Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 374, March 2015

Case No 3058 (Djibouti) - Complaint date: 13-FEB-14 - Follow-up cases closed due to the absence of information from either the complainant or the Government in the last 18 months since the Committee examined the cases

Allegations: The complainant organizations denounce the harassment and repression of their members since October 2013, including arbitrary penalties against at least 83 teachers, one of whom is the Secretary-General of SYNESED, as well as the expulsion of an EI official from the territory in November 2012

1. 337. The complaint is contained in communications dated 13 February and 14 April 2014, presented by Education International (EI), the Secondary Teachers’ Union (SYNESED) and the Primary Teachers’ Union (SEP).
2. 338. The Government sent its observations in communications dated 18 March and 8 May 2014.
3. 339. Djibouti has ratified 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 complainant organizations’ allegations

1. 340. In a communication dated 13 February 2014, Education International (EI), the Secondary Teachers’ Union (SYNESED) and the Primary Teachers’ Union (SEP) allege that the harassment and repression of teachers and union members trying to exercise their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association are common in Djibouti. The two ILO direct contact missions there in 1998 and 2008 did not manage to improve the climate of industrial relations.
2. 341. The complainant organizations claim that, since the legislative elections held on 22 February 2013, the teachers, who are considered, whether rightly or wrongly, to support the political opposition, have been subject to persecution by the authorities. They have also been subject to arbitrary sanctions (reassignments, wage freezes, dismissal) which have flouted all administrative rules and procedures. The authorities have taken arbitrary measures against at least 83 teachers and other education sector employees (student counsellors, inspectors and staff of the Ministry of Education), whose salaries have been suspended since October 2013 (list attached to the complaint). These include the Secretary General of SYNESED, Mr Farah Abdillahi Miguil, and several of the founding members of the group “Save National Education”.
3. 342. In a communication dated 15 April 2014, the complainant organizations denounce, in addition to the suspension of payment of salaries affecting 83 teachers, the Ministry of Education’s proposal to deregister 63 of them. The teachers about to be deregistered include the Secretary General of SYNESED, Mr Farah Abdillahi Miguil, as well as several founding members of the group “Save National Education”: Mr Abdillahi Adaweh Mireh, Mr Youssouf Moussa Abdi, otherwise known as Youssouf Macho, and Mr Omar Ismael Omar.
4. 343. Furthermore, in their complaint, the complainant organizations report the death of Mr Mahamoud Elmi Rayaleh, a French teacher at Balbala Public Secondary School and a socially engaged citizen, on the night of 28 to 29 August 2013 during his detention at Gabode Central Prison. The complainant organizations question the reasons for his rapid burial by the authorities, without any of his family members or associates present. They claim that he had been arrested on 2 August 2013, a detention warrant had been issued the following day and on 20 August he had been sentenced to two months in prison for “involvement in an illegal protest”. He had been in good health during his incarceration at Gabode Central Prison.
5. 344. Lastly, the complainant organizations denounce the fact that in November 2012, the authorities supposedly denied Mr Samuel Ngoua Ngou, the EI regional coordinator for the African region, the right to enter Djibouti territory where he was going to organize a national seminar on early childhood education, arranged in collaboration with SYNESED and the SEP. The complainant organizations maintain that Mr Ngoua Ngou was barred entry at Djibouti Airport on arrival, despite the official letter authorizing him to obtain his visa at the airport. On arrival from Nairobi on 10 November 2012 at around 1 a.m., Mr Ngoua Ngou had been held by the border police for 25 hours outside any legal framework and had eventually been refused entry on 11 November, without a valid reason, at about 2 a.m. The complainant organizations also refer to other measures to interfere in the activities of trade unions or human rights defenders. One EI delegation invited by SYNESED in May 2007, for example, has never been able obtain the necessary visas to go to Djibouti.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 345. The Government sent its observations in communications dated 3 March and 8 May 2014, in which it rejects all of the allegations made in relation to this case.
2. 346. With regard to the allegations on arbitrary measures against teachers, and especially the trade union leaders mentioned by the complainant organizations, the Government indicates that an inquiry has been carried out on the basis of the list, supplied by the complainant organizations, of 83 education sector employees whose salaries have allegedly been suspended since October 2013. It emerges from the inquiry that the list contains 41 employees, 15 of whom have indeed had their salaries suspended on account of their absence from their work posts, having not returned to their assigned positions. According to the information, these employees include Mr Farah Abdillahi Miguil and Mr Abdillahi Adaweh Mireh. The Government specifies that their salaries are suspended in accordance with article 27 of the general public service regulations. The Government also indicates that, contrary to the complainant organizations’ claims, 25 employees on the list are receiving their pay (evidence supplied). According to the Government, under article 35 of the general public service regulations, six weeks after a formal notification, if the offenders persist, the administration is entitled to announce their dismissal for dereliction of duty. In this regard, the Government provides a communication from the national Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of March 2014, calling for the launch of the deregistration procedure for the proven failure of duty of 14 public servants, including Mr Youssouf Mousa Abdi and Mr Abdillahi Adaweh Mireh.
