Individual Case (CAS) - Discussion: 2009, Publication: 98th ILC session (2009)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Ethiopia (Ratification: 1963)

A Government representative stated that the Government had always been ready and willing to cooperate with the supervisory bodies of the ILO on the implementation of ratified Conventions. In this regard, the Government had provided a series of submissions over the years to the Committee on Freedom of Association, the Committee of Experts, and to the Conference Committee; those submissions incorporated adequate and comprehensive information on the implementation of Convention No. 87.

He noted that the present discussion came at a time when the report by the ILO direct contacts mission to Ethiopia had already been issued. The Government had agreed to receive the direct contacts mission following a recommendation made by the Conference Committee, and a decision of the 2007 International Labour Conference. The mission was successfully undertaken in October 2008 and, as the mission report clearly indicated, the relevant authorities fully cooperated by providing the requested information. As the mission report's recommendations were being seriously considered by the Government, he expressed disappointment that the Committee had not allowed for sufficient time for this process to unfold before scheduling the present discussion.

He stated that the Committee on Freedom of Association Case No. 2516 was first examined some time ago, and had been previously considered by this Committee. The case, he recalled, involved a dispute between two groups of individuals, each claiming to be the legitimate representative of the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA), which had been in existence since 1949. This dispute was the subject of a long-standing legal battle involving many judicial institutions, from the First Instance Court to the Cassation Division of the Federal Supreme Court. A group of former teachers, supported and financed by external actors, had challenged the legal status of the then new leadership of the ETA. This new leadership had been established following a change of government in Ethiopia and the subsequent introduction of a federal arrangement, under which teachers from all corners of the country were represented. The group, led by some senior supporters of the former military regime, was opposed to the ETA's reorganization due to a purely political aversion to the country's new political system. Whereas a diverse political opinion within an organization was acceptable, and even supported, this group rejected the legally constituted body and chose not to surrender the ETA premises and property under its possession. A legal process was thus triggered over the legality of representation, and the handing over of premises and property.

The Government had consistently maintained that the domestic legal process should be allowed to run its course. Furthermore, it was not involved in this legal dispute. In any event, the ETA was now operating freely throughout the country with over 260,000 members. The Government did not interfere in the ETA's internal affairs and activities. Noting that the dispute had been disposed of by a decision of the Cassation Division of the Federal Supreme Court, he expressed the expectation that Education International (EI) and the ITUC would show respect for the integrity of this judicial process and refrain from recycling already resolved allegations. There was no sound procedural basis for presenting new allegations by linking them with Case No. 2516.

He regretted that further allegations had been added to the present case to sustain a confrontational approach. A close scrutiny of those submissions clearly showed that the "new" information was being used as a tactic for maintaining the issue on the Conference Committee's agenda, long after the dispute underlying the complaint had been legally resolved. The new allegations were intended by the claimants to intervene in and influence an ongoing legal dispute initiated by a group of individuals, who were experiencing difficulty in getting a new organization registered under the name "Ethiopian National Association of Teachers". Without prejudice to the outcome of that dispute, the Government wished to state that individuals and workers in Ethiopia were free to form their associations based on the applicable national laws. As the complainants themselves indicated, their complaint had been brought before the Federal Office of the Ombudsperson - a duly established constitutional organ. The Government thus found it unacceptable that a case which was being considered by a constitutionally established organ had been brought before this Committee.

Representatives of the complainant group had also filed a civil action against the Ministry of Justice on the grounds that it failed to register them. The Federal First Instance Court dismissed the case on 29 April 2009, on the grounds that the Ministry of Justice was not the proper defendant for the case, as the Government body responsible for registering associations was the Charities and Societies Agency. An English language translation of any decision, once issued, would be submitted to the CFA. He reiterated that the national judicial and quasi-judicial processes should be allowed to adjudicate such cases, as the Government continued its full cooperation with the ILO supervisory bodies.

With regard to other cases that were referred to in the 353rd Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association, he assured the Committee that the Government would provide detailed information refuting the numerous allegations contained in that report. Some of those allegations included the arbitrary arrest and dismissal of teachers for engaging in their association's activities. The legal measures taken against the individuals mentioned in the Committee on Freedom of Association report, however, were taken in full compliance with the requirements of due process of law, and the Committee on Freedom of Association would be provided with the English language translation of the decision concerning those teachers' convictions for criminal activities, which had no connection whatsoever with their trade union activities. He reiterated that, as the cases demonstrated that tangible progress was being made, it was inappropriate for this matter to have been discussed before further examination by the ILO supervisory bodies.

