Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 307, June 1997

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 17. The Committee examined this case at its November 1995 meeting (see 300th Report, paras. 350 to 370). It had requested the Government to provide information on the condition of trade union members arrested during a labour dispute in the civil service in March 1995; to carry out an independent and impartial inquiry concerning the ill-treatment and torture allegedly meted out to a number of trade unionists who were duly named; to allow trade unionists dismissed on account of their trade union activities to be reinstated in their posts and to refrain from hampering the formation of trade union organizations.
2. 18. In a communication dated 5 March 1997, the Government denies the arbitrary nature of the trade unionists' arrests. It points out that the arrests made on 24 March 1995 were preventive measures designed to guarantee public law and order. The Government explains that on 10 March 1995, a group of state officials had undermined public safety by carrying out violent demonstrations and that the authorities had taken preventive measures to safeguard the peace and held a number of demonstrators in custody. The competent judicial authorities, to which the matter had been referred, had supervised the conditions under which those concerned were held in custody. Nevertheless, the Government had intervened to request that custody be ended and that the trade unionists be immediately released. Concerning the trade unionists dismissed on account of their trade union activities, the Government states that it will order an inquiry to examine the facts and restore social justice. Furthermore, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare maintains that it has never refused the registration of a trade union whose scope is covered by the provisions of section 1 of the Labour Code.
3. 19. The Committee takes note of this information. Recalling that no person should be subjected to anti-union discrimination on account of his or her legitimate trade union activities, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the measures actually taken to guarantee the reinstatement of the trade unionists suspended or dismissed for having taken part in a strike. Furthermore, the Committee once again urges the Government to order immediately an independent and impartial inquiry concerning the ill-treatment allegedly meted out to a number of trade unionists in prison, especially with respect to the lashes of the whip given to Mr. Edouard Ngandu Mupidwa, a member of the Democratic Labour Confederation (CDT), at Ligwala in March 1995, and the alleged torture of Mrs. Muadi Kazongo, Mr. Odeon Mbaku and Mr. Mananua. It requests it to communicate the findings of the inquiry and the measures taken, including compensation for damages suffered in the event of the allegations of ill-treatment against
   • these trade unionists being acknowledged.