Interim Report - Report No 127, 1972

Case No 591 (Senegal) - Complaint date: 09-JUL-69 - Closed

1. 158. The Committee submitted its first report on this case in paragraphs 7 to 25 of its 117th Report, adopted by the Governing Body at its 180th Session (May 1970).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 159. At its session in November 1970, the Committee took note of a communication dated 17 June 1970 from the National Workers' Union of Senegal (UNTS), signed by the person who had signed the original complaint. This communication was couched in the following terms:
   • We have the honour to append hereto the joint communiqué that I have just signed on behalf of our Organisation (UNTS), announcing that agreement has been reached between the various national trade union Confederations of Senegal on the steps to be taken to resolve the present crisis in the trade union movement.
   • We accordingly request you to be good enough to defer examination of and further action upon the complaint presented by our trade union Confederation against the Government of Senegal, cited as Case No. 591.
   • With our grateful thanks, I have the honour to be, Sir, etc.
2. 160. The communiqué mentioned in the above communication read as follows:
   • On the initiative of the Secretary of the Senegalese Progressive Union-responsible for liaison between the trade union Confederations-a meeting of the leaders of the three national trade union Confederations was held in Dakar on 12 June 1970.
   • At this meeting they examined the situation of the Senegalese trade union movement, characterised firstly by the dispersion of its leaders and rank-and-file members among the different trade union Confederations, and secondly by the fact that the Party has decided to assist in the fostering of a dedicated Senegalese trade union movement, capable of playing a major role in the economic and social development of the nation.
   • After deploring this dispersion, which is, above all, detrimental to the interests of the workers and of the nation, they agreed to set up an ad hoc Committee with the task of creating within the shortest possible time conditions propitious to the bringing together of all trade unionists and union leaders, united in favour of one national democratic and socialist ideology, within a single trade union Confederation.
   • This communiqué, dated 12 June 1970, was signed by Messrs. Alioune Cissé (who had signed the original complaint), David Soumah, Babacar Thiam, Bassirou Gueye, Doudou N'Gom and Adame N'Diaye.
3. 161. Consequently, there being no reason to believe that the complaint had not been withdrawn in full independence, the Committee, at its November 1970 Session, recommended the Governing Body to decide that it would serve no useful purpose to pursue the matter further (see 120th Report, paragraphs 50 to 54). This recommendation was approved by the Governing Body at its 181st Session (November 1970).
4. 162. Since then, in a communication dated 31 December 1970, Mr. Abdoulaye Thiaw, signing as the General Secretary of the UNTS, has asserted that Mr. Alioune Cissé was no longer General Secretary of the UNTS at the time the complaint was withdrawn and was accordingly not empowered to take such action. Mr. Thiaw declares that the grievances set forth in the original complaint are still valid and asks that the case be reopened.
5. 163. Moreover, by a telegram dated 22 January 1971, the World Federation of Trade Unions has made fresh allegations according to which the premises of the UNTS have been occupied by the security forces, and a number of leaders of that organisation, including Mr. Thiaw, who signed the request for the reopening of the case, have been arrested.
6. 164. In these circumstances, since new facts have come to light, and since a fresh complaint-receivable and containing allegations from which it seems that the matter is urgent-has been submitted, the case has been deemed to be reopened and the Office has transmitted to the Government for its observations both the request for the reopening of the case made by the UNTS, in which the original allegations are maintained, and the fresh allegations made by the World Federation of Trade Unions. Three further communications (one dated 10 February 1971 from the World Federation of Trade Unions and one undated and another dated 23 January 1971 from the UNTS) containing further information relevant to the case have also been transmitted to the Government for its observations.
7. 165. Finally, by two communications dated 5 May and 11 June 1971, the International Federation of Teachers' Unions has submitted allegations of infringements of trade union rights in Senegal. The text of these communications has been forwarded to the Government for its observations.
8. 166. The Government has replied by three communications dated 20 April, 28 April and 2 August 1971.
9. 167. Senegal has ratified both 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).
10. 168. In his communication of 31 December 1970, Mr. Abdoulaye Thiaw-signing, as already stated, as General Secretary of the UNTS-declares that when Mr. Alioune Cissé withdrew the complaint lodged by the UNTS he was no longer General Secretary of that organisation and was accordingly not empowered to take such action.
