Interim Report - Report No 81, 1965

Case No 421 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - Complaint date: 23-NOV-64 - Closed

1. 194. The complaint of the Arab Federation of Petroleum Workers (Cairo), of which the Aden Petroleum Trade Union mentioned therein is an affiliate, was addressed directly to the I.L.O on 23 November 1964. The Government of the United Kingdom furnished its observations on the complaint by a communication dated 25 January 1965.
2. 195. The United Kingdom has ratified the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), 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), and has declared them to be applicable without modification to Aden.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 196. The complainants allege that the following executive members of the Aden Petroleum Trade Union have been arrested by the authorities in Aden without valid reason: Messrs. Farouk Mekkawi, Ahmed Ali Hiethem and Mohamed El Aboudi, arrested on 27 August 1964; Messrs. Ahmed Abdel Malek, Taha Ali Mohamed Saad, Naser Omar, Ali Ahmed Hammami and Ahmed Hiedra on 14 October 1964; Mr. Taha Ghanem on 15 October 1964.
2. 197. In its communication dated 25 January 1965 the Government of the United Kingdom states that no person of the name of Ahmed Abdel Malek has been traced as having been arrested on 14 October 1964. Taha Ahmed Ghanem was arrested on 14 October, and not on 15 October, as alleged. He and the other persons mentioned were detained under the Emergency Decree, since their presence at large at the particular time was considered to be prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and security. The Government emphasises that their arrest and detention did not arise from the fact that they were trade unionists.
3. 198. The persons concerned, says the Government, were detained on identification or suspicion that they were members of the so-called National Liberation Front or other similar subversive and terrorist organisations and on suspicion of complicity in subversive activities on behalf of these organisations.
4. 199. The Government declares that the National Liberation Front, over Cairo and Sana (Yemen) radio stations, claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist outrages in Aden in recent months, including the bomb explosion which killed a 16-year old girl on 24 December and the murder of an Arab chief inspector of police.
5. 200. Mohamed El Aboudi, arrested on 27 August on suspicion of being a member of the National Liberation Front, was released after interrogation. Taha Ali Mohamed Saad, arrested on identification as a member of that body, was released on 2 November 1964 on completion of interrogation.
6. 201. It is common ground in this case that, with the exception of one person whose name the Government cannot trace, eight trade unionists were detained, some in August 1964 and some in October 1964. According to the Government they were detained on suspicion of or because they were identified as being implicated in, subversive activities of a terrorist nature. After interrogation, it would appear, two of them were released.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 202. In numerous cases in the past in which trade union officers or members were preventively detained, the Committee has pointed out that in all such cases such measures may involve a grave interference with the exercise of trade union rights which it would seem necessary to justify by the existence of a serious emergency and which would be open to criticism unless accompanied by adequate judicial safeguards applied within a reasonable period, and that it should be the policy of every government to take care to ensure the observance of human rights and especially of the right of all detained persons to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 203. In these circumstances the Committee, while appreciating the troubled nature of the situation in Aden in recent years, recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to draw the attention of the Government to the importance which it attaches to the observance of the right of all detained persons to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment;
   • (b) to request the Government to be good enough to indicate whether any of the persons indicated are still in detention and, if so, whether legal proceedings have been brought against them or when it is anticipated that such proceedings will be instituted;
   • (c) to take note of the present interim report, it being understood that the Committee will report further when the information referred to in subparagraph (b) above has been received.