Ei-iE

The 8th Education International World Congress taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, in July 2019:

1. Education International (EI) and the Francophone Trade Union Committee for Education and Training (CSFEF) were informed of the imprisonment without trial of six Djiboutian teachers on 17 June 2019. A woman teacher who expressed support for her colleagues was also arrested but avoided prison only because she was pregnant.

2. Accusations by the Ministry of National Education have varied over time: first accused of having disclosed questions of the baccalaureate, the six teachers are now accused of having sold fake bac questions. These teachers, four of whom are trade union activists, who carry out their profession with seriousness and competence in Djibouti's high schools, have denied these accusations which seriously undermine their professional probity.

3. Despite a court decision to release them from jail conditionally on 24 June, confirmed by the investigating magistrate on 18 July, six teachers remain in detention in the sinister Gabode prison, probably on the direct intervention of the Minister of Education. In addition, the seven teachers are subject to a disciplinary procedure that could lead to their outright dismissal.

4. Alongside EI's two affiliated unions in Djibouti, SEP and SYNESED, as well as the Djibouti League for Human Rights (LDDH), the Djibouti Observatory for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights (OddH) and the Djibouti Workers’ Union (UDT),

the 8th Congress of Education International, meeting in Bangkok from 21 to 26 July,

5. expresses its supports to:

Mr. Mohamed Samireh, Professor of Economics,Mr. Abdoul-Mahin Hassan, Professor of Economics,Mr. Youssouf Mohamed Hamid, Professor of Philosophy,Mr. Moussa Djama Ali, Professor of History and Geography,Mr. Abdourazak Ibrahim, Professor of Mathematics,Mr. Kassim Abdoulkader, Professor of Mathematics,Ms Oumalkhaire Farah Robleh, Professor of Philosophy;

6. calls, in accordance with the various decisions of the judges, for the immediate release of the six teachers who have been imprisoned for more than a month;

7. calls for a halt to the proceedings, their return to work without punishment and retroactive payment of their suspended salaries;

8. condemns any attack on trade union freedoms: trade union activity must be a right around the world. Trade unions should be able to defend workers without interference and trade union officials in particular should not be punished for exercising their trade union activities.