7. 660. Lastly, the documentation contained a photocopy of another letter bearing the letterhead of a working group of dismissed teachers, dated 22 February 1985, also signed by the same Daniel Ouedraogo. This group appealed to the ILO to obtain the reinstatement of the dismissed teachers. It pointed out that on 13 February 1985 only 100 teachers had been reinstated, although the group had addressed the letter to the Chief of State to remind him of the measure of clemency which he had decided to adopt in favour of the dismissed teachers on the anniversary of his take-over on 4 August 1984. The said measure of clemency, continued the letter, had not been implemented although the dismissed teachers had been required to fill in forms for this purpose. The letter concluded that the teachers were destitute, that it was prohibited for private establishments to engage them, that the distribution of grain to the needy did not apply to them and that the educational system in Burkina Faso was slowly dying.
8. 661. The WCOTP concluded by requesting that an ILO mission visit Burkina Faso.

C. The Government's reply

1. 662. In his communication of 29 May 1985, the Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Public Service, in reply to the complainant's allegations, pointed out that the case involved political demonstrations, concrete political acts committed by politicians who had conducted political campaigns in order to accede to political posts and the state apparatus. These men used trade unionism and the recruitment of public servants or employees in a discriminatory way in order to betray the people. They also resorted to political agitation to stir up discontent and to incite a coup by their elements in the army, continued the Minister.
2. 663. The revolution of 4 August 1983 gave power to the people. Its adversaries, friends of the people in word only, had attempted to oppose the August revolution, to spread crude lies, to denigrate it and to foment counter-revolutionary conflicts and intrigues against the interest of the masses. The August revolution had dissolved the old reactionary political parties which had divided the masses among themselves on a reactionary and regionalist political basis. The August revolution struggled against imperialism, neo-colonialism, reactionary social forces, and reactionary classes and social groups which were partisans of imperialist oppression and exploitation. The revolution, which was the work of the masses, had been made in spite of the handful of reactionaries who had seized political power or dreamed of seizing it, the Minister further pointed out.
3. 664. He added: The former dignitaries of past regimes have been summoned by the President of the National Council, who warned them against any manoeuvres to oppose the status quo and sent them back to their village. These former leaders, who nurtured dreams of returning to the old order, wanted to conspire with certain countries which were worried by the revolution of Burkina Faso. They were all gathered up and interned in several locations in the country. Some of them then called on their political friends in freedom to continue the activities of sabotage, denigration and lies. They were the ones who thought they could cloak themselves in trade unionism and brandish ILO Convention No. 87 to cover up their activities.
4. 665. The Minister stated further: The Government, which respects workers and their organisations, cannot tolerate that, in their name, certain individuals attempted to use trade unionism against the National Council of the Revolution. Caught in the act of spreading poison and lies, these elements have been captured and interned with the old leaders. These measures were taken against persons who lied deliberately in the hope of mobilising the people in their struggle. Anyone who still thinks that he can mobilise elements of the people on the basis of lies, denigration and defamatory statements, will meet the same fate, affirmed the Minister who requested the ILO and the Committee on Freedom of Association to visit Burkina Faso to make an investigation.
5. 666. The Minister added: It will be seen that the people, organised in its democratic institutions, had to denounce the sordid manoeuvres of the reactionary politicians in the SNEAHV leadership.
6. 667. The Minister pointed out, however, that measures of release had been taken with respect to certain political prisoners. He gave an assurance that the persons involved in this case could also be released with a warning against failure to observe the existing provisions of legislation and regulations. He affirmed that it was futile to infringe the law under the pretext of holding trade union office and that the measure affecting the persons involved was based on this argument.
7. 668. The Minister further specified that the Government had received more than 500 militant self-criticisms from teachers who condemned the political and subversive machinations of the leaders of the SNEAHV. He added that in June 1984 he had thought that the ILO and the Committee on Freedom of Association had been in possession of these self-criticisms, in which teachers admitted that they have been manipulated by a leadership which had involved them without their knowledge or by pressurising them in a political struggle against the democratic popular revolution.
8. 669. Lastly, the Minister observed that the SNEAHV no longer existed, not that the Government had dissolved it administratively and contrary to the provisions of Convention No. 87, but because this trade union organisation had changed its name and leadership during its congress of August 1984. At the end of this congress, it had been accepted that this trade union would henceforth be called the National Trade Union of Teachers of Burkina Faso (SNEB) and a new executive had been elected for this trade union.
9. 670. Still according to the Minister, the SNEB and its members condemned the acts committed by the former executive of the SNEAHV which, for political reasons, had created a link between the teachers and the trade union and certain politicians belonging to the reactionary parties. Rank-and-file members of the former SNEAHV had denounced the elements that had seized leadership of their organisation and had changed the name of their organisation. According to the Minister, the ILO should not accept the complaints by administrators of trade union organisations which practice trade union anarchy, denigration and defamation, hiding behind the shield of the ILO, once the masses and their democratic defence organisations had risen up to fight them.
10. 671. In a further communication, dated 31 May 1985, the Minister of Labour expressed surprise that complaints from a so-called working group, which was in fact composed of counter-revolutionary individuals motivated by putschist intentions, should be taken into consideration at the level of an international body such as the ILO. He affirmed that the allegations of these individuals, who were overtly hostile to the democratic popular revolution of 4 August 1983, only aimed to politically harm the National Council of the Revolution and the prestige of the State, and he gave his assurance that it had never been the intention of the National Council of the Revolution to deliberately infringe trade union rights, as Burkina Faso had ratified Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 in 1960 and 1962, respectively.