In spite of the ongoing challenge of convincing all those involved to avoid unnecessarily politicizing the present case, the Government remained committed to cooperating with the ILO supervisory system on effective compliance with all ratified Conventions, and to engaging in constructive dialogue on all outstanding issues. The direct contacts mission had charted a positive approach for dialogue and cooperation, and the Government was studying the recommendations outlined in the mission report, which contained a number of positive elements.

The Employer members indicated that the case of Ethiopia's violation of Convention No. 87 had been addressed by the Committee no fewer than ten times. The last time that the right of teachers to organize had been discussed was in 2007.

One of the fundamental problems continued to be the serious situation relating to the events that had occurred in 2005: the failure to clarify the incidents relating to the arrest of trade unionists of this association, their probable torture and mistreatment, as well as the continued intimidation and interference, which apparently had led to the closure of the trade union offices, the confiscation of documents, and the freezing of financial assets and the appearance of another trade union organization with the same name.

At that time, it had been alleged that the trade union leader had been arrested for reasons owing to his political activities and not his trade union activities. In 2007, the Government had been requested to provide detailed information on the matter, as well as on the level of affiliation and the conditions under which the new trade union organization (ETA), in the educational sector had been constituted, so as to verify the truth of the matter. As the Government had not provided any information on the investigation made, it was not possible to ascertain whether one had actually been done. The Employer members agreed with the Committee of Experts on the importance of a full and independent investigation of the matter.

The second issue was the need to ensure the legality of the new teachers' association. To this end, a direct contacts mission had visited the country in 2008. A ruling had already been handed down by the Supreme Court relating to the executive body of the ETA and, following its decision, a group of teachers had submitted a registration request to the Ministry of Justice, which, apparently, had been delayed on the grounds that prior consultation with the Ministry of Education was required. Such a consultation was inappropriate. On the one hand, the prolonged delay in authorization appeared to indicate a lack of will and not a mere procedural issue, and on the other hand, requiring the intervention of a Government body, on which the teachers' group depended, was totally inappropriate, in light of the requirements of the Convention.

With regard to the revision of the legislation respecting the public service, there was agreement on the fact that freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining included teachers, together with other categories of workers in the public service. An area in which there was no consensus with the Committee of Experts was on the matter of the exercise of the right to strike, as this was considered to be out of the scope of the Convention.

The issue of the "Labour Proclamation" and its adaptation to the Convention went a long way back. This legislation had been amended in 2003, repealing the denial to teachers of the right to organize, but only in the private sector. Moreover, the possibility of annulling the registration certificate of organizations prohibited under this legislation was maintained.

Considering the seriousness and persistence of the situation, they maintained that it was essential to know whether the Government was able to demonstrate the additional level of commitment needed in order to follow-up this case with the practical measures needed for its resolution.

The Worker members regretted that the Committee had to consider this case for the tenth time in 22 years. For several years, the Committee of Experts had made comments demanding to bring national legislation into conformity with the requirements of Convention No. 87. Despite the affirmation the Government had made before this Committee, the revision of the Proclamation on the public service to grant the right of freedom of association to public employees, such as judges, prosecutors and other categories of workers had not been undertaken. Although the 1993 Proclamation had been modified in 2003, teachers employed in the public services, who represented more than 200,000 civil servants in Ethiopia, were still deprived of the right to establish trade unions and join the National Trade Union Confederation (CETU). This constituted a violation of the Convention.

The Worker members also stressed that the recommendation of the Committee of Experts could be understood in such a way that air and urban transports were no longer to be seen as essential services. Besides, the 1993 Proclamation enabled the administration to dissolve trade unions and required them to obtain an authorization prior to their establishment. This also constituted a violation of the Convention. Since the last examination of this case by the Conference Committee in 2007, the situation had not improved in favour of the right of freedom of association. Even the ILO direct contacts mission, which the Government delayed until October 2008, was not able to solve the situation.

