Definitive Report - Report No 251, June 1987

Case No 1390 (Israel) - Complaint date: 20-OCT-86 - Closed

1. 215. In communications dated 20 and 23 October and 5 November 1986 the Palestine Trade Unions Federation (PTUF) submitted a complaint against the Israeli Government alleging the violation of trade union rights in the territories occupied by Israel. The World Confederation of Labour (WCL) endorsed the complaint in a communication dated 23 March 1987. The Government sent its observations in a letter dated 24 February 1987.
2. 216. Israel 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).

A. The complainants' allegations

1. 217. In its communication dated 20 October the PTUF alleges that on 17 October 1986 the headquarters of the Union of Palestinian Trade Unions in Jerusalem was taken over and searched by the Israeli authorities and that some of the people present were interrogated and subsequently arrested. In a further communication dated 23 October it refers to other violations of trade union rights, mainly affecting the General Federation of Trade Unions of Nablus. It alleges that the Nablus Federation headquarters was closed for a month after the occupation forces had raided the premises at 11 a.m. on Sunday 24 September 1986 and ordered the Federation's General Secretary, Mr. Shehada El Minawi, to close them for security reasons. The General Secretary and the Treasurer, Mr. Shaher Saad, were placed under house arrest in Nablus for six months and required to register daily at the police station. The complainant also alleges the arrest of the Deputy General Secretary of the Union of Medical Services, Mr. Mohamed El Bechir, and of the General Secretary of the Union of Electrical Workers, Mr. Youssef Eid. In the same communication the Federation alleges that the occupation authorities raided the premises of the General Union of Enterprises in the villages of Abu Dis, Eizariya and El Sawahera in the province of Jerusalem, where they confiscated registers and files and took trade unionists to the police station for interrogation. On 21 October 1986 they raided the offices of the General Federation of Workers in Construction, destroyed equipment and arrested five trade unionists.
2. 218. Another communication from the PTFU dated 5 November 1986 refers to the expulsion to Jordan on 3 November 1986 of Mr. Abdel Jabbar Choukri El Charabati, a trade union leader of the Confederation of Trade Unions of the West Bank and President of the Union of Ironworkers and Mechanics of the city of El Khalif. In another letter dated 5 November the complainant alleges that Mr. Akram Hanié, chief editor of the daily newspaper "Al Chaab", was arrested by the military government and expelled from the territory on 2 November 1986.
3. 219. In its letter dated 23 March 1987, the WCL refers to the arrest of ten members of the executive committee of the Federation of Palestine Trade Unions in Gaza.
4. 220. In all its communications the PTUF alleges that the Israeli authorities employ terrorist and racist tactics against trade unionists in the occupied Arab territories and that their attacks on trade unions and their property are particularly violent.

B. The Government's reply

1. 221. In a communication dated 24 February 1987 the Government of Israel communicated its observations on the complainants' allegation. To begin with, it states that it respects trade union rights and implements them scrupulously in the areas under its jurisdiction. It denies that trade union activities have been restricted or that union premises have been closed for their union activities. According to the Government, the four trade union federations operating in the West Bank of the Jordan and Gaza are linked in their activities to various Palestinian terrorist factions. Moreover, since the end of 1984 there has been an upsurge of terrorist acts disguised as trade union activities and that persons enlisted as trade unionists have been apprehended, charged and sentenced for their involvement in terrorism. The Government states that on numerous occasions members of trade unions have been convicted and sentenced for planting explosives and that such terrorist acts, like other illegal or political activities, are ostensibly being carried out in the name of legitimate trade union activity. It claims that the dissension among the trade union federations themselves is a reflection of their true nature and their major field of activity, which has nothing to do with their proclaimed mandate. In certain cases "unions" are established even if there is no occupational activity in their specific domain, as happened recently with the "Carpenters' Union" in the village of Daharia (Hebron). The Government supports its contention with leaflets issued by the Palestinian Trade Unions Federation, of the Fatah faction, on the theme of "PLO unity".
2. 222. The Government states that it refrains from any intervention in the activities of the union organisations referred to by the complainants unless there is convincing information on their illegal or terrorist activities. Furthermore, it recognises the existence of non-registered trade unions. On the specific facts alleged in the communications of the complainant organisations, the Government supplies the following information: - During the 17 October 1986 meeting of the Union of Workers in Nablus, members of the Israeli security forces searched for written material inciting people to engage in terrorist activities. None of the participants were arrested. - The same is true of the 20 October 1986 workers' committee meeting in the villages of Abu Dis and El Sawahera, when the security forces found illegal material but arrested no one. - The closure of the office of the Federation of Trade Unions in Nablus on 24 September 1986 was carried out on the basis of reliable information on illegal activities, and specifically the recruitment of members for terrorist units. The Secretary-General, Mr. Shehada El Minawi, was placed under six months' house arrest by military order and two other members of the organisation, Mr. El Bechir and Mr. Youssef Eid, were arrested. - Mr. Akram Hanié, chief editor of the daily newspaper "Al Chaab", and Mr. El Charabati of Hebron, both trade unionists, were expelled from the area because of their personal involvement in hostile activities on behalf of their mentors in the Palestinian terrorist organisations. The Government of Israel resorts to this type of measure only in extreme cases and only 14 persons have been expelled from the area, most of them to Jordan, in the past two years. A person against whom an expulsion order has been issued may appeal against it to the Supreme Court of Israel. - The ten members of the executive committee of the Federation of Palestine Trade Unions in Gaza were summoned on 16 December 1986 for an investigation of their support of terrorist activities. Contrary to the complainants' allegations, none were arrested.
3. 223. The Government declares that the State of Israel will continue to guarantee the free exercise of genuine trade union activities but is obliged to distinguish those activities from all those carried out by persons who "brandish trade union banners as their flag of convenience".