D. Further developments

1. 672. In a communication dated 18 July 1985, the WCOTP states that it has been informed that two of the arrested trade unionists, Ismael Ousmane Kindo and Bahiéba Joachim Sib, were released without being tried on 17 June 1985 after 16 months of detention. The other trade unionists were thought to be still administratively interned.
2. 673. The ILO sent a telegram to the Government of Burkina Faso on 12 August 1985 requesting it to confirm the release on 17 June 1985 of the two trade unionists referred to by name and to indicate whether other measures of clemency had been adopted in favour of the two other trade union leaders who were still detained and the numerous teachers dismissed following the two-day strike of 20 and 21 March 1984.

E. The Committee's conclusions

1. 674. The allegations presented by the complainants in this case arise out of the measures taken by the authorities against the National Union of African Teachers of Upper Volta, following the accession to power of the new Government of Burkina Faso on 4 August 1983.
2. 675. According to the allegations, four trade union leaders had been arrested in March 1984 without any charge being brought against them. According to the Government, on the other hand, the persons concerned were guilty of pro-imperialist and putschist political manoeuvres and had used trade unionism to cover up their activities of sabotage through denigration and lies, in particular in their trade union motion of 7 August 1983.
3. 676. Again according to the allegations, the national teachers' union had held a 48-hour protest strike on 20 and 21 March 1984 in order to obtain the release of its trade union leaders, which had led to the dismissal of 2,600 teachers who had taken part in the strike and the subsequent reinstatement of only 100 teachers who had been forced to undergo an examination of their political views as a prerequisite for their reinstatement. According to the Government, on the other hand, 500 teachers have admitted in self-criticisms addressed to the Government to having been manipulated by a trade union executive which had involved them without their knowledge or by pressurising them in a political struggle against the democratic popular revolution.
4. 677. Lastly, according to the allegations, an unlawful trade union executive had been elected in August 1984 without the participation of the striking teachers but with that of two trade union leaders who had belonged to the national executive of the said trade union and who had disassociated themselves from the protest movement. According to the Government, on the other hand, the national teachers' union, at a congress held in August 1984, had changed its name and leadership and its members had condemned the acts committed by the former leadership who, for political reasons, had created a link between themselves and their trade union and certain reactionary politicians and parties.
5. 678. As regards the internment of trade union leaders without any charge having been brought against them, the Committee notes that the four trade union leaders involved were arrested in March 1984 and that, according to the complainants, two of them were released in June 1985 without having been tried, after 16 months' detention, and the other two interned trade union leaders are still in prison.
6. 679. In this respect, the Committee, while noting that two interned trade union leaders have been released, feels bound to express disapproval as regards the imprisonment of these two leaders detained in an administrative internment camp for 16 months, in violation of the fundamental right of trade unionists, as well as other persons, not to be arrested arbitrarily and not to be kept in detention without having been found guilty by an independent and impartial court.
7. 680. The Committee observes with regret that the two other trade union leaders, Jean Bila and Batiémoko Kome, are still being detained. It urges the Government, in view of the assurance provided in its reply as regards the measures for the release of the persons involved in this case, to release the persons concerned in the very near future.
