Interim Report - Report No 259, November 1988

Case No 1413 (Bahrain) - Complaint date: 03-JUN-87 - Closed

1. 553. The Committee examined this case at its meeting in February 1988 and
   • submitted an interim report to the Governing Body (see 254th Report,
   • paragraphs 474-492, approved by the Governing Body at its 239th Session
   • (February-March 1988)).
2. 554. The Government subsequently sent certain information and observations in
   • a communication dated 14 June 1988.
3. 555. Bahrain has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of
   • the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No.087) or the Right to Organise and
   • Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No.098).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 556. The allegation which remained pending after the last examination of this
2. matter by the Committee concerned the arrest and detention without trial of a
3. trade union leader, namely Mr. Ibrahim Al Kassab, President of the General
4. Committee of Bahrain Workers, attached, according to the complainant, to the
5. ALBA Aluminium Company.
6. 557. At its meeting in February 1988, the Committee recalled the importance
7. of prompt and fair trial by the judiciary in all cases of the arrest and
8. detention of trade unionists and requested the Government to supply
9. information on the situation of the trade union leader, Mr. Ibrahim Al Kassab.
10. B. The Government's reply
11. 558. In a letter of 14 June 1988, the Government admits that the Bahrain
12. public security forces arrested Mr. Ibrahim Al Kassab, but states that he
13. stood trial in Case No. 1987/State Security 1/36. According to the Government,
14. the court rendered a verdict of guilty on 29 October 1987 and sentenced him to
15. five years' imprisonment, to count from the date of his arrest.
16. 559. The Government maintains that this matter does not concern the right to
17. organise and the right to work, as alleged by the complainant. It adds that
18. Mr. Al Kassab was not detained or arrested through the enforcement of any
19. exceptional measures, but was prosecuted for a criminal offence, brought to
20. trial under the Penal Code of the State of Bahrain and sentenced to a term of
21. imprisonment, as previously indicated.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 560. In the present matter, the Committee observes that the versions of the
   • complainant and the Government are contradictory. According to the
   • complainant, the President of the General Committee of Bahrain Workers, Mr.
   • Ibrahim Al Kassab, was arrested and detained without trial for trade union
   • activities. According to the Government, the person involved was tried and
   • sentenced to five years' imprisonment for a criminal offence.
2. 561. In accordance with its usual practice when, in reply to complainants'
   • allegations that trade union officials or workers have been arrested for trade
   • union activity, governments maintain that the persons in question were
   • arrested and sentenced for criminal offences without specifying the nature of
   • the offences, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the precise
   • charges brought against Mr. Al Kassab and to supply a copy of the judgement
   • sentencing him to five years' imprisonment, with the reasons adduced.
3. 562. The Committee also requests the complainant to provide all complementary
   • information at its disposal in this case.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 563. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites
   • the Governing Body to approve the following recommendation: Taking into
   • account the contradiction existing between the versions of the complainant and
   • the Government concerning the arrest and detention on 13 July 1986 of the
   • President of the General Committee of Bahrain Workers in the ALBA Aluminium
   • Company, Mr. Al Kassab, the Committee, in order to be able to reach
   • conclusions on this matter in full knowledge of the facts, requests the
   • Government to specify the facts which gave rise to the arrest of this person,
   • to communicate the charges brought against him, to indicate the section of the
   • Penal Code under which he was sentenced and to supply a copy of the judgement
   • concerning this person (Case No. 1987/State Security 1/36), with the reasons
   • adduced therefor. It also requests the complainant to provide all
   • complementary information at its disposal in this case.