Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei
Via email: info_leader@leader.ir contact@leader.ir
Cc: ijpr@iranjudcalry.ir
17 October2018
Global Union Federations denounce the death sentence call for 17 labour activist and demand their immediate and unconditional release
Dear Auattollah Sayed Ali Khameni.
We are writing on behalf of the global union federations. The international Transport Federation (ITF). Education International(E1), IndusriALL Global union, The International union of Food. Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering. Tobacco and Allied Workers, Association (IUF), and the international Trade Union Confederation(ITUC), representing more than 200 million workers worldwide, to express our most profound shock at the reports of a call by the Qazvin court to issue death penalty against striking truck drivers.
According to our information, since May this year, truckers have been urging your government to address their demands for better working conditions and asking to be allowed to have a voice in decisions affecting their livelihoods. Truckers took action in September as a last resort in the struggle to feed their families. Over the last two weeks. 150 truckers had been reportedly arrested, and last week over 250 were in custody. Then on 8th October the state-run IRNA news agency reported that a court in Qazvin province had requested possible death sentences for 17 activists.
The death penalty for striking is the most serious of isolations of violations of workers, rights. The attempt to use extreme penal sanctions against legitimate trade union activities for reasons of internal security reiterate our concerns over the lack of judicial independence in the country.
It is unacceptable in any society that workers should be executed for undertaking the legitimate defence of their economic interests. Therefore, we strongly demand that all charges pressed against detained tuck drivers are immediately and unconditionally withdrawn and the their physical safety is fully respected.
We recall that the ILO committee of Freedom of Association and Committee on the Application of Standard have repeatedly drawn attention to the Government of Iran’s consistent failure to respect fundamental rights and core ILO Conventions and issued many recommendations with respect to the government’s actions.
For this, we are closely monitoring the situation and liaising with the ILO, and we expect that the government of the Iran will immediately proceed to reverse the death penalty decision and commit to dialogue with the truckers,, leaders to address their legitimate demands. We look forward to receiving an urgent from your side on the matter.
Yours Sincerely,
Sharon Burrow ITUC General Secrtary, Sue Longley IUF General Secretary, Stephen Cotton ITF General Secretary , David Edwards EI General Secretary, Valter Sanches IndustriAll General Secretary