8. 681. As regards the measures of anti-trade union discrimination taken against the striking teachers, consisting in dismissal and in the obligation to sign declarations of loyalty in order to be reinstated, the Committee reminds the Government that by ratifying Convention No. 98, Article 1 in particular, it had undertaken to ensure that workers enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment. Likewise, by ratifying Convention No. 87, Articles 3 and 10 in particular, it had undertaken to allow workers' organisations having the purpose of promoting and defending the interests of their members the right to formulate their programmes of action and to refrain from any intervention likely to restrict this right or to impede the lawful exercise thereof. 682. In this case, not only has the Government dismissed a considerable number of trade unionists in the teaching profession for having participated in a peaceful two-day protest strike, but it has also compelled the strikers to disassociate from their trade union leaders and to sign declarations of loyalty to the Revolutionary Defence Committees.
9. 683. The Committee recalls the importance it attaches to the right to strike as a means to promote and defend workers' interests, and it again urges the Government to reinstate all the teachers dismissed solely for having participated in a peaceful strike and asks it to keep it informed of any measure taken in this regard.
10. 684. As regards the change of name and executive of the complainant national trade union in this case, the Committee observes that the congress of teachers of August 1984 undertook these changes without the participation of the dismissed striking teachers. It observes in addition that the Government has prohibited striking teachers dismissed at the same time from carrying on any trade union activity (see letter of the Director of the Office of the Minister of the Interior of 28 August 1984).
11. 685. In these circumstances, the Committee considers that the Government has intervened in the internal affairs of this trade union, contrary to the obligations arising out of Article 3, paragraph 2, of Convention No. 87. It insists that the Government restore and guarantee both to the teachers who took part in the strike who have not been reinstated and to those who were forced to sign declarations of loyalty the right to participate fully in trade union activities for the defence of their economic and social interests.
12. 686. The Committee requests the Government to supply it with the record of the extraordinary congress of the SNEAHV held in August 1984.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 687. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to approve the present interim report and, in particular, the following conclusions:
   • a) The Committee notes that two interned trade union leaders have been released. It feels bound, however, to express disapproval as regards the imprisonment of these two trade union leaders who were detained for 16 months in an administrative internment camp in violation of the fundamental right not to be arrested arbitrarily and not to be held in detention without having been found guilty by an independent and impartial court.
   • b) The Committee again urges the Government to release the two other trade union leaders who are still administratively interned without having been tried, and asks it to communicate information on any measure taken in this respect.
   • c) The Committee notes that 100 dismissed teachers out of over 2,600, according to the complainants, have been reinstated after having been forced to sign declarations of loyalty. The Committee reminds the Government that it is under an obligation to provide workers with adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination and that it must abstain from any interference in trade union affairs.
   • d) The Committee therefore again urges the Government to ensure that all of the teachers dismissed solely for having participated in a peaceful 48-hour protest strike in March 1984 are reinstated, and asks it to keep it informed of any measure taken in this respect.
   • e) The Committee urges the Government to restore and guarantee both to the teachers who took part in the strike who have not been reinstated and to those who were forced to sign declarations of loyalty the right to participate fully in trade union activities for the defence of their economic and social interests.
   • f) The Committee requests the Government to supply it with the record of the extraordinary congress of the SNEAHV held in August 1984.
   • g) The Committee draws the attention of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations to the failure to give practical effect to Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 by Burkina Faso.