Call for Removal of Islamic Republic Representatives from ILO Governing Body
Tuesday, June 7, 2022 – A group of labor activists, teachers, and professional associations, including the Teachers’ Professional Association of Iran, have issued an open letter to representatives attending the 110th session of the International Labour Conference (currently being held in Switzerland), calling for representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran to be removed from the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
In this open letter, signed by nearly two thousand people worldwide, the “brutal suppression of teachers and other labor activists in Iran” and the “arrest of known labor activists, teachers, and workers” have been condemned.
Hadi Qaaemi, director of the Human Rights Campaign in Iran, referring to this open letter addressed to the International Labour Organization, stated: “The Islamic Republic has for several decades openly violated the basic principles of the International Labour Organization, including freedom of association and the right to assembly.”
According to Hadi Qaaemi, “Iranian authorities seek membership in international institutions and attempt to influence them while showing no particular commitment to implementing the most fundamental principles of these institutions. The time has now come for these organizations to hold their members accountable.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize independent unions and associations, and continually arrests and imprisons the main figures and leaders of these unions and associations after fabricating cases against them with false accusations. The practice of fabricating cases, arrest, and imprisonment is also applied to protesting workers and teachers – citizens who have taken to the streets in the most peaceful manner possible to make their voices heard. All these actions violate the fundamental principles of the International Labour Organization, which Iran is also a signatory to.
The Human Rights Campaign in Iran expresses its full support for this open letter and the demands raised in it, including:
- Obligating the Islamic Republic of Iran government to immediately and unconditionally release all imprisoned teachers, labor activists, and protesters, and to end accusations and fabrication of cases against detainees.
- Sending an international delegation to Iran in coordination with the ILO Working Group and international federations of trade unions to investigate labor conditions in Iran and meet with independent trade unions and imprisoned syndicate activists and their families.
- Removal of representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran government from the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
- Requesting representatives present at the conference to convey their protest regarding the suppression of independent trade unions and their members by government forces and the repeated and open violation of the right to freedom of association and peaceful demonstration to Iran’s representatives.
In this letter, with reference to the fact that the arrest and imprisonment of many members of teachers’ professional associations, the Tehran Bus Workers’ Syndicate, and other independent professional associations has been solely due to lawful labor and professional activities, a list of activists who must be immediately and unconditionally released has been mentioned; including Esmail Abdi, who despite the completion of his sentence must spend another 10 years in prison, and Hashem Khastar, who despite illness and old age has been imprisoned for years without medical leave.
The letter also emphasizes that independent Iranian trade unions have no representatives at the International Labour Conference, and those present as representatives of “trade unions” in Iran at this conference are actually selected and supported by the Islamic Republic government.
The violation of the right to freedom of association and assembly by the Islamic Republic of Iran government is not only contrary to obligations arising from the International Labour Organization (ILO) treaties, but also violates Articles 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which recognize freedom of association and assembly, and Iran is a signatory to this international covenant. According to Article 9 of Iran’s Civil Code, the validity of international conventions to which Iran is a party is equivalent to domestic laws of the country.
The government’s treatment of labor activists and teachers and its handling of professional protests also violates Iran’s domestic laws; Article 26 of Iran’s Constitution supports freedom of association, and Article 27 of the Constitution also recognizes the right to peaceful assembly. However, the illegal requirement for protesters to obtain permits for assembly and marches gives the authorities the opportunity to violate not only the legal and fundamental principles of the International Labour Organization, but also the basic rights of Iranians.
The full text of the open letter from the Coordination Council of Teachers’ Professional Associations of Iran and civil and professional activists is as follows:
We, the signatories of this letter, address the delegations participating in the 110th session of the International Labour Organization, particularly the labor and professional delegations, and draw their attention to the recent suppressions against teachers and their representatives in professional associations and labor activists in Iran.
In recent years, particularly in recent months, the economic policies of the Iranian government have created widespread poverty and misery for the general public, especially for wage earners and workers. This has led to the widening of class divisions and the shrinking of living standards for the general population, ultimately resulting in public protests. It is unfortunate that instead of an appropriate response and solving problems, they have shown harsh reactions to these legitimate protests, and their response has been nothing but widespread suppression. One of the various aspects of these suppressions has been attacks and arrests of known labor activists, teachers, workers, and many protesting toilers. Recently, through a false and worthless scenario from state television, a “pseudo-report” was broadcast against known teacher and labor activists who are the legitimate and accepted representatives of their professions. In this “pseudo-report,” in a desperate effort with twisted narratives, an attempt was made to accuse Iranian labor activists of collaborating with foreign “spies.” The publication of this government scenario against labor activists was immediately met with a wave of protest and disgust throughout Iran.
