Definitive Report - Report No 87, 1966

Case No 427 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) - Complaint date: 12-JAN-65 - Closed

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27. The complaint of the Union of Congolese Workers is contained in a telegram dated 12 January 1965 addressed directly to the I.L.O. The complainants were informed of their right to present additional information in support of their allegations, but they did not do so. The complaint was forwarded to the Government for its observations and the latter replied by two communications dated 27 January and 7 August 1965.
28. The Congo (Leopoldville) has ratified neither the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), nor the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

29. The complainants allege that two trade unionists, Mr. Atumenga and Mr. Mukuakani, belonging respectively to the Union of Congolese Workers (U.T.C.) and the General Labour Federation of the Congo were arbitrarily arrested at Kikwit.
30. In a telegram dated 27 January 1965 the Government stated that it had urgently requested information on this case from the authorities in Kwilu Province and had taken steps to have the men released.
31. In a later communication dated 7 August 1965 the Government stated that the two men, who had been arrested by the local authorities at Kikwit, had been released immediately after their trial. The Government pointed out that they had been charged by the Special. General Commissioner for the Province of Kwilu with making gratuitous accusations against established authority. Fifteen days after their arrest they were tried at Kikwit by a court which condemned them to pay a 1,000-franc fine for slander. The Government added that the accused had paid the fine and, regarding the matter as closed, had no intention of appealing.

32. The Committee notes in the first place that U.T.C confines itself in its complaint to reporting the arrest of Mr. Atumenga and Mr. Mukuakani, without claiming that it was connected with their trade union activities or membership. It also notes that the complaining organisation, when given the opportunity of providing additional information in support of its allegations, did not take advantage of it.
33. The Committee also notes that, according to the Government, the causes of the proceedings against the two men seem to be unrelated to their trade union activities or membership, and they themselves, by deciding not to appeal, appear to regard the matter as closed.

34. In these circumstances, and having regard also to the fact that the persons concerned have been released, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that the case does not call for further examination.