Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - REPORT_NO305, November 1996

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

1. 40. At its March 1996 meeting, the Committee requested the Government, inter alia, to take measures to ensure that the competent authorities received instructions, so that during the holding of public meetings, the police resort to the use of force only in situations where law and order were seriously threatened. The Committee also requested the Government to ensure that an independent inquiry was held without delay to determine the justification for the action taken by the police in the Choibari tea estate, Dhuri District, Assam State on 1 May 1995 (see 302nd Report, paras. 329 to 354).
2. 41. In a communication dated 20 June 1996, the Government states that the Committee's recommendation concerning the use of force by public authorities was brought to the notice of the state government of Assam for compliance in future.
3. 42. Furthermore, with regard to the necessity to hold an independent inquiry to establish the circumstances surrounding the 1 May 1995 events at the Choibari tea estate, the Government adds that the inquiry already conducted by the State Labour Commissioner complied with the requirement of independence. The Committee takes note of this information. It expresses the hope that, in future, workers and their organizations will be able to hold public meetings on the occasion of May Day.