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 224. The Committee observes that this case concerns allegations of violations of the trade union rights of Palestinian trade unions and trade unionists in the Arab territories occupied by Israel. In the first place, the Committee notes that the alleged events took place on the West Bank of the Jordan and in the Gaza Strip, which are territories that have been under Israeli military occupation since June 1967 and as such, under the administration of the State of Israel. While it is not for the Committee to pronounce upon questions concerning the occupation or administration of these territories, the Committee would point out that, as a Member of the ILO, the Government of Israel is bound to respect the principle of freedom of association as contained in the ILO Constitution in respect of the occupied territories where its national legislation does not apply and in respect of which the ratification of the international Conventions on freedom of association does not of itself create an obligation vis-à-vis the ILO. The Committee recalls, in this respect, that its competence in the matter is independent of the ratification of the Conventions on freedom of association.
2. 225. It is apparent from the complainants' allegations that the Israeli military authorities raided a number of trade union premises in Nablus and Jerusalem and that as a result the premises were temporarily closed and union meetings banned. In the course of these operations publications and documents were seized which, according to the Israeli Government, were not trade union material but of a political and even terrorist nature. The Committee has taken note of the 1 May 1986 leaflet communicated by the Government which, in the context of the workers' and trade union struggles, contains references to the PLO and to the international political situation as it relates to the Palestine issue. The Committee notes that in this particular instance the military operations were specifically directed only at trade union premises and that they were mounted to put a stop to activities that the Israeli authorities considered to be terrorist-related. The Committee is not in a position to rule on this aspect of the case, particularly since it is unable to judge with any degree of certainty from the facts before it whether in this particular instance the Palestine trade unions concerned acted in a way that went beyond the scope of genuine trade union activities. The Committee also notes that, for its part, the Government has not supplied sufficient precise information proving beyond doubt the political nature of the activities which the trade unions concerned are said to have engaged in and which could have justified the alleged military intervention. Consequently, the Committee recalls that freedom to hold trade union meetings is one of the fundamental elements of trade union rights and that it is an absolute corollary of the inviolability of trade union premises that public authorities should not be allowed to enter them unless they are in possession of a warrant issued by the judicial authority. (See 230th Report, Case No. 1166 (Honduras), para. 112.) The Committee also recalls that, in the interest of the normal development of the trade union movement, it would be desirable for the interested parties to abide by the principles set out in the resolution concerning the independence of the trade union movement adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 35th Session (1952), which stipulates, inter alia, that the fundamental and permanent mission of the trade union movement is the economic and social advancement of the workers and that, when trade unions in accordance with national law and practice of their respective countries and at the decision of their members decide to establish relations with a political party or to undertake constitutional political action as a means towards the advancement of their economic and social objectives, such political relations or actions should not be of such a nature as to compromise the continuance of the trade union movement or its social and economic functions, irrespective of political changes in the country. (See 201st Report, Case No. 842 (Argentina), para. 40.)
3. 226. With regard to the restrictions on the movements of trade unionists, the six-month house arrest of the General Secretary of the Federation of Trade Unions of Nablus, Mr. Shehada El Minawi, the arrest of Mr. El Bechir and Mr. Youssef Eid and the six-month house arrest of the President of the Union of Mechanics, Mr. Shaher Saad, the Committee notes that the Government has provided no specific information on the matter. As to the house arrest of trade unionists, the Committee, while recognising that such a procedure may be motivated by a given critical situation, draws the Government's attention to the desirability of such measures being accompanied by all necessary safeguards in order to ensure that they cannot be used to hinder the free exercise of trade union rights. The imposition of penalties of this nature on trade union grounds is a violation of the principles of freedom of association. (See 172nd Report, Case No. 870 (Peru), para. 324.)
4. 227. With respect to the expulsion of Mr. Akram Hanié, chief editor of the newspaper "Al Chaab", by the military governor and of Mr. El Charabati, trade union leader of the Confederation of Workers Trade Unions of the West Bank, the Committee notes that the Government merely indicates in its reply that such actions are taken only in extreme cases and that an appeal may in any case be lodged against them with the Supreme Court of Israel. In the case of Mr. Akram Hanié, it is not clear to the Committee whether the measures taken against him have been taken strictly on trade union grounds, particularly since the complainant organisations supply no details and since the person concerned is referred to simply as a trade unionist. The Committee has almost as little information regarding Mr. El Charabati. In the circumstances, the Committee can only recall that the forced exile of trade unionists, which is a violation of human rights, is particularly serious in that it deprives the persons concerned of the possibility of working in their country. In addition, such an action separates them from their families. Moreover, it is an infringement of freedom of association in that it weakens the trade union movement by depriving it of its leaders. (See 217th Report, Case No. 1104 (Bolivia), para. 316.)
5. 228. The Committee further notes that six members of the executive committee of the Federation of Palestine Trade Unions in Gaza were summoned by the police on 16 December 1986 on suspicion of having engaged in terrorist activities. According to the information communicated by the Government, these persons were released after interrogation. In the absence of more precise information on this aspect of the case, the Committee has decided that it does not call for further examination.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 229. In the light of the foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • a) The Committee recalls that the right to hold trade union meetings is a fundamental aspect of trade union rights and that the inviolability of union premises should be respected by the authorities. It requests the Government to ensure that trade unions are allowed to organise their meetings on their premises without interference by the military authorities.
   • b) The Committee calls upon the Government to ensure that such actions as house arrest or the expulsion of trade unionists are accompanied by the necessary judicial guarantees and, in addition, to ensure that such measures are not employed in such a manner as to restrict trade union rights or constitute interference in the activities of the trade union organisations.