3. 347. As regards the allegations of the refusal to allow entry to an EI representative in November 2012, the Government provides a report from the border and immigration police of Djibouti Airport, in which it is indicated that Mr Samuel Ngoua Ngou arrived from Nairobi on 9 November 2012 and left again on 11 November 2012 at 2.45 p.m. after a stay of two days on Djibouti soil. Mr Ngoua Ngou was not removed, as this would have been done immediately, on the return flight of the airplane in question. In addition, a notification sheet summarizing the grounds for the refusal of entry must be submitted to the carrier by the station manager. No such sheet has been produced regarding Mr Samuel Ngoua Ngou.
4. 348. Lastly, with regard to the death in detention of Mr Mahamoud Elmi Rayaleh, a French teacher at Balbala Public Secondary School, on 29 August 2013 during his detention at Gabode Central Prison, the Government states that an independent commission carried out an inquiry into the circumstances of the death. The commission heard, in particular, the accounts of co-detainees, prison guards and the prison doctor and examined the forensic report. The commission concluded that there was no evidence to corroborate the suspicious or criminal nature of the detainee’s death and indicated that the death of Mr Rayaleh, which occurred during his sleep, did not have any traumatic or pathological cause.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 349. The Committee notes that the present case relates to allegations of harassment and discriminatory measures against trade unions leaders and members in the education sector, as well as to the removal measures reportedly faced by the regional head of an international trade union organization.
2. 350. The Committee notes that, according to Education International (EI), the Secondary Teachers’ Union (SYNESED) and the Primary Teachers’ Union (SEP), the harassment and repression of teachers and union members trying to exercise their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association are common in Djibouti and the situation has deteriorated since the legislative elections in February 2013. The teachers, who are considered, whether rightly or wrongly, to support the political opposition, have allegedly been subject to persecution by the authorities, including arbitrary sanctions (reassignments, wage freezes, dismissal), which have flouted all administrative rules and procedures. The Committee notes that the complainant organizations have provided a list of 83 teachers and other education sector employees (student counsellors, inspectors and staff of the Ministry of Education) whose salaries have been suspended since October 2013. Among these are the Secretary-General of SYNESED, Mr Farah Abdillahi Miguil, and several of the founding members of the group “Save National Education”: Mr Abdillahi Adaweh Mireh, Mr Youssouf Moussa Abdi, otherwise known as Youssouf Macho, and Mr Omar Ismael Omar. The Committee notes that, in their communication of April 2014, the complainant organizations denounce the threat of the Ministry of Education to deregister 63 teachers, including the Secretary-General of the SYNESED and the founding members of the group “Save National Education” mentioned above.
3. 351. The Committee takes note of the Government’s response, in which it specifies that an inquiry has been carried out on the basis of the list, supplied by the complainant organizations, of 83 education sector employees whose salaries have allegedly been suspended since October 2013, and that it emerges that only 41 of them are public servants. The Government explains that 15 of these employees, including some of those mentioned by the complainant organizations, have had their salaries suspended in accordance with article 27 of the general public service regulations on account of their absence from their work posts, having not returned to their assigned positions. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, under article 35 of the general public service regulations, six weeks after a formal notification, if the offenders persist, the administration is entitled to announce their dismissal for dereliction of duty. In this regard, the Government provides a communication of the national Ministry of Education and Vocational Training dated March 2014, calling for the launch of the dismissal procedure for the proven failure of duty of 14 public servants, including Mr Youssouf Mousa Abdi and Mr Abdillahi Adaweh Mireh. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that 25 members of staff on the complainant organizations’ list are reportedly receiving their pay.
