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Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, 14 February 2017 ITUC Solidarity with COSATU Trial for Supporting the Palestinian Struggles Letter: Dear Bheki Ntshalintshali, COSATU General Secretary The International Trade Union Confederation [ITUC] stands in solidarity with Bongani Masuku, the International Relations Secretary of South African Trade Unions [COSATU], who is facing a trial before the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg today, 14 February 2017. We raise our concern by the fact that brother Bongani is charged with anti-semitism and hate-speech for solely defending and supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people and for the link of COSATU with the international solidarity movement against Israeli settlement in the Palestinian territories. Moreover, we denounce the South African Human Rights Commission [SAHRC] ruling which is clearly in contradiction with the provisions contained in section 9[06] of the South African Human Rights Commission Act, No. 54 of 1994 which stipulates that 'the procedure to be followed in conducting an investigation shall be determined by the Commission with due regard to the circumstances of each case'. We believe that the hastiness of the ruling constitutes a misuse of the mechanisms in which the Commission should operate in order to guarantee the respect and full realization of the rights enshrined in the constitution, including the right of freedom of expression. We consider the charges pressed against Bongani are a tool for further silencing the trade union movement and all supporters for Palestinian people's freedom. We stand in solidarity with COSATU to ensure that Bongani is guaranteed a fair trial and right to appeal and that his right to freedom of expression is duly respected as enshrined in the South African Constitution. We remain at your disposal for any solidarity action that might be needed in support of COSATU and brother Bongani in the upcoming period. Please do not hesitate to get back to us and share additional information and updates of the trial. Yours sincerely, Sharan Burrow ITUC General Secretary __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 14945 (20170216) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com ________________________________ [http://imageshack.com/a/img32/381/6b28.png] E-mail Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication is confidential and may be legal privileged. It is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and others authorised to received it. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in reliance of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. The views and opinions expressed in this e-mail are those of the sender unless clearly stated as those of South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU). SADTU accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss or damages incurred or suffered arising from the use of this e-mail or its attachments. SADTU does not warrant the integrity of this e-mail nor that it is free of errors, viruses, interception or interference. -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/yclsa-eom-forum/533A2CE396AEAF46A12C809E9F98070501D0965177%40sadtuex01.SADTU.org.za. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
