Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 383, October 2017

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

1. 50. The Committee last examined this case, which concerns allegations of continued repression of teacher unionists through their arrest, interrogation, arbitrary detention, and prosecution, as well as by the prevention of participation in international meetings and violent dispersal of peaceful demonstrations at its October 2016 meeting [see 380th Report, paras 36–53]. On that occasion, bearing in mind the prosecution of many trade unionists on charges of propaganda against the State and acting against national security, the Committee requested the Government to ensure that the charges against 27 trade unionists relating to their participation in peaceful demonstrations and legitimate trade union activities between March and October 2015, are immediately dropped, that their sentences are annulled and the detained workers are released and fully compensated for any damages suffered as a result of the convictions. The Committee further requested the Government to initiate an independent inquiry into the confiscation of trade unionists’ property during the raids on their residences and, if confiscations are found to be in violation of freedom of association principles, to fully compensate the parties concerned for any losses incurred. With regard to the arrest and detention of Mr Zandnia and Ms Parvin Mohammadi, the Committee urged the Government to take the necessary measures to institute an independent inquiry in order to identify their whereabouts, determine the reasons for their detention and fully compensate them for any damage suffered. With regard to the allegations of increased persecution, intimidation and pressure on unionists and confiscation of their travel documents, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the return of Mr Abdi’s and Mr Nodinian’s travel documents and the free exercise of trade union rights, including participation in international trade union meetings, without pressure or threat of any kind. With regard to the allegation of violent dispersal of protests, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that trade unionists may exercise their freedom of association rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, without fear of intervention by the authorities and that the use of police and military force during protests and demonstrations is strictly limited to situations where law and order are seriously threatened, in line with the mentioned principles. In light of the seriousness of the matters raised in this case and the trade union climate in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Committee finally urged the Government to engage with the ILO in the near future so as to identify the steps necessary to create an environment where trade union rights can be freely exercised.
2. 51. The Government provided information relating to this case in communications dated 26 October 2016 and 9 May 2017. In the first communication the Government indicated that during recent years, particularly under the Government of President Rouhani, the teachers’ salaries have significantly increased and specific attention has been paid to their welfare. According to the Government, although the policy goals of the Government in this regard are not yet reached, activists and teachers’ associations have welcomed these initiatives. Teachers have a respected status in Iran which is celebrated both on Teachers’ and Labour Day. However, this status does not make lawbreakers immune from prosecution. In this regard the Government refers to section 6 of the “Act concerning the activities of political parties and associations, organized groups, professional associations and guilds, Islamic associations or recognized religious minorities” which provides that groups are free to conduct activities in so far as they refrain from infringements enumerated in section 16 of this Act. The Government adds that besides the prohibited activities enumerated under section 16, according to sections 6 and 16 of the abovementioned Act, obtaining the authorization of the Ministry of Interior is a prerequisite for holding gatherings.
3. 52. With regard to the status of some of the teachers who were arrested, charged and detained, the Government provides the following information:
   • – Mr Alireza Hashemi Sanjabi was pardoned and released from prison on 29 May 2016;
   • – Mr Esmail Abdi’s case was under investigation in the Tehran Court of Appeal and no final verdict was issued as of 26 October 2016. He was released on bail pending the investigation of his case;
   • – Mr Ali-Akbar Baghani was sentenced to a one-year term of imprisonment and two years’ exile to the city of Zabol for propaganda against the Islamic Republic. He served his prison sentence and is now in exile in Zabol. He was granted leave from prison to attend his daughter’s wedding;
   • – Mr Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on charges of assembly, collusion and propaganda against the State. He benefited from furlough on four occasions and was on leave of absence at the time of both Government communications;
   • – Mr Rasoul Bodaghi was pardoned by the Supreme Leader on 31 March 2016 and released;
   • – Mr Abdolreza Ghanbari Chamazakti’s motion for retrial was accepted and he was released on bail;
   • – Mr Mahmoud Bagheri was released after completing his prison term;
   • – Messrs Mohammadreza Niknejad and Mehdi Bohlouli were not yet arrested or in detention and no final judgment was issued in relation to their cases at the time of the Government communications; and
   • – Ms Parvin Mohammadi and Mr Ramin Zandnia were sentenced in the court of first instance. In its second communication the Government indicated that they were free to introduce an appeal before the Court of Appeal of Kurdistan province and that they were free on bail.