11. 169. On behalf of the UNTS, Mr. Thiaw goes on to state that his organisation stands by all the grievances set forth in the original complaint, which concern:
    • (a) the expulsion of the UNTS from all the labour exchanges and the handing over of these to the National Workers' Confederation of Senegal (CNTS), " a trade union federation set up by the Government and its party during the state of emergency ";
    • (b) the confiscation of the property of the UNTS for the benefit of the CNTS;
    • (c) the prohibition of UNTS meetings;
    • (d) the suspension of the elections of staff representatives by Ministry of Labour Circulars Nos. 3050 and 3052 dated 4 July 1969;
    • (e) the pressure put on the national press to prevent it from publishing UNTS announcements or documents;
    • (f) the handing over of the national broadcasting system to the CNTS, and the prohibition against the broadcasting of press releases-even if paid for-of the UNTS or of the unions affiliated to it;
    • (g) the refusal to admit delegates of UNTS federations to membership of tripartite Committees and joint technical administrative Committees (National Labour and Social Security Council, Central Council for the Civil Service, Economic and Social Council, Low Cost Housing Board, etc.).
12. 170. To these grievances, set forth in the first complaint, Mr. Thiaw's communication of 31 December 1970 adds the following:
    • (a) the expulsion of the complainant organisation by the armed forces from its premises at 24 Rue Armand Angrand, " with the complicity of Alioune Cissé, even though under the regulations in force and under the terms of our lease we should have had six months' notice ";
    • (b) the pressure brought to bear upon estate agents and upon individuals so as to prevent the complainant organisation from obtaining premises;
    • (c) the pressure brought to bear by the Principal Private Secretary to the President of the Republic upon the owner (a citizen of Mauritania) of the premises occupied by the complainant organisation at 48 Rue Vincens and the threats made to expel him from Senegal if he did not evict this organisation;
    • (d) the pressure brought to bear upon the judiciary, through the intermediary of the Government Attorney-General, in order to prevent bank workers " unlawfully dismissed for striking, from receiving what they are entitled to ";
    • (e) the prohibition against celebrating 1 May 1970;
    • (f) the daily interference with the exercise of trade union rights, for instance by prohibiting the election of representatives and banning meetings at workplaces;
    • (g) the "arbitrary" arrest on 27 December 1970 of Mr. Assane Diagne, a member of the National Bureau of the complainant organisation.
13. 171. In a communication dated 23 January 1971 and signed by Mr. Magatte Thiam, in his capacity as Deputy General Secretary of the UNTS, it is alleged that Mr. Babacar Sane, Administrative Secretary of the Cape Verde Regional Federation of UNTS Unions, has now been arrested. According to this communication, Messrs. Assane Diagne (see paragraph 170 (g)) and Babacar Sane, " arrested on the pretext that they were to be interrogated about the events which took place in Dakar on 16 January 1971 ", have been charged with breaches of the internal security of the State in connection with publications and are to appear shortly before the Special Tribunal, " which is an emergency court ". The communication of 23 January 1971 also refers to the occupation of the trade union premises by the Government from 20 January 1971.
14. 172. The World Federation of Trade Unions takes up the allegations mentioned in paragraph 171 above. It further alleges that the following persons have been arrested and deported to a military camp at Lingue, in the interior of the country: Messrs. Abdoulaye Thiaw, General Secretary of the UNTS; Magatte Thiam, Deputy General Secretary of the UNTS; Bakhoa Seek, Assistant Education and Press Secretary of the UNTS; Dembal Sall, Secretary for Youth and Cultural Affairs of the UNTS; Moustapha Kasse, a member of the UNTS Teachers' Union; Ahmate Ba, a member of the UNTS Union of Health Workers; Babacar Saneand M'Baba Guisse, members of the UNTS Teachers' Union, and Iba Der Thiam, Organisational Secretary of the UNTS. To this list of names the International Federation of Teachers' Unions adds the names of Ousmane Diallo, National Secretary for the private sectors of the National Union, UNTS, and Ousmane Top, Deputy Secretary for Youth of the regional office of the UNTS.
15. 173. The WFTU claims that the arrests in question were carried out following acts " committed by uncontrollable elements outside the trade union movement (the burning of certain buildings in Dakar, including the Centre culturel français). There was no proof as to the guilt of the trade union militants and leaders who were thus harassed, the Government being satisfied with mere suspicion, which, moreover, was totally unjustified since trade union struggles can in no way be compared to such methods." The WFTU adds that all the persons concerned " will be brought before a court on the Government's decision, on charges that we do not yet know ".
