Interim Report - Report No 89, 1966

1. 82. The complaint of the General Confederation of Labour of the Congo (C.G.T.C.) is contained in two communications, dated respectively 9 March and 10 April 1965 and addressed directly to the I.L.O. They were sent to the Government for its observations. The Government replied by a letter dated 8 October 1965.
2. 83. Congo (Leopoldville) has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), or the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 84. The complainants state that the security services of the central Government place restrictions on C.G.T.C by refusing the exit permits for which it asks: officers of C.G.T.C wishing to go on mission abroad are, it is alleged, not permitted to leave the country although leaders of other trade union organisations are free from such restrictions. In support of their allegation the complainants quote the cases of six C.G.T.C representatives to whom, they state, the necessary exit permits were not issued; the names of these persons and the meetings which they wished to attend are specified.
2. 85. In its observations the Government states that the allegations contained in the two communications from the complainants, to the effect that trade union rights have been infringed, are " entirely without foundation ". It refers to an inquiry by the Ministry of Labour which showed that the reason why the representatives of C.G.T.C who wished to leave the country to attend international meetings were unable to do so was that they did not meet the requirements of the immigration department. The Government closes by stating that " these are the only observations [it has] to make on the text of the two communications referred to ".
3. 86. In a number of cases in which situations similar to that summarised above have arisen the Committee and, on its recommendation, the Governing Body, have emphasised that the right of national workers' organisations to send representatives to international trade union congresses is the natural corollary of their right to be affiliated to international organisations of workers.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 87. When the authorities of Congo decided to refuse exit permits to the persons concerned, they may have been guided by the desire not directly to infringe trade union rights, but to ensure compliance with the formalities required of all citizens. However, the Committee considers that, unless imposed on objective grounds, restrictions such as those which the complainants allege, were applied to their own officers but not to representatives of other organisations, may involve the risk of infringing the principle reasserted in the previous paragraph.
2. 88. The Committee wishes to point out further that in similar circumstances', when it recommended the Governing Body to decide that a case should not be pursued, it did so after having had before it information provided by the Government which indicated without possible doubt that the trade union delegates then in question had been prevented from leaving the country for reasons unrelated to the exercise of freedom of association.