4. 53. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that Mr Mahmoud Bagheri was released after completing his sentence and that Messrs Alireza Hashemi Sanjabi and Rasoul Bodaghi were released as they were pardoned. It notes, however, that the cases of Messrs Esmail Abdi, Abdolreza Ghanbari Chamazakti, Mohammadreza Niknejad, Mehdi Bohlouli and Ramin Zandnia, as well as that of Ms Parvin Mohammadi, were still open at the time of the Government’s communications, while these trade unionists were free on bail. The Committee further notes that Mr Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi was on leave of absence at the moment of the communication and Mr Ali-Akbar Baghani was in exile in Zabol. The Committee requests the Government to keep it updated on the status of these trade unionists and to provide detailed information on the outcome of the proceedings concerning them and to transmit a copy of the sentences issued.
5. 54. With regard to the arrested and charged unionists, the Committee notes with regret that once again most of the information provided by the Government amounts to general affirmation of the charges, sentences and the dates of release if applicable, and provides no detail as to the precise circumstances and reasons for arrest and indictment or the judicial guarantees applied to the trials. The Committee notes the Government’s general statement that the activities of professional associations and guilds are subject to the prohibition of acts enumerated in section 16 of the “Act concerning the activities of political parties and associations, organized groups, professional associations and guilds, Islamic associations or recognized religious minorities”. The Committee notes that this legal provision prohibits acts against the independence of the country; any connection to or information exchange and collusion with embassies, missions and organs of foreign governments and foreign political parties at any level and in any form that would be detrimental to the freedom, independence, national unity or interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran; reception of financial or logistical assistance from foreigners; violation of the legitimate freedoms of others; libel, defamation and spreading of rumours; violation of national unity, separatist conspiracy and the like; attempt at sowing and intensifying divisions within the nation by taking advantage of the diversity of cultural, religious and racial backgrounds within the Iranian society; violation of Islamic standards and the foundations of the Islamic Republic; anti-Islamic propaganda and dissemination of harmful books and publications; and the unauthorized caching, possession and carrying of weapons and explosives. However, the Government does not indicate which activities of the arrested and charged trade unionists violated those prohibitions. Recalling that in cases involving the arrest, detention or sentencing of a trade union official, the Committee, taking the view that individuals have the right to be presumed innocent until found guilty, has considered that it was incumbent upon the Government to show that the measures it had taken were in no way occasioned by the trade union activities of the individual concerned [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth (revised) edition, 2006, para. 94], it is bound to observe that the summary information provided in the Government’s replies does not permit the Committee to conclude that the charges and convictions of the unionists concerned are unrelated to their exercise of legitimate trade union activities. The Committee once again urges the Government to ensure that the charges against trade unionists relating to their legitimate trade union activities are immediately dropped, that their sentences are annulled and that the detained workers are released and fully compensated for any damages suffered as a result of the convictions.
6. 55. The Committee notes with regret that the Government has not provided any information with regard to its recommendations concerning the confiscation of trade unionists’ property during the raids on their residences, the confiscation of the travel documents, the increased persecution, intimidation and pressure on unionists and violent dispersal of protests [see 380th Report, paras 49–53]. It hence once again requests the Government to take the recommended measures and to keep it informed of the developments.
7. 56. In view of the seriousness of the matters raised in this case and the trade union climate in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Committee once again urges the Government to engage with the ILO in the near future so as to identify the steps necessary to create an environment where trade union rights can be freely exercised.