We request that the delegations participating in this session condemn the Iranian government’s increasing violations of the rights of workers and teachers, and in particular violations of the right to independent association and the right to peaceful demonstration. These violations of obvious rights are a very urgent matter because since May 1st, International Workers’ Day, a number of labor activists and protesting people have been arrested, interrogated, and charged with serious but completely baseless accusations such as acting against national security, only because the Iranian government wants to silence the independent labor and professional movement in Iran and the legitimate protests of the oppressed working people. Violations of basic and fundamental labor and professional rights are being carried out by the Iranian government while this government is a member of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization.
Many members of teachers’ professional associations, members of the United Company Workers’ Syndicate, as well as members of other independent labor and professional associations and protesting citizens in recent months and days have been arrested or imprisoned for being active in legitimate and lawful labor and professional activities. We request that the delegations participating in the session condemn the suppression of independent professional and labor associations and their members by the Iranian government. We ask the representatives present at the International Labour Conference to announce their protest regarding these suppressive measures to the Iranian government delegations present at the session and to demand that the Iranian government take necessary measures for the immediate and unconditional release of all arrested teachers, detained labor activists, and arrested protesters, to end the suppression of workers and independent labor and professional associations, and to respect the fundamental right to freedom of professional and labor association according to international conventions 98 and 87 and the “Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work,” and to implement and enforce these rights. It is important to emphasize that unfortunately independent Iranian trade unions have no representatives at the International Labour Conference, and the representatives of “trade unions” participating from Iran are government-made.
The Iranian government must immediately and unconditionally release all imprisoned teachers and independent labor and professional association activists who have been detained since International Workers’ Day: Rasoul Badaghi, Eskander Lotfi, Reza Shahabi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Hassan Saeidi, Anisha Asadollahi, Reyhaneh Ansari Nezhad, Mohammad Habibzadeh, Keyvan Mohtadi, Shaban Mohammadi, Masoud Nikkhah, Reza Amanifard, Hadi Sadeghzadeh, Mohammad Alishoondi, Asghar Amirzadegan, Mehrdad Yaghmai, Afshin Razmjou, Gholamreza Ghelmikandazi, Hamid Abbasi, Abdolreza Amiri, Mohammad Ali Zahmatkash, Mohsen Bahrami, Morteza Mohammadi, and many others such as Hashem Khastar who has been in prison for years and despite illness and old age is not even given medical leave. Furthermore, we firmly demand the end of imprisonment and torture of other labor and professional activists who are serving their sentences, including imprisoned teacher Esmail Abdi, who after completing a six-year prison sentence is now serving another ten-year sentence imposed in 2010, and Hashem Khastar, who has spent years in prison and despite illness and old age is not given medical leave. Also, the sentences and accusations against women teachers who continue to be imprisoned for protesting government educational policies must be revoked and they must be immediately released, including: Zeinab Hamrang, Aleya Aghdam Doust, Haleh Safarzadeh, Nahid Fath Alian, Nosrat Beheshti, Masoomeh Askari, and Maryam Bagheri.
We, the signatories of this letter, also specifically request from the labor delegations participating in the annual session of the International Labour Organization to place the following urgent matters on the agenda of the session and earnestly request that you make all efforts to approve and implement them:
a) Immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all accusations against all labor activists imprisoned in Iran and the release of all detainees.
b) Obligating the Iranian government to respect the fundamental rights of workers, teachers, and wage earners in the field of freedom to establish or join independent professional and labor associations, respect and observance of the right to freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly without fear of interference by security forces.
c) Consideration and action regarding the dispatch of an international delegation under the coordination of the ILO Labor Group and international trade union federations to investigate labor conditions in Iran, meet with independent professional associations, and visit imprisoned labor activists in Iran and their families.
d) Requesting the removal of Iran’s government-made representatives from the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization and opposition to their re-election to this governing body due to the continuous violation of international conventions and lack of accountability for the continuous suppression of labor and professional associations and activists in Iran.
Source: Human Rights Campaign
