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ACT NOW: appeal for the release of Côte d'Ivoire trade union leader

Issue date
Arrest of trade union leader

Stop the detention of Basile Mahan Gahé

June 2011

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is joining with Amnesty International (AI) in expressing our concerns for the safety of Basile Mahan Gahé, General Secretary of Ivorian trade union federation DIGNITÉ, affiliated to the International Trade Union Federation (ITUC).

Mr Gahé was arrested, without charge, at his home in Abidjan on 26 April by members of the Forces républicains de Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI) and detained at a police station in the Abidjan's Williamsville neighbourhood.

For several weeks his whereabouts were unknown and AI has since received through credible reports information that during the arrest he has been subjected torture and that he may be in poor health.

Repeated requests from an AI delegation who visited the country, between 3 and 18 June, to visit Mr Gahé were turned down, adding to the concerns about his safety and physical condition.

We ask you to please write immediately:

Call on the authorities to ensure that he is not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment and that he is immediately receives adequate medical care;

Urge that he be released immediately unless he is charged without delay with a recognisably criminal offence and granted such rights as unrestricted access to a lawyer and visits from his family;

Ask the authorities to disclose the reasons for his arrest and his legal status.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS to:

Hamed Bakayoko
Ministry of Interior
Abidjan
Côte d'Ivoire
Fax: 00225 20 32 32 27
Salutation: Dear Minister/Monsieur le Ministre

and send a copy to

Me Jeannot Kouadio Ahoussou
Ministry of Justice
Abidjan
Côte d'Ivoire
Fax: 00225 20 21 85 10
Salutation: Dear Minister/Monsieur le Ministre

PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR APPEAL TO:

HE Mr Philippe D Djangoné-Bi

Embassy of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire

2 Upper Belgrave Street

London SW1X 8BJ.

Fax: 020 7259 5320

Background information

Since the arrest of former President Laurent Gbagbo on 11 April 2011, real or presumed supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, including lawyers and journalists, have been targeted both in Abidjan and in other parts of the country, notably in the west. Some of them have had their homes looted, their offices destroyed and have had to flee, sometimes abroad. Others were arbitrarily detained, sometimes tortured and ill-treated or subjected to extrajudicial executions.

For information on the on the violation of trade union rights in Côte d'Ivoire see ITUC Annual Survey on Violations.

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