16. 174. In its observations of 20 April 1971, the Government maintains that Mr. Alioune Cissé was empowered to withdraw the complaint, which had moreover been lodged by him on behalf of the UNTS on 21 August 1969, in view of the fact that the national Confederations, in a joint communiqué dated 12 June 1970, have accepted the principle of a regrouping of all the workers. " It is therefore no longer possible ", continues the Government, " to recognise the former UNTS as being in any way representative since it freely agreed to merge with the other trade union Confederations and to join the National Workers' Confederation of Senegal ". Moreover, the Government communicated on 2 August 1971 the text of a judgement given by the court of first instance of Dakar in respect of the dispute between " the leaders of the ex-UNTS and the CNTS ", from which it appears that the UNTS has ceased to exist legally since 30 August 1969, when, the Government states, " practically the entire membership of this Organisation, during an extraordinary congress, decided to dissolve it ".
17. 175. The Government, in its observations of 20 April 1971, continues with the assurance that " the allegations of violation of freedom of association contained in the letter of 23 January 1971, signed by the Deputy General Secretary of the former UNTS, are invalid and unfounded. It acknowledges that the trade unionists who were arrested were charged with offences, committed at Dakar on 16 January 1971, consisting in endangering national security through publications, a crime punishable under the Penal Code of Senegal. The arrests were therefore not arbitrary, nor were they carried out for reasons having any connection with the exercise of freedom of association. The Government adds that " the organ of the former UNTS, L'ouvrier sénégalais, which is no more than a collection of slanderous attacks ... has never been seized by the authorities ".
18. 176. In concluding its observations, the Government stresses " that freedom of association, to which it is firmly attached, does not mean anarchy and disorder, and that the exercise of freedom of association, as its very name indicates, is possible only within the framework of the Constitution of Senegal and of laws and regulations, in accordance with the established principles of all democratic countries ".
19. 177. In its communication of 28 April 1971, the Government states, in reply to the allegations concerning arrests made by the WFTU, and also in reply to those made by the UNTS, that the arrested trade unionists have been charged with endangering the internal security of the State through publications, an offence provided for and punishable under the Penal Code of Senegal, and that " it is not at all a question of mere suspicion, as claimed by the WFTU-an organisation to which the Government of Senegal is not and does not intend to be answerable for its actions in any way, and whose interference in the present case it finds intolerable ".
20. 178. The Government adds that, so far as it is concerned, the case is settled, and it requests the Committee on Freedom of Association to consider the matter closed.
21. 179. It appears clear from the evidence at the Committee's disposal that, since the original complaint was lodged, there has been a split in the UNTS-one splinter group, represented by Mr. Alioune Cissé, having joined forces with the CNTS, while the other, led by Mr. Abdoulaye Thiaw, appears to have preferred to pursue its activities independently of the CNTS. This has caused a certain amount of confusion, since both groups claim entitlement to use the same set of initials-" UNTS ".
22. 180. When the Government states (see paragraph 174) that it is impossible to recognise " the former UNTS as being in any way representative ", since it has merged with the other trade union Confederations to form the CNTS, it would definitely appear to be referring to the splinter group of the UNTS led by Mr. Alioune Cissé, which, in its view, represents the only true UNTS.
23. 181. Nevertheless, the other splinter group, of which Mr. Abdoulaye Thiaw declares himself to be General Secretary, does at least have a de facto existence, as is borne out, in particular, by the fact that it publishes a journal which is mentioned by the Government itself (see paragraph 175) and, according to the information at the disposal of the Committee, by the existence of organisations affiliated to it.
24. 182. Even if its name is called in question, this splinter group of the UNTS does, therefore, exist in fact as an organisation and is, therefore, entitled to submit complaints to the Committee on Freedom of Association concerning discriminatory measures said to have been taken against it by the authorities. It should be pointed out, moreover, that the Government does go into the substance of some of the matters raised in the allegations.
25. 183. Even though there might appear to be some doubt as to the receivability of the allegations made by Mr. Thiaw$ splinter group of the UNTS, there is none as to the receivability of the complaint from the WFTU, which enjoys consultative status with the ILO. Nor is there any doubt as to the receivability of the complaint of the International Federation of Teachers' Unions to which the UNTS Teachers' Union is affiliated.
