Interim Report - Report No 108, 1969

Case No 536 (Gabon) - Complaint date: 19-SEP-67 - Closed

1. 288. This case was examined by the Committee at its 48th Session, in February 1968, when it submitted an interim report, contained in paragraphs 287 to 295 of its 103rd Report, as approved by the Governing Body at its 171st Session (February-March 1968).

Allegations concerning the Arrest of the General Secretary of the African Confederation of Gabonese Believing Workers by the Police and Search Operations Carried Out by the Police

1. 289. The complainants alleged that Mr. Walker Anguilet, General Secretary of the African Confederation of Gabonese Believing Workers, was arrested on 13 September 1967 on grounds of which they confessed ignorance but which they suspected to be directly connected with his trade union activities.
2. 290. At its session in February 1968 the Committee noted the Government's statement in its observations that Mr. Anguilet's arrest was due not to his trade union activities but exclusively to activities harmful to national security.
3. 291. In accordance with its regular practice the Committee therefore recommended the Governing Body in paragraph 295 of its 103rd Report:
4. ......................................................................................................................................................
5. (a) to request the Government to be good enough to supply information concerning the exact grounds for the arrest of Mr. Walker Anguilet, General Secretary of the African Confederation of Gabonese Believing Workers, and, in particular, the specific acts which in the Government's view justify the action taken against him;
6. (b) to request the Government to be good enough to state whether Mr. Anguilet has been or is to be brought before a court and, if so, to supply the text of the judgment as and when given and the grounds adduced therein.
7. ......................................................................................................................................................
8. 292. Having noted the complainants' allegation that the police searched both the union headquarters and Mr. Anguilet's private home at the time of his arrest and took away union documents from both of those places, the Committee recommended the Governing Body to request the Government to submit its observations on this particular aspect of the case.
9. 293. Having been requested by letter of 4 March 1968 to supply the additional information mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs, the Government replied by means of a communication dated June 1968.
10. 294. In this communication the Government states, with regard to the subsidiary aspect of the case referred to in paragraph 292 above, that the allegation regarding a search carried out in the union headquarters and the removal of trade union documents is wholly unfounded. The Government states that a search was carried out only in the office where Mr. Anguilet performed his occupational activity, namely the Secretariat of the Chamber of Commerce of Libreville.
11. 295. Concerning the arrest of Mr. Anguilet the Government states that the charges brought against him come under section 73 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Gabon in respect of " participation in a revolutionary movement ". The Government further states that Mr. Anguilet had caused a tract constituting an incitement to revolution to be stencilled and had admitted having done so. The Government goes on to state that Mr. Anguilet's case is being investigated and that he will probably appear before the National Security Court this year.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 296. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to express the hope that judgment in the case concerning Mr. Anguilet will be passed as early as possible;
   • (b) to request the Government to supply the text of the National Security Court's verdict in the case concerning Mr. Anguilet once the Court has passed judgment, as well as the text of the grounds adduced, and to adjourn its examination of the case pending receipt of those texts;
   • (c) to take note of the present interim report, on the understanding that the Committee will report further when it is in possession of the additional information referred to in subparagraph (b) above.