Report of the Committee on the Application of Standards, ILO
The Committee took note of the statement made by the
Government representative and the debate that followed.
The Committee also noted that a high level ILO mission
visited the country on 28R11;30 April 2008, pursuant to a request
of this Committee in June 2007.
The Committee observed that the Committee of Experts’
comments had been referring for a number of years to discrepanc
ies between the legislation and practice, on the one
hand, and the Convention, on the other, concerning the
rights of workers in the public and private sectors without
distinction whatsoever to establish and join organizations of
their own choosing, and the right of workers’ organizations
to draw up their constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives
in full freedom and to organize their activities
without interference by the authorities. The Committee
noted the comments presented by both national and international
workers’ organizations on the application of the Convention,
particularly with respect to the violent repression of
demonstrations, use of disproportionate force by the police
and arrests of trade UNIONists, as well as government interference
in trade UNION activities.
The Committee took note of the Government’s statements
according to which: work had been carried out on the
amendments to Acts Nos 2821 and 2822 in close cooperation
with the social partners, and that the Tripartite Consultation
Board had conducted intensive work in this regard. The
draft bills were on the agenda of the National Assembly. The
Government also referred to consultations with the social
partners on amendments to be made to the Public Employees’
Trade UNIONs Act. While the draft bills did not yet envisage
certain requested amendments, this was because it
was necessary to first amend the Constitution. The Government
was also planning the necessary amendments in this
regard. The Government also referred to a recent Constitutional
Court judgement which found unconstitutional the
provision restricting certain types of work stoppages. As
regards the allegations of excessive police intervention in
relation to trade UNION demonstrations, the Government
representative stated that, while the Government was determined
to take all necessary disciplinary and judicial
measures against the members of the security forces who
used disproportionate and excessive force, it was important
that those demonstrating respected the relevant provisions
of national legislation. He highlighted the important step
taken by the Government in 2008 to declare May Day as a
public holiday.
While noting the information provided by the Government
in reply to the serious allegations made to the Committee
of Experts relating to police violence and arrests of trade
UNIONists and government interference in trade UNION activities,
the Committee noted with concern the information provided
with respect to recent mass arrests of trade UNIONists,
as well as the allegations of a generalized anti-UNION climate.
The Committee observed with deep regret the statements
made of important restrictions placed upon the freedom of
assembly and of expression of trade UNIONists. It once again
emphasized that respect for basic civil liberties was an essential
prerequisite to the exercise of freedom of association and
urged the Government to take all necessary measures to
ensure a climate free from violence, pressure or threats of
any kind so that workers and employers could fully and
freely exercise their rights under the Convention. It urged
the Government to review all cases of detained trade UNIONists
with a view to their release and to reply in detail to all
the pending allegations and to report back to the Committee
of Experts this year on all the steps taken to ensure respect
for the abovementioned fundamental principles.
With respect to the recent draft legislation amending Acts
Nos 2821, 2822 and 4688, referred to by the Government, the
Committee, noting the lack of clarity as to the current situation
and the extent to which consensus had been reached
with the social partners in this regard, expressed the firm
hope that these drafts would address appropriately all the
issues raised by the Committee of Experts over the years and
that the necessary measures would be adopted without further
delay so that the Committee of Experts would be in a
position this year to note significant progress made in bringing
the law and practice into conformity with the provisions
of the Convention. The Committee further called upon the
Government to rapidly put forward and ensure any constitutional
reforms necessary for the application of the Convention.
The Committee urged the Government to elaborate
a plan of action with clear time lines for finalizing the
abovementioned steps. The Committee requested the Government
to accept a high-level bipartite mission with the aim
of assisting the Government in making meaningful progress
on these long outstanding issues. The Committee requested
the Government to provide detailed and complete information
on all progress made on these issues as well as all relevant
legislative texts, in a report to the Committee of Experts
for its upcoming session in 2009.
Full text
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_108378.pdf