4. 352. The Committee notes that of the list, supplied by the complainant organizations, of 83 education sector employees allegedly subject to arbitrary penalties, the Government provided clarifications for 38 of them: 19 are in fact apparently receiving their pay; four have had their salaries suspended for dereliction of duty; 14 were due for dismissal on the grounds that they had still not complied with a formal notification after six months; and one was not identified as working in the public service. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the current employment status of the other education sector employees, whom the complainant organizations allege have been subject to arbitrary measures, including a suspension of salaries, since October 2013, as included in the list transmitted to it in the complaint.
5. 353. The Committee notes with concern the allegations by the complainant organizations pertaining to the death of Mr Mahamoud Elmi Rayaleh, a French teacher at Balbala Public Secondary School and a socially engaged citizen, on 29 August 2013 during his detention at Gabode Central Prison. The Committee notes that he had been arrested on 2 August 2013, a detention warrant had been issued the following day and on 20 August he had been sentenced to two months in prison for “involvement in an illegal protest”. The Committee notes that, according to the complainant organizations, he had been in good health during his incarceration at Gabode Central Prison and that, following his death, it was claimed that the authorities had buried him quickly, without any of his family members or associates present.
6. 354. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, an independent commission carried out an inquiry into the circumstances of the death. During the inquiry, the commission apparently heard, in particular, the accounts of co-detainees, prison guards and the prison doctor, examined the forensic report, concluded that there was no evidence to corroborate the suspicious or criminal nature of the detainee’s death and indicated that the death of Mr Rayaleh, which occurred during his sleep, did not have any traumatic or pathological cause. The Committee requests the Government to send a copy of the ruling of 20 August 2013 sentencing Mr Mahamoud Elmi Rayaleh to two months of imprisonment for “involvement in an illegal protest”, as well as a copy of the independent commission’s report into the circumstances of his death.
7. 355. The Committee notes that the complainant organizations allege that in November 2012, the authorities refused Mr Samuel Ngoua Ngou, EI regional coordinator for the African region, the right to enter Djibouti territory where he was going to organize a national seminar on early childhood education, arranged in collaboration with SYNESED and the SEP. The complainant organizations maintain that Mr Ngoua Ngou was barred entry at Djibouti Airport on arrival, despite the official letter authorizing him to obtain his visa at the airport. When arriving from Nairobi on 10 November 2012 at around 1 a.m., Mr Ngoua Ngou had been held by the border police for 25 hours outside of any legal framework and had eventually been refused entry on 11 November, without a valid reason, at about 2 a.m.
8. 356. The Committee notes that in reply, the Government has provided a report drawn up on 14 March 2014 by the border and immigration police at Djibouti Airport in which it is indicated that Mr Samuel Ngoua Ngou arrived from Nairobi on 9 November 2012 and left again on 11 November 2012 at 2.45 p.m. after a stay of two days on Djibouti soil. According to the report, Mr Ngoua Ngou had not been expelled, as this would have been done immediately, on the return flight of the airplane in question. Finally, according to the report, in cases where entry is barred, a notification sheet summarizing the grounds must be submitted to the carrier by the station manager. No such sheet had apparently been produced regarding Mr Samuel Ngoua Ngou.
9. 357. The Committee notes with concern the conflicting versions of the complainant organizations and the Government regarding these serious allegations and observes that the Government does not provide any reply in relation to those concerning the detention of Mr Ngoua Ngou by the border police for 25 hours prior to his removal. In these circumstances, the Committee is not able to examine this question further. However, it would recall generally that visits to affiliated national trade union organizations and participation in their congresses are normal activities for international workers’ organizations, subject to the provisions of national legislation with regard to the admission of foreigners, but that, while recognizing that the refusal to grant visas to foreigners is a matter which falls within the sovereignty of the State, the Committee has already had to request a government to ensure that the formalities required of international trade unionists to enter the country are based on objective criteria free of anti-trade unionism. [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth (revised) edition, 2006, paras 750 and 753]. Recalling that it is not the first time that the authorities have been subject to allegations of refusing entry to an international trade union solidarity mission [see 342nd report, para. 433], the Committee firmly expects that the Government will fully respect these principles.

The Committee’s recommendations

1. 358. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the current employment status of the education sector employees whom the complainant organizations allege have been subject to arbitrary measures, including a suspension of salaries, since October 2013.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to send a copy of the ruling of 20 August 2013 sentencing Mr Mahamoud Elmi Rayaleh to two months of imprisonment for “involvement in an illegal protest”, as well as a copy of the independent commission’s report into the circumstances of his death.