urgent intervention needed in Mauritania

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCERN
Case MRT 061102 ESCRC

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT
intervention in the following situation in Mauritania.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by SOS-
Esclaves Mauritanie, a member of the OMCT network, that the
Mauritanian authorities used intimidation against striking workers in
order to break their strike action started on October 19 2002 in
Nouakchott.

According to the information received, the warehousemen dockers of
Nouakchott have been on strike since October 19 2002 and were joined
in their action on October 29 by the dockers of the Port authority,
who engaged in an unlimited and unitary strike, regardless of their
trade union's membership, in order to obtain a rise in the rates of
remuneration of the metric ton.

It is reported that although this peaceful strike was engaged in
conformity with the legislation governing the right to strike, the
Mauritanian authorities intervened in order to break the action of
the workers, by inciting employers to refuse to engage into
negotiations, on the one hand, and by intimidating workers, on the
other hand.

In this respect, the National Gendarmerie allegedly took unemployed
workers staying in the suburbs of the city and brought them with
their vehicles of service to the dockers' workplace in a view of
making them replace the workers on strike. This was allegedly
organised to put pressure on the workers on strike and on the trade
unions' leaders.

Action requested

Please write to the Mauritanian authorities urging them to:

i. put an end to any attempts to intimidate the workers on strike;

ii. encourage both parties to engage in negotiations in order to find
an acceptable solution to the conflict;

iii. guarantee an immediate investigation into the circumstances of
these events, identify those responsible, bring them before a
competent and impartial civil tribunal and apply the penal, civil
and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;

iv. guarantee the respect for economic, social and cultural rights of
the workers, including the right to work, the right to fair wages
guaranteeing a decent living for the workers and their families, the
right to form and join trade unions and the right to strike in
accordance with international law.

Addresses

· Son Excellence Monsieur le Président Maaouiya Ould Sid `Ahmed Taya,
Président de la République, La Présidence, BP 184 Nouakchott,
Mauritanie
Fax: + 222 2 52636

· Monsieur Dah Ould Abdel Jelil, Ministre de l'Intérieur, des Postes
et des Télécommunications, Ministère de l'Intérieur, des Postes et
des Télécommunications, BP 195 Nouakchott , Mauritanie
Fax: + 222 2 53661

· Monsieur Lemrabott Sidi Mahmoud Ould Cheikh Ahmed , Ministre de la
Justice, Ministère de la Justice, BP 350 Nouakchott , Mauritanie
Fax: + 222 2 57002 or + 222 2 549 95

Please also write to the embassies of Mauritania in your respective
country.

Geneva, November 6th 2002

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this
appeal in your reply
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : [email protected]
http://www.omct.org