EUTC & ITUC repeat their concerns about the safety of Bahrain unionist

LabourTime: ETUC and ITUC repeat their concerns about the safety of Bahrain unionist, specially the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Union GFBTU leaders.

They asked the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Baroness Catherine Ashton in another letter dated in 31, May to "Take an active role in monitoring the whereabouts and conditions of trade union leaders and other hum an rights defenders and to make regular contact with the GFBTU".

The following is the full letter:

Dear Ms High Representative,

We thank you for your letter of reply to the ETUC and ITUC of 13 May.

We are writing again to repeat and emphasise our gravest concerns and requesting your intervention for the protection of trade unionists in Bahrain. We and they fear for their lives.

We have written of these concerns to the King and sent a delegation to the Bahraini Embassy in Brussels last week. The high level delegation, of ETUC and ITUC leaders and the senior most representatives of our colleagues from the UGTT of Tunisia was not received by the Embassy officials.

Whilst the ILO mission to Bahrain (in the last week of April) was given assurances by the Minister of Labour, as to the security of trade unionists, military prosecution of trade unionists is ongoing.

The Committees that were established to investigate violations of trade union rights, including mass dismissals, have been politicised and the process is totally biased according to sectarian lines.

The president and executive committee of the BAPCO trade union have been referred to a military court without any explanation.

We continue to remain highly concerned for the personal safety of trade union leaders, including Salman Jaffar Al Mahfoodh, General Secretary of the GFBTU. Union leaders are being accused by the government and parliament, voiced by the media, to be leading a conspiracy to overthrow the regime. These false accusations are being used as an excuse to target the independence and the integrity of the trade union movement.

We have urged the Bahraini authorities to:

• Immediately withdraw the decision to have BAPCO workers tried in the military court;
• Ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all detained workers;
• Put an end to any acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against trade union leaders and activists;
• Put a halt to the media campaign against the leadership of the GFBTU and all other human rights and labour activists;
• Reinstate all fired workers and guarantee the return of all trade union representatives to their jobs and allow them to resume their trade union functions;

As a member of the ILO, Bahrain is bound by international treaties, and we ask that the EU specifically reminds the Bahraini government that it must fulfill its obligations and respect trade union rights and fundamental liberties such as freedom of association and freedom of expression.

We are also concerned to hear the news this weekend of some further 45 migrant workers arrested. We are seeking further information as to the details of these cases.

The ITUC and the ETUC asks that your office ensures that EU missions in Bahrain take an active role in monitoring the whereabouts and conditions of trade union leaders and other human rights defenders and to make regular contact with the GFBTU. We further request that you send observers to all the military court proceedings.

We look forward to receiving an update from you on these matters.

Yours sincerely,

Bernadette Ségol

ETUC General Secretary

Sharan Burrow

ITUC General Secretary