26. 184. Accordingly, the only allegations upon which the Government has commented are those referring to arrests, some of which were made in the communication of 23 January 1971, analysed in paragraph 171, and the others in the communications from the WFTU analysed in paragraph 172.
27. 185. As stated above, it has been alleged that two senior officials of the UNTS, Messrs. Assane Diagne and Babacar Sane, have been arrested and are shortly to be brought before the Special Tribunal on a charge of endangering the internal security of the State through publications. It has also been alleged that other trade unionists-members or officials of the UNTS-whose names are given in paragraph 172 above, have been arrested; they include Mr. Thiaw and Mr. Thiam, respectively signatories of the request for the reopening of the case and of the letter of 23 January 1971 supplying additional information.
28. 186. In its observations the Government states that the arrested trade unionists have been charged with offences committed at Dakar on 16 January 1971, consisting in endangering national security through publications, and declares that these arrests were not arbitrary, and were carried out for reasons which had no connection with the exercise of freedom of association.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 187. The Committee wishes to recall the importance it has always attached to the principle that in all cases in which trade unionists have been detained, including those where they are accused of political or common law offences which the Government considers to be unconnected with their trade union duties or activities, the persons concerned should receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment by an impartial and independent judicial authority) Where the information received by the Committee has made it clear that the persons concerned were tried by the competent judicial authorities with all the safeguards of normal judicial procedure, and sentenced for offences unconnected with their trade union activities or outside the scope of normal trade union activities, the Committee has considered that the cases in question did not call for further examination. Nevertheless, the Committee has insisted that the question whether the matter in respect of which sentences have been imposed is to be regarded as a matter relating to a criminal offence or as a matter relating to the exercise of trade union rights is not one which can be determined unilaterally by the government concerned, but that it is incumbent upon the Committee to decide this in the light of all the information, and in particular in the light of the text of the judgement.
2. 188. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to request the Government to be good enough to indicate whether all the trade unionists to whom reference is made in paragraphs 171 and 172 above have been brought to trial and, if so, to specify the nature of the court which heard the case and to forward the text of the judgement pronounced together with the grounds adduced therefor.
3. 189. With regard to the many other allegations involved in this case, the Committee notes with regret that the Government has made no mention whatsoever of them in its replies, but merely affirms its attachment to the principle of freedom of association.
4. 190. The allegations in question fall into two categories: on the one hand, those appearing in the original complaint, as set out in paragraph 169; and, on the other hand, those appearing in the communication dated 31 December 1970 from the UNTS and in the later communications from this organisation, as well as from the World Federation of Trade Unions and the International Federation of Teachers' Trade Unions (paras. 170-173).
5. 191. As regards the first category of allegations, the Committee notes that the Government has only supplied information of a general nature in reply to the specific allegations which were formulated, thus making it impossible for the Committee to clear up this difficult matter or, according to the information supplied by the complainants, to ascertain whether the principles of freedom of association were in question.
6. 192. The Committee notes, however, that the said allegations relate to facts which happened before the split in the ex-UNTS and that, since then, following a congress, the UNTS was voluntarily dissolved and thereafter, as evidenced by a court decision, ceased, as such, to exist.
7. 193. The Committee considers that it is not called upon to examine allegations concerning a situation which no longer exists, and which are taken up by an organisation which, although having the same title, is no longer the same as that to which the facts alleged relate.
8. 194. The situation, however, is different as regards the allegations in the second category, mentioned in paragraph 190, since these allegations relate to events which happened after the dissolution of the ex-UNTS.
9. 195. The majority of these allegations raise issues which call directly in question the principles of freedom of association and the standards that Senegal has undertaken to observe in ratifying International Labour Conventions Nos. 87 and 98.
10. 196. In this connection the Committee deems it fitting to recall the opinion it expressed in its very first report: " The purpose of the whole procedure is to promote respect for trade union rights in law and in fact, and the Committee is confident that, if it protects governments against unreasonable accusations, governments on their side will recognise the importance, for the protection of their own good name, of formulating for objective examination detailed factual replies to such detailed factual charges as may be put forward." z

197. The Committee accordingly recommends the Governing Body to urge the Government to be good enough to forward, without delay, its observations on each of the specific allegations made by the complainants, as set forth in paragraph 170 (a) to (f) above.