The Committee of Experts and the Committee on Freedom of Association had also examined the question of systematic harassment, the victim of which was the ETA. As a matter of fact, two ETAs existed and the conflict between these organizations dated back to 1993. In that year, following a vote by its general assembly, the ETA, which had been founded in 1949, opposed the Government's reform of the educational system. Several days later, the minority group, which had lost the vote, sued the ETA to claim its assets and its affiliates and the usage of its name. The Ministry of Justice had accepted this and registered it as a professional association of teachers also under the name of the ETA. For 15 years, the organizations were fighting a legal battle to determine which ETA was legitimate. Since then, the most recent organization had been able to make use of all facilities, while the members of the other organization had been victims of harassment, discrimination and other violations of fundamental human rights. In 1997, the deputy secretary-general of the original ETA had been assassinated in broad daylight but the Government had not investigated the crime. In 2007, representatives of the independent ETA were arrested and tortured. Documents proving these facts had been submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. The authorities claimed that the imprisoned trade union members were held because of alleged terrorist activities, which had never been proven. In June 2008, the highest judicial instance of the country had ruled in favour of the new ETA and the Government claimed that the whole story resulted from a simple conflict between persons. In truth, the usurpation of the acronym ETA constituted a clever manoeuvre to create confusion among the teachers, the UN agencies in Ethiopia, the observers of the diplomatic missions and also among the members of this Committee. The former secretary-general of the independent ETA, Gemoraw Kassa, was present today and would give a statement in the name of Education International later.

After the dissolution of the original ETA in June 2008, its affiliates and elected members - determined to continue their commitment to defend the right of freedom of association and the trade union rights in Ethiopia - had established a new association. The authorities had again used all possible legal measures to hinder all efforts aimed at registering this organization, referred to as National Teachers' Association (NTA). After having consulted the Minister of Education, thus the employer of the teachers concerned, in November 2008 the Minister concluded that NTA could not be registered. This was a violation of Article 3 of the Convention. For almost one year now, the teachers employed in the public sector were thus totally deprived of an independent organization for defending their rights. The announcement to establish a new agency to cater for NTA's request for registration would only constitute another pretext to defy the workers' legitimate entitlement.

The Worker members expected the Government to make tangible progress and to transcribe without delay all provisions of the Convention into its legislation to guarantee the full possibility to exercise, in law and practice, the right of freedom of association in all categories of workers. His group asked the Government to adopt a precise road map for bringing its legislation into conformity with all requirements of Convention No. 87. They further asked the Government to provide, for examination at the next session of the Committee of Experts, a detailed report on the measures taken in order to fully guarantee the teachers' right to unionize and to permit, in its legislation and practice, that legitimate trade union activities could be exercised without governmental interference and that trade union members were not arrested for having exercised the rights afforded to them by the Convention. They further asked that the independent ETA be registered without delay, without waiting for the establishment of the governmental agency provided for in the new Act concerning civil society organizations and without imposing on it new procedural requirements. Finally, the Worker members asked the Government to accelerate without delay a complete and independent inquiry into all cases of imprisonment and mistreatment of unionized teachers. To date, two persons were still being detained for their links to the original ETA.

The Government representative of Ethiopia, requesting a point of order, stated that although the Government was always willing to cooperate with the ILO supervisory bodies, his presence before the Committee should not be construed as a tacit acknowledgement by the Government of the status of the following speaker.

A Worker member of Ethiopia wanted to highlight the difficult experiences of teachers in Ethiopia. The harassment and intimidation imposed by the Government had been affecting mainly teachers who were talented, dignified and respected citizens.

Mr Anteneh Getnet had won an award in January 2004 for being among the most effective teachers. He was dismissed during the second semester of the same academic year on grounds of being ineffective. The real reason behind his dismissal was that he had been found dispatching publications of the independent ETA to other teachers. In 2005, he was abducted by Government security agents, heavily beaten and left unconscious in a forest. He was only narrowly able to save his life from hyenas. In 2006, upon his refusal to spy on the ETA for the security authority, he was detained. During his detention at the Addis Ababa police station, he was subjected to torture leaving him with breathing difficulties. He had scars on both arms and had lost the sense of feeling in his right hand. In October 2007, he was released on bail, but involuntarily disappeared a few days later.

