Interim Report - Report No 144, 1974

Case No 784 (Greece) - Complaint date: 25-MAR-74 - Closed

1. 146. The complaint of the World Federation of Trade Unions is contained in a communication dated 25 March 1974 addressed to the Director-General of the ILO. It was forwarded to the Government for its observations and these were received in a letter dated 30 April 1974.
2. 147. Greece 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).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 148. In its communication of 25 March 1974, the WFTU states that it is submitting this complaint at the request of the General Secretary of the Unitary Greek Trade Union Movement against Dictatorship (ESAK).
2. 149. The complainant alleges that on 19 February 1974 a large number of persons was arrested, imprisoned, tortured and maltreated by the Greek Military Security Police. Among these were two persons long associated with the Seafarers' Union, Antonis Ambatielos and Nikolas Kaloudis.
3. 150. The complainant alleges that the treasurer of ESAK, Mr. Antonis Asmanis, arrested immediately after his arrival in Greece from the German Federal Republic in October 1973, is being held in a concentration camp on the island of Yaros, along with two other persons, Georgios Stergiou and Yannis Plapoutas, and that the trade unionist Yannis Lipas, former President of the Federation of Metallurgical workers, is also imprisoned.
4. 151. In its letter of 30 April 1974 the Government states that Mr. Antonis Ambatielos, who had no occupation and is a member of the political wing of the Greek Communist Party, was arrested for having entered Greece with false papers and under an assumed name on the order of the Greek Communist Party for the purpose of establishing a clandestine organisation. The Government says that he is not a trade unionist and was not arrested for trade union activities.
5. 152. The Government states further that Mr. Nikolas Kaloudis, also without occupation and a member of the political wing of the Greek Communist Party, had collaborated with Mr. Ambatielos in the establishment of a clandestine organisation and that he is not a trade unionist and was not arrested for trade union activities.
6. 153. The Government adds that the crimes for which these men have been arrested are defined in particular in Act No. 509 of 1947 and are punished by all properly governed States.
7. 154. As regards the other persons named in the complaint, the Government promises to provide information as soon as it is received from the appropriate government services.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 155. The Committee recalls that it should be the policy of every government to ensure observance of the rights of man and, especially, the right of all detained or accused persons to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment in all cases, including cases in which trade unionists are charged with political or criminal offences.
2. 156. Further, the Committee wishes to point out that in cases where the governments' replies are simply to the effect that the arrests have been made for subversive activities, for reasons of internal security or for crimes under ordinary law, the Committee has always followed the rule that the governments concerned should be requested to submit further information as precise as possible concerning the arrests, particularly in connection with the legal or judicial proceedings instituted as a result thereof and the result of such proceedings, in order to be able to make a proper examination of the allegation.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 157. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to call the attention of the Government to the principles expressed in paragraphs 155 and 156 above;
   • (b) to request the Government to provide information as to the present situation of Messrs. Ambatielos and Kaloudis, and state whether any judicial proceedings have been instituted against them and, if so, the results of these proceedings; and
   • (c) to take note of the present interim report, on the understanding that the Committee will submit a further report once the information promised by the Government concerning the other persons mentioned in the complaint and the information requested in the cases of Messrs. Ambatielos and Kaloudis have been received.
     • Geneva, 29 May 1974 (Signed) Roberto AGO, Chairman.