Definitive Report - Report No 12, 1954

A. Analysis of the Complaint

1. 247. The complaint-which was transmitted to the I.L.O by the Secretary-General of the United Nations-contains the following allegations:
   • (a) Following the events of 17 August 1953 the Government of Iran committed flagrant violations of trade union rights and of the most elementary human rights, as recognised by the Charter of the United Nations and by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and particularly by articles 9, 19 and 20 of that Declaration.
   • (b) More than 4,000 patriots, including hundreds of workers, trade union militants, political figures, professors, students, etc., were arrested, deported and tortured in concentration camps without any sort of trial; a large proportion of these deported persons are imprisoned in camps on the Island of Khark in the Persian Gulf, which is one of the unhealthiest regions in the world, and others are incarcerated in prisons and barracks.
   • (c) Strikes are considered as " acts of rebellion " and forbidden under penalty of death.
   • (d) The offices of trade unions, factories and industrial centres and the offices of all democratic organisations are occupied by the armed forces.
   • (e) The trade union and democratic press is suppressed.
   • (f) All meetings and demonstrations are forbidden under the severest penalties.
   • (g) By this brutal and bloody terror the Government of Iran hopes to break the opposition of the Iranian people to the interference of the American and British Governments in the internal affairs of Iran and to impede it in its fight against the oil trusts of those countries which are attempting once again to seize Iran's natural resources.
2. 248. The complainant requests that the United Nations should intervene so as to obtain the liberation of all imprisoned persons, the ending of the persecution of patriots, the abolition of the emergency tribunals set up contrary to the laws in force in Iran, the lifting of martial law, the free exercise of trade union and democratic rights and the cessation of foreign interference in the internal affairs of Iran.
3. 249. In accordance with paragraph 23 (a) and (b) of the Ninth Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association, which the Governing Body approved as amended at its 123rd Session (November 1953), the text of the complaint was communicated to the Government of Iran for observations and the World Federation of Trade Unions was informed that any supplementary information which it might wish to furnish in substantiation of its complaint should be communicated to the Director-General within a period of one month. That period expired on 5 February 1954. No supplementary information was received from the World Federation of Trade Unions, while the Government forwarded its observations by letter dated 11 January 1954.

B. Analysis of the Reply

1. 250. In its reply dated 11 January 1954 the Government formally denies the allegations-based on very vague information-that infringements of trade union rights have been committed in Iran. The Government emphasises that the events of 17 August 1953 were of a strictly political and Constitutional character and had no connection with the exercise of trade union rights by the workers, rights which have never been questioned by the Government and concerning which detailed provisions in labour legislation regulate the procedure of implementation.

C. C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 251. The Committee notes that while the complaint contains certain allegations concerning the exercise of trade union rights, it also contains several others - such as, for example, an allegation relating to foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country, and another concerning the suppression of emergency tribunals and the abolition of concentration camps -which are strictly political in character. Furthermore, the Government emphasised in its reply that the events of 17 August 1953, on which the complainant bases its allegations, had been strictly political and Constitutional in character and had no connection whatever with the exercise of trade union rights by the workers. It will be recalled that the middle of the month of August 1953 was an agitated period in Iran, during which H.M. the Shah left the country temporarily, while the Government presided over by Dr. Mossadegh was replaced by a new Government presided over by General Zahedi.
2. 252. In this respect the Committee recalls that in its First Report it endorsed the general principle which the Governing Body, on the recommendation of its Officers, adopted for the examination of cases of this nature. The Committee unanimously considered it inappropriate for the I.L.O to discuss questions of a purely political character but recognised that situations which are political in origin may have social aspects which the I.L.O may be called upon to examine. The Committee considers that it should be guided by this principle in its consideration of this particular case and confine its examination to the purely trade union aspects of the case.
3. 253. The allegations submitted by the complainant with respect to trade union rights consist of certain general statements: it is said that trade union militants were arrested, deported and tortured without any sort of trial, that strikes are considered as acts of rebellion and forbidden under penalty of death, that the offices of trade unions are occupied by the armed forces, that the trade union press is suppressed and that meetings and manifestations are prohibited.
4. 254. The Committee notes that, although the complaining organisation was informed that any supplementary information it might wish to furnish in substantiation of its complaint should be transmitted to the Director-General within a period of one month, it has not seen fit to communicate to the Committee any further information in support of its statements.
5. 255. On the other hand, the Government, which emphasised in its reply the vagueness of the information contained in the complaint, formally denied the allegations that violations of trade union rights had been committed in Iran and declared that detailed provisions in labour legislation regulate the procedure of implementation of these rights.