The high esteem held for another key member had caused concern with Government officials who feared that her popularity as a woman teacher could also reflect positively on her professional association, the former ETA, for which she had been acting as a member of the National Educational Board. Government officials had repeatedly tried to recruit her for the ruling party and advised her to give up her activities in the independent ETA. She had persistently refused to accept either of these requests and now faced difficulties. For no reason, 36 days of her salary had been retained in 2005. Since then, she had been summoned to the police station at least once in every two weeks and had been under constant surveillance by Government security agents.

Mr Meqcha Mengitsu and Mr Ayalew Tilahun were both officers of the former ETA and prominent activists in promoting the EFAIDS programme. They were tortured during detention, causing the bleeding of Mr Mengitsu's ear and resulting in hearing problems. The torture caused Mr Tilahun's leg to be fractured. The purpose of this mistreatment was to force Mr Mengitsu and Mr Tilahun to admit that the ETA promoted a political agenda and was a sponsor of terrorist activities.

For the last 16 years, Ethiopian teachers and their association, the ETA, which was founded in 1949, had been constantly subject to harassment and interference. The assassination of Assefa Maru, Deputy-General of the ETA, in May 1997 remained one of the most deplorable experiences of the ETA. When teachers were harassed and disappointed, it was the teaching and learning process that deteriorated. When teacher colleagues were detained and dismissed from their jobs, their whole family was subject to starvation or death, which was tantamount to collective punishment. In addition to using direct force, gross violations of human and trade union rights had been committed by perverting the rule of law and the right to due process.

Following the politically motivated court ruling in June 2008, former ETA members had regrouped and formed the NTA. Despite fulfilling the requirements of the Ministry of Justice, the application had been rejected three times. The first rejection had been justified on the ground that "NTA" was too similar with the initial name "ETA". The second rejection was yet again based on the name and the fact that no letter of support from the former ETA had been provided. The refusal of the third request for registration was due to the Ministry of Education's refusal, as the employer of teachers, to write a letter of support. Petitions to all relevant institutions in Ethiopia did not lead to a solution. This refusal to register the NTA with the Ministry of Justice reflected a continued bias against the former ETA.

A law suit filed against the Ministry of Justice for rejecting the application of registration without any valid reason had been dismissed by the Federal Court of First Instance. The court held that the Ministry of Justice should not be sued, as a State Agency responsible for the registration of Charities and Civil Organizations was being formed and which had to be the addressee of such a law suit. As this agency had not yet been established, a reference to it had to be seen as a delay tactic aimed at discouraging teachers to form associations for the defence of their rights.

For the last 16 years, the Ethiopian authorities had used all possible means to deprive teachers of their right of freedom of association. Despite the intimidations and the impossibility to carry out legitimate union activities, thousands of teachers still believed in having an independent association to defend their right to social justice. Being a committed trade unionist and active member of EI, he and his colleagues wanted to be an independent voice for the teachers in Ethiopia.

The Worker member of the United Kingdom stated that the Committee of Experts had set out in detail the series of legal provisions and administrative requirements by which the Government restricted the trade union rights of public servants and other groups of employees. Despite the criticisms against the Government over many years, those restrictions were still in place, denying many workers the right to form organizations without obstruction, and preventing them from carrying on their legitimate trade union activities.

This Committee had heard today what this had meant in human terms - intimidation, harassment, mistreatment, torture and deadly penalties - for teachers in Ethiopia seeking to defend their rights. This was truly humbling for those who were free to participate in union activities without fear.

This State harassment was backed up by a web of legal and administrative requirements which had been developed, constantly placing new obstacles in the way of the teachers' association every time it changed path to try to find a way through to free and unrestricted activities. The ETA was forced by court order to give up its name, property and check off arrangements to a government-backed organization. In order to be admitted for registration, the ETA had to re-establish itself under a new name - National Teachers' Association (NTA). As a matter of administrative proclamation, the Ethiopian teachers' organization had to be officially registered with the Government authorities before permitted to operate legally. This requirement was in itself a breach of the Government's obligations under Convention No. 87. In addition, before acceptance of the registration by the Ministry of Justice, it was required that the employer accepted and agreed to the registration leading to the referral of the registration request from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Education, which was asked to provide an opinion.

