Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 348, November 2007

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

1. 127. During its last examination of this case at its meeting in November 2006 [see 343rd Report, paras 140–142], the Committee requested the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the independent inquiry into the intervention by the police on 19 April 2005 and to communicate the verdicts handed in the cases of the employees on trial for obstructing the freedom to work, and in the case of Mr Hassan El Kafi as soon as they were given.
2. 128. In its communications of 12 February and 4 May 2007, the Government sent the appeal verdicts in the cases of the employees on trial for obstructing the freedom to work and of Mr Hassan El Kafi. In both cases, the appeal court upheld the verdicts handed down in the first instance. By Decision No. 7729, issued on 10 November 2005, the Court of Appeal of Casablanca upheld both the acquittal of Mr Hassan El Kafi on charges of obstructing the freedom to work and overturned his suspended one-month prison sentence and the fine of 200 dirhams for theft. By Decision No. 5791, issued on 27 June 2006 by the Court of Appeal of Casablanca, Abdellah Zefzaf, Nadia Rihani, Jawad Kennouni, Aziz Rouzi, Echaâli El Ouardi, Said El Janati, Hassan Khaireddine and Jilali Foudsi, trade unionists arrested during the dispute at the Valeo factory, were acquitted of obstructing the freedom to work. The Government adds that the dispute at the Valeo factory has ended.
3. 129. The Committee notes with satisfaction the rulings acquitting the trade unionists accused of obstructing the freedom to work. Noting the information provided by the Government to the effect that the Valeo factory dispute has ended and that the social situation is now stable, the Committee hopes that the necessary instructions will be given to the police to ensure that, in the future, their interventions are not disproportionate in relation to legitimate trade union activities.