Iran: Trade union leader arrested

Trade unionist Ali Nejati was arrested on 8 March by Ministry of Intelligence officers, following a raid on his home on 28 February. He appears to have been taken to a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in the province of Khuzestan.

Amnesty considers him a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association.

Ali Nejati is one of the leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company (HTSCC) Trade Union. On 20 December 2008 he was reportedly charged with “acting against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the regime”, in connection with interviews he and other trade union leaders gave to foreign journalists about working conditions at the plant.

The interviews took place during May Day protests in 2008 against the HTSCC’s repeated failure to pay its workers on time - it sometimes delayed payment for up to five months - and other violations of their employment rights.

On 20 May 2008 he was ordered to present himself for questioning at a court in the town of Shoush, Khuzestan. He was subsequently brought to trial in two court hearings on 17 and 23 February 2009, but it is not known whether a verdict has been issued.

Background information

Seven other HTSCC trade unionists were arrested and detained between 22 February and 3 March 2009, but all were subsequently released on bail by 7 March. Four of them were tried with Ali Nejati on 17 and 23 February, on similar charges.

One of them has received a sentence, the details of which are not known to Amnesty International, while the other three, like Ali Nejati, do not know if a verdict has been issued against them.

The arrests took place after HTSCC workers had refused to take part in elections on 22 February for the company’s Islamic Labour Council (ILC), a government-sponsored organization that controls and represses independent labour activities in the company.

The HTSCC Trade Union was formed on 22 October 2008, when its board members were elected, and is only the second independent union to be formed in Iran since the Islamic Revolution.

In the course of 2008, more than 1,900 HTSCC workers had called for the dissolution of the company’s ILC and for the creation of such an independent labour body. HTSCC workers had set up a trade union in 1973, but in the early 1980s the authorities banned it when the creation of free and independent labour organizations was prohibited.

The HTSCC Trade Union held elections without the permission of the Ministry of Labour, which, together with the Ministries of Industry and Intelligence, has told the HTSCC that it does not recognize the union. This lack of official status puts the union’s members at risk of prosecution.

Under Iranian labour legislation, workers are allowed to form Islamic Labour Councils (ILCs) in companies with more than 50 workers. They are not, however, permitted to set up any other labour organization.

The ILCs’ objectives, under 2001 legislation, are mainly to “propagate and spread Islamic culture, and defend the achievements of the Islamic Revolution”; set up Friday prayers; recite and pay tribute to religious slogans; “establish meetings for sermons, religious discourse and lectures, on various occasions”; and “endeavour to enrich the times of rest for the workers and their families”.

Defending the terms and conditions of their members’ employment does not fall within their remit.

Those permitted to stand for leadership positions in the ILCs are vetted and approved by an official selection body.

Trade unionist Ali Nejati was arrested on 8 March by Ministry of Intelligence officers, following a raid on his home on 28 February. He appears to have been taken to a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in the province of Khuzestan.

Amnesty considers him a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association.

Ali Nejati is one of the leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company (HTSCC) Trade Union. On 20 December 2008 he was reportedly charged with “acting against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the regime”, in connection with interviews he and other trade union leaders gave to foreign journalists about working conditions at the plant.

The interviews took place during May Day protests in 2008 against the HTSCC’s repeated failure to pay its workers on time - it sometimes delayed payment for up to five months - and other violations of their employment rights.

On 20 May 2008 he was ordered to present himself for questioning at a court in the town of Shoush, Khuzestan. He was subsequently brought to trial in two court hearings on 17 and 23 February 2009, but it is not known whether a verdict has been issued.

Follow up

Trade unionist Ali Nejati was released on bail on 14 April 2009. This followed a strike by his fellow workers a week earlier, in which they called for his release, amongst other demands. He was also supported by solidarity actions by international trade union bodies and non-governmental organizations, including Amnesty.

Ali Nejati's lawyer told the BBC that Ali Nejati, and four other leaders of the HTSCC Trade Union, had been sentenced to between four and six months' imprisonment for "propaganda against the system" and to a three-year ban on participating in trade union activities, including elections. It is not clear to Amnesty if Ali Nejati is facing further charges in relation to his arrest in March 2009.

None of the five are believed to be currently detained.

Thank you to all of those who took action on this case.

2009 marks 30 years of Amnesty's Trade Union Network. Find out more about how Amnesty and trade unionist around the world work together in the struggle for human rights.