Interim Report - Report No 238, March 1985

1. 298. By a communication of 20 September 1984, the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) presented a complaint of violation of trade union rights in Mauritania. The Government sent certain observations in a letter of 10 November 1984.
2. 299. Mauritania has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No.087), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No.098).

A. The complainant's allegations

1. 300. The International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions refers in its complaint to the acts of repression committed by the authorities of Mauritania against the trade unionists of that country. It states that the authorities have conducted a large-scale campaign of arrests of officials and trade union activists of the Union of Mauritanian Workers (UTM) which is one of its affiliates.
2. 301. The ICATU lists 17 UTM officials who are alleged to have been arrested, including: El Kouri Ould Hameti, general secretary; Mohamed Ben Djadou, secretary for external relations; Sidi Habib Allah and Abdellah Benchamad, members of the National Bureau. The ICATU also alleges that the general secretary of UTM, El Kouri Ould Hameti, has been taken to the hospital in a very serious condition as a result of the tortures he has said to have suffered. It also fears for the lives of the other imprisoned trade unionists which, it says, have been subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Finally, the ICATU alleges that a trade unionist, Sidi Mohamed Ben Aiat, who held the post of director of the commercial department of the Fuel Company, died as a result of the tortures he is said to have suffered in prison.
3. 302. The ICATU considers that these actions and measures constitute a violation of Convention No. 87 ratified by Mauritania.

B. The Government's reply

1. 303. In its letter of 10 November 1984, the Government states that the trade unionists mentioned in the complaint of the ICATU were imprisoned on charges of attacks against the security of the State.
2. 304. Like other citizens, says the Government, these trade unionists were found guilty of collusion with a foreign diplomatic mission for the purpose of formenting disorder of a nature to destabilise the Mauritanian State. The persons concerned have made confessions and incriminating evidence has been found in their possessions.
3. 305. The Government adds that the charges and all the documents seized have been posted up in a public place and disseminated by the press. The trade union confederation has, moreover, been fully informed of the situation.
4. 306. In conclusion, the Government states that these leaders were arrested in their capacity as citizens, even though they used their trade union office to achieve their ends.

C. Conclusions of the Committee

1. 307. The Committee notes that the present case concerns the arrests of officials from the Union of Mauritanian Workers. The complainant also mentions the ill-treatment to which these detained persons were subjected. One is alleged to have died as a result of the tortures he received in prison.
2. 308. The Committee notes that, in its reply, the Government merely points out that the union officials mentioned in the complaint were accused of an offence against the security of the State by having acted in collusion with a foreign diplomatic mission; however, it fails to specify the precise acts which they are said to have committed, or to provide information on their present situation.
3. 309. The Committee has examined many cases in which it has been alleged that trade unionists have been arrested for their trade union activities, and in which the governments have merely stated that the arrests were made on account of subversive activities or for reasons of internal security; it has therefore made it a rule, in these cases, to request the governments concerned to submit as precise information as possible on the arrests in question, especially on the legal action taken and the results thereof, to enable it to examine the allegations in full knowledge of the facts.
4. 310. In view of the fact that, in the present case, the Government's observations are worded in such a vague way that it is unable to pronounce on the substance of the case, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the specific facts which led to the arrest of the UTM officials, to state whether legal proceedings are being taken against them, and to clarify their present situation. The Committee also requests the Government to reply to the allegations concerning the ill-treatment to which the detained trade unionists were allegedly subjected, and especially on the death of Mr. Sidi Mohamed Ben Aiat.