Interim Report - Report No 114, 1970

Case No 537 (Indonesia) - Complaint date: 21-SEP-67 - Closed

1. 114. The Committee previously examined this case at its sessions in May 1968 and February 1969, when it submitted to the Governing Body the conclusions contained in paragraphs 289 to 301 of its 105th Report and in paragraphs 147 to 158 of its 110th Report. At the first of these sessions, the Committee reached definitive conclusions on one aspect of the case, which concerned the allegations of repressive measures adopted against trade unions.
2. 115. With regard to another aspect of the case, the detention and sentencing of certain persons, the Committee submitted certain recommendations to the Governing Body in paragraph 158 of its 110th Report. These recommendations, which were approved by the Governing Body at its 174th Session (March 1969), related, in part, to the case of Mr. Njono, one of the persons referred to in the complaint, who, according to press reports, had been executed. Concerning the other person mentioned in the allegations, Mr. Heru, the Committee recommended the Governing Body to deplore that the Government had still made no mention of that person in its observations and to request the Government once again to supply, as a matter of the utmost urgency, full information relating to him, such as the specific charge brought against him, the judgment and sentence in his case, and the effect given to the sentence.
3. 116. These recommendations were approved by the Governing Body and were transmitted to the Government in a letter of 10 March 1969. The request for information made in the recommendations was reiterated in letters of 3 April, 10 June and 29 August 1969.
4. 117. In a communication of 9 September 1969, the Government points out that it has so far no information on the whereabouts of Mr. Heru or on the charges brought against him and that it would not fail to supply such information as soon as it became available.
5. 118. Indonesia has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), but it has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 119. The complaint, which was made in September 1967, alleged that in pursuance of its policy of repression of trade unions, the Government had arrested 55,000 persons. Particular reference was made to the arrest and sentencing to death of Mr. Njono, former President of the Indonesian trade union organisation SOBSI and former Vice-President of the World Federation of Trade Unions, and to the unknown fate of Mr. Sudarno Heru, a member of the Administrative Committee of the Trade Unions International of Workers of the Building, Wood and Building Materials Industries and a leader of the building workers in Indonesia. At its session of February 1969, the Committee noted that the Government had so far made no mention whatsoever in its communications of Mr. Heru, although in its communication of 13 January 1969 it had stated that " Njono and other leaders of SOBSI " had been found guilty of conspiracy to overthrow the legal Government by force and had been sentenced to death and other penalties according to their involvement and role in the coup d'état.
2. 120. In view of the Government's reply, mentioned in paragraph 117 above, to the renewed request for information addressed to it, the Committee is bound to express its serious concern at the fact that, despite the lapse of time since the presentation of the complaint, it has so far not obtained any information enabling it to determine whether or not a person whose trade union offices have been clearly described by the complainants has been arrested or sentenced. The Committee's concern is the greater as, in the case of the other person mentioned in the allegations, Mr. Njono, it had-in the absence of the information which the Government had been urgently requested to supply-been unable to present its conclusions before the sentence on Mr. Njono had been carried out.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 121. The Committee hopes that in order to enable it to arrive at definitive conclusions regarding the question raised by the allegations under examination, i.e. the alleged relation between Mr. Heru's disappearance and his trade union offices, the Government will make further efforts to clear up this matter thoroughly and to inform the Governing Body without delay of the result of its investigations.
2. 122. The Committee also deems it desirable that the complainants should be asked to communicate any new information which they may have regarding the case of Mr. Heru.

The Committee's recommendations

• (a) to take note of the Government's communication according to which the Government has no information on the whereabouts of Mr. Sudarno Heru or on the charges brought against him;
• (b) having regard to the precise information supplied in the allegations concerning Mr. Heru's trade union offices, and the Government's expressed intention to supply any information which it might obtain on his case, to express the hope that the Government will make renewed efforts for the purpose and inform the Governing Body as quickly as possible of the result of its investigations;
• (c) to request the complainants to communicate any new information which may come to hand concerning the case of Mr. Heru;
• (d) to take note of this interim report, on the understanding that the Committee will submit a further report when it has received the additional information requested from the Government and the complainants in (b) and (c) above.