Her own organization, the UK National Union of Teachers, was so concerned by the plight of teachers in Ethiopia and the inability of the NTA to be recognized by the Government, that the General Secretary of the UK National Union of Teachers had raised the matter with the UK Government. The UK Government received an assurance from the Ethiopian Prime Minister that the Ethiopian Government would, of course, recognize and register a new teachers' organization. However, despite that assurance and the report of the Committee of Experts after a direct contacts mission last year, the Government decided to increase the obstructions to freedom of association instead of removing them; since the Committee of Experts' report, the authorities had refused registration to the independent teachers association, leaving it unable to operate lawfully. Instead of meeting its obligations under Convention No. 87, the Government maintained its programme of excluding the union from its proper role in Ethiopian civil society and continued to claim that no barriers to the recognition of the NTA existed. By a series of bureaucratic and legal manoeuvres, some 120,000 Ethiopian teachers had thus been prevented from exercising their right to organize within an independent trade union. This move was also aimed to discourage all public servants from striving to form and join independent workers' organizations.

Recalling that the horrors of arrest, detention and torture as had been described by Mr Gomoraw Kassa continued, she stated that the Government was one of the governments which sought to disguise their intimidation and brutality under the pretext of combating subversion. Although the teachers had sought legal registration, gone to the courts to defend the name and legitimacy of their organization, and sought protection of Ethiopian law, and thus had fulfilled every requirement imposed, the Government now claimed that these teachers were subversive elements seeking to undermine the Government.

This was, however, not a new case for the Committee. The Committee of Experts urged the Government to conduct a full and independent inquiry, without delay, into the allegations of mistreatment and torture. The Committee of Experts urged the Government to conduct a full and independent judicial inquiry to prevent the risk of de facto impunity. No such inquiry had been conducted or planned. It was critical that the restrictions on freedom of association were removed as a matter of urgency and that the harassment and persecution of trade unionists was ended.

She believed that it was necessary to set up a time-bound programme of action to ensure that the NTA would be able to exercise its legitimate right to organize and defend its occupational interests. She had no confidence that either any progress would be made without determined and detailed requirement for action being set by this Committee, or that teacher trade unionists would be safe in exercising their rights under the ILO Conventions until this was accomplished.

Another Worker member of Ethiopia stated that the NTA was not covered by the labour law. The NTA was not registered pursuant to the normal procedures, and it was not a member of his organization, the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU). The CETU therefore did not have sufficient information regarding the NTA. The ITUC Africa had recently informed the CETU of the refusal by the authorities to register the NTA. He expressed his support for the registration of the NTA in accordance with the legal requirements and requested the Government to consider doing so. In accordance with the Committee of Experts' comments, he further requested the Government to amend the proclamation concerning the public service so as to grant civil servants freedom of association rights.

The Worker member of Botswana stated that history demonstrated that trade unions were an indispensable element of the democratization process and of development of the civil society. To undertake this responsibility, it was not enough to exist nominally; unions needed to serve as platforms on which members could exercise their human and freedom of association rights. Only through the engagement of actors such as trade unions, peace, social justice and sustainable development could be achieved.

He congratulated Education International (EI) on its efforts to recognize the NTA, and recalled that Ethiopian teachers had consistently voiced their severe problems to the Ethiopian people and the Government through publications and demonstrations in various parts of the country. Ethiopian teachers strongly believed that their age-long and burdensome problems would be given proper consideration and solutions. Furthermore, teachers' unions promoted the social status of the teaching profession and dealt with such important issues as access to and the quality of education, as well as the development of the nation. Given this important role, it was unacceptable to deny teachers their freedom of association rights. He thanked the speakers who had voiced support for the NTA and expressed his own support for the NTA observer, who, notwithstanding the Government representative's statement regarding his organization's legitimacy, possessed the right to address the Committee on this important issue. In concluding, he suggested that the Committee's conclusions be included in a special paragraph to properly reflect the seriousness of the matter at hand.

The Government representative of Ethiopia thanked the speakers for their contributions to the discussion. He stated once again that the speaker representing Educational International (EI) lacked standing to appear before the Committee, and the fact that the Government was present in the room while the speaker representing EI had the floor should not be construed as an acknowledgement, on the part of the Government, of the legitimacy of the speaker's group.

