Definitive Report - Report No 241, November 1985

Case No 1306 (Mauritania) - Complaint date: 20-SEP-84 - Closed

1. 275. The Committe has already examined this case at its meeting in February 1985 when it submitted an interim report which was approved by the Governing Body. (See 238th Report, paras. 298-311, February-March 1985.) Since then, the Government has sent the ILO 1985 a certain amount of information on the case in two telegrams, dated 28 April and 13 May. At its May 1985 meeting, the Committee adjourned its examination of the case and requested the Government to supply additional details.
2. 276. Mauritania 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. Previous examination of the case

1. 277. The International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) submitted allegations concerning the arrest of officials and trade union activists of one of its affiliates, the Union of Mauritanian Workers (UTM), including that of the organisation's General Secretary El Kory Ould Hmeity, and the death as a result of ill-treatment and torture of Sidi Mohamed Ben Aiat, who held the post of director of the commercial department of the Fuel Company.
2. 278. The Government replied that the trade unionists cited in the complaint were accused of undermining the security of the State by having acted in collusion with a foreign diplomatic mission but failed to specify the precise acts with which they were charged. The Government did not reply to the allegation concerning the death of Sidi Mohamed Ben Aiat as a result of ill-treatment.
3. 279. In these circumstances, the Committee requested the Government at its February 1985 meeting to submit detailed information on the specific facts which led to the arrest of the UTM officials and to state if legal proceedings were being taken against them. It also requested the Government to reply to the allegations concerning the death of a union official as a result of ill-treatment.
4. 280. In a later communication dated 20 February 1985, the General Secretary of the UTM, El Kory Ould Hmeity, thanked the ILO on behalf of the Mauritanian trade unionists for its defence of members of trade unions subjected to ill-treatment of every kind.
5. 281. In telegrams sent on 28 April and 13 May 1985, the Government stated that all the imprisoned trade unionists had been released under a political amnesty granted on 2 December 1984 and that Sidi Mohamed Ben Aiat had died from an illness.
6. 282. At its May 1985 meeting, the Committee decided to postpone its examination of the case as the Government's observations had reached it very late. However, in view of the seriousness of the allegation concerning the death under torture of a trade union official, it urged the Government to supply additional details on the circumstances surrounding the death of Sidi Mohamed Ben Aiat and to indicate whether an independent inquiry into the matter had taken place. In accordance with normal procedure, the Office transmitted the Committee's request to the Government.
7. 283. In a communication dated 13 June 1985 the Office informed the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions that consideration of the case had been postponed and notified it that the Government claimed in a telegram sent on 13 May 1985 that Sidi Mohamed Ben Aiat had died from an illness. The Office therefore asked the complainant for further details in this regard. There has since been no reply from the complainant.
8. 284. On 22 August 1985 the Office sent a telegram to the Government of Mauritania requesting it again to comment on the case, but no reply has yet been received.

B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 285. The Committee notes that the officials of the Union of Mauritanian Workers arrested in March 1984 were released in December 1984 after being held in custody for eight months without having been tried by an independent and impartial court.
2. 286. The Committee notes from the complainant's allegations that 17 trade union activists and officials suffered from anti-union repression and that one of them died under torture.
3. 287. The complainant has not indicated the grounds for the arrest of the trade unionists. The Government, for its part, states that they were imprisoned on a charge of undermining the security of the State but has not specified the precise acts which they were said to have committed.
4. 288. The complainant has not commented on the Government's claim that Sidi Mohamed Ben Aiat died from an illness even though the Office has specifically invited it to do so.
5. 289. Regarding the large number of trade union activists and officials held in custody without any charges being brought against them, the Committee notes with interest that they have now been released. It nevertheless condemns the imprisonment of union officials for eight months in violation of the fundamental right of trade unionists, like any other person, not to be held in custody unless convicted by an independent and impartial court.
6. 290. Regarding the alleged death of a trade union official under torture, the Committee can only note the Government's reply to the effect that the person concerned died from an illness and the complainant's silence on the matter even though it was invited to comment. The Committee finds itself confronted by two contradictory statements neither of which is supported by evidence. In view of the lack of detail regarding the complainant's allegations and of the clear statement made by the Government, and since the complainant organisation has not taken advantage of its right to submit further information in support of its complaint, the Committee considers that the complainant has not substantiated its allegations. This aspect of the case does not therefore require further examination.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 291. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to approve this report and, in particular, the following conclusions:
   • (a) The Committee notes that the trade union officials and activists who had been arrested have now been released. It nevertheless condemns the holding of union officials in custody for eight months without their having been convicted by an independent and impartial court.
   • (b) In view of the contradictory versions concerning the circumstances of the death of a trade union official submitted by the complainant and by the Government, the Committee considers that this aspect of the case does not, therefore, require further examination.