Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 388, March 2019

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

Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body

1. 15. The Committee last examined this case, which concerns allegations of harassment and discriminatory measures against trade union leaders and members in the education sector, at its March 2017 meeting [see 381st Report, paras 27–29]. On that occasion, the Committee reiterated its recommendations regarding the allegations pertaining to the death of Mr Mahamoud Elmi Rayaleh, a French teacher at Balbala Public Secondary School, on 29 August 2013 during his detention at Gabode Central Prison, after he was sentenced on 20 August 2013 to two months of imprisonment for “involvement in an illegal protest”. In this regard, the Committee once again requested the Government to send a copy of the ruling of 20 August 2013 as well as a copy of the report of the independent commission that, according to the Government, investigated the circumstances of this death and found that there was no evidence to corroborate anything of a suspicious or criminal nature in this regard.
2. 16. In its communication dated 10 May 2017, the Government indicates that it has provided the forensic report, which concluded that there was no evidence to corroborate the suspicious nature of the death and confirmed that Mr Rayaleh died in his sleep. The Government also indicates that a copy of the ruling of 20 August 2013 will be provided as soon as possible.
3. 17. The Committee recalls that it previously noted the Government’s indication that an independent commission had conducted an investigation into the circumstances of this death. After having interviewed co-detainees, prison guards and the prison doctor and having examined the forensic report, the commission had concluded that there was no evidence to corroborate the suspicious or criminal nature of the detainee’s death and had indicated that the death did not have any traumatic or pathological cause. In view of these comments, which the Government has merely reiterated, the Committee has since 2015 been requesting a copy of the ruling of 20 August 2013 and of the report of the independent commission, in order to reach a conclusion in full knowledge of the facts on the basis of an examination of the evidence requested. Deploring once again the absence of information from the Government, the Committee is bound to reiterate its recommendation and, considering the seriousness of the allegations, expects that the Government will communicate this information without further delay.