As concerns the suggestion that the Government established an independent inquiry into certain allegations linked to CFA Case No. 2516, he stated that all such allegations were fully investigated by constitutional bodies. Such inquiries were carried out either by the judicial authorities or the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, or by a mechanism approved by the legislature. Although it was unlikely that cases already resolved by the judicial authorities would be subjected to an independent inquiry, he stated that the matter would be brought to the relevant authorities for their consideration. He reiterated that the long court litigation between the former Executive Committee of the ETA and the latter's newly formed leadership had been settled by the nation's Supreme Court. He deeply regretted that, in spite of this fact, new allegations concerning Case No. 2516 continued to be introduced. These allegations were one-sided, were often of a sensational nature and they did not accurately reflect the situation. Other allegations concerned a criminal case involving 55 defendants, including several with connections to the ETA such as Meqcha Mengistu and Wibit Ligamo. The charges against those individuals were brought in accordance with the Criminal Code, for acts aimed at harming public interests by joining an illegal organization that intended to commit outrage against the Constitution and overthrow the constitutional order by force. Regarding the insinuations in the allegations, the charges had nothing to do with the defendants' membership in, or any other connection to, the ETA. As for the status of the court proceedings, the Second Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court had decided the case on 8 May 2009 - the complete English language translation of the judgement would be submitted to the Committee on Freedom of Association as soon as possible. With respect to the allegations concerning the refusal to register the NTA, he stated that the latter's registration was denied because its name was almost identical to that of the ETA; the law on the registration of associations provided, as one of the grounds for refusal to register, the similarity of the name of the group seeking registration with another association already in existence. NTA representatives had filed a civil action against the Ministry of Justice for failing to register them. However, the Federal Court of First Instance dismissed the case in a decision of 29 April 2009, reasoning that the Ministry of Justice was not the proper defendant, but rather the Charities and Societies Agency. The complete English language translation of that decision of the Court would also be submitted to the Committee on Freedom of Association. He added that the NTA representatives had also submitted this complaint to the Ombudsperson, and urged that the judicial and quasi-judicial processes in the country should be allowed to run their course before making any assessment on the merits of these issues.

With respect to Ms Elfinesh Demissie, who was allegedly fined 36 days' salary by her headmaster, he maintained that, on the contrary, she was found to have failed to observe her professional obligations by absenting herself from her post for 36 days. In respect of Mr Anteneh Getnet Ayalew, he had been charged with committing a serious crime in April 2008, but had escaped arrest. As concerned Ms Wibit Ligamo, he explained that she was released on 29 October 2007 and had been humanely treated while in detention.

With regard to the right to organize of civil servants, he stated that the Constitution guaranteed the right to organize for any lawful purpose or cause; this applied to all persons, without distinction whatsoever. Government employees were therefore able to form associations. However, the Government was not yet able to introduce a separate legal framework for such rights at this stage. Such a framework would be established after careful consideration of its consequences; the matter remained under examination. He added that the Government had not received a proper hearing, given the numerous allegations levelled against it. He recalled that Ethiopia had been a member of the ILO since 1923, was a party to several fundamental Conventions, and had endeavoured to ensure that its obligations under these, and other instruments, were fulfilled. Furthermore, the Constitution and other national laws not only guaranteed freedom of association, but collectively established a legal framework that enabled citizens to exercise those rights effectively. Ethiopia possessed a vibrant labour relations climate, and the ETA was just one of many associations that operated freely within the country. It was therefore regrettable that the Government had been made to endure the many allegations in relation to the ETA. He concluded by stating that, in spite of the challenges posed by its relations with some actors within the ILO, his Government would continue to fully collaborate with the ILO supervisory system.

The Employer members recalled the seriousness and repeated nature of these cases and the failure to resolve them. They did not understand why the investigation had not achieved any results and why it had taken so long to register the new trade union organization. A number of conversations with the Ombudsperson or Public Defender had been mentioned but these did not constitute solid arguments to justify such a delay. They urged the Government to address this particularly serious situation which violated the fundamental elements of freedom of association. The Government had to immediately meet its obligations with this fundamental Convention and demonstrate a serious level of commitment to this Committee.

The Worker members recalled that the Conference Committee had had to examine this case for the tenth time in 22 years and asked that the Government be clearly called upon to adjust their national legislation and practices to the requirements of Convention No. 87 and provide a clear road map for this. They asked the Government to prepare for the next session of the Committee of Experts a detailed report on the measures taken to ensure that teachers could freely and independently, without governmental interference and without risking becoming victims of repression, exercise their trade union rights. In particular, they asked for the registration of the NTA without delay. The establishment of this new governmental agency was not to serve as a pretext to delay this registration and the authorities could not demand the NTA to follow a new registration procedure.

In this respect, the Worker members drew the Committee's attention to Case No. 2516 filed with the Committee on Freedom of Association by the ETA, together with two international confederations of trade unions which had in the meantime merged with the newly established ITUC. In its recommendations, the CFA had asked that the ETA be registered without delay, that trade union rights be extended to include civil servants and especially teachers, that an independent inquiry on the allegations of torture and mistreatment and the prosecution of culprits be launched, that victims were awarded compensation, and that an independent and in-depth inquiry into the allegations of harassment against leaders and activists of the ETA be undertaken. Two persons were still detained and the Worker members demanded their immediate release.

The Worker members fully endorsed the Committee of Experts' comments on the 2003 Labour Proclamation directed towards the extension of the field of application of this Proclamation to currently excluded categories, the removal of public transport from the list of essential services, the modification of the rules governing the possibility of recourse to arbitration, the easing of the conditions to be met to start a strike, the modifications of provisions limiting the right to freely organize trade union activities and the protection of trade union rights of judges, prosecutors and employees of public administration. The Government was asked to submit for the next session of the Committee of Experts a report on the measures taken regarding all these items.

Conclusions

The Committee took note of the information provided by the Government representative and the discussion that followed. It further noted the direct contacts mission that had visited the country in October 2008.

The Committee observed that for many years the Committee of Experts had been making comments concerning serious violations of the right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish organizations of their own choosing and the right of trade union organizations to organize their activities without interference by the public authorities. The Committee of Experts had expressed its deep regret that the registration of the National Teachers' Association (NTA), a newly formed teachers' organization, was still pending, as was the revision of the Civil Servant and Labour Proclamations.

The Committee took note of the statement made by the Government representative in which it expressed its disappointment that the Committee had not allowed it sufficient time to continue its dialogue and consideration of the recommendations of the direct contacts mission. He recalled the background to the case concerning the Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA), which had concluded with the final decision rendered by the Federal Supreme Court. The Government representative had added that workers in Ethiopia could form their associations based on applicable national laws and that the Government had not and did not interfere in the internal activities of the ETA. The Federal First Instance Court had dismissed the case brought by the NTA against the decision to deny it registration because the case had been brought against the wrong agency. The Government representative had stated that his Government would continue its active consideration of the review of the Civil Servant Proclamation and had indicated that it would provide detailed information relating to the various allegations to the Committee on Freedom of Association.

Recalling that the matters raised in this case concerned repeated and grave violations of the Convention, the Committee urged the Government to take all necessary measures to ensure the registration of the National Teachers' Association without delay so that teachers were able to fully exercise their right to form organizations for furthering and defending their occupational interests. The Committee further expressed its deep concern at the important and continuing allegations of grave violations of basic civil liberties for which detailed information had yet to be forthcoming from the Government. The Committee strongly urged the Government to guarantee that these workers could exercise their trade union rights in full security and expected that it would carry out full and independent investigations without delay and provide a detailed report to the supervisory bodies on the outcome. Observing with concern the allegations relating to the continued detention of Wubit Legamo and Megcha Mengitsu, the Committee urged the Government to ensure the immediate release of any workers or teachers being detained for their trade union activity.

Further recalling with concern that for several years the Government had been referring to a legislative review process, the Committee urged it to rapidly adopt the necessary amendments to the Labour Proclamation in order to bring it fully into line with the provisions of the Convention. It further strongly urged the Government to amend without delay the Civil Servant Proclamation so as to guarantee the right of civil servants, including teachers, to form unions and the free functioning of their organizations, including the right to affiliate at the national, regional and international levels.

The Committee expected that the Government would furnish in its report due this year detailed information on the concrete measures adopted to ensure the full conformity of national law and practice with the Convention, including an indication of the registration of the NTA and a clear timetable on the steps to be taken so as to demonstrate the Government's full commitment to resolving these long-standing matters without delay.