COTE D’IVOIRE: UNIONIST SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS IN PRISON

Dear Minister,

I am writing this letter to urge the Ivoirian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the arbitrarily detained unionist, Ghislain Duggary Assy.

Ghislain Duggary Assy is the Communications Secretary of the Movement of Teachers for the Dignity Dynamic union. He was arrested on the night of April 2 to 3 by hooded men at his home, just before the coalition of teachers’ unions were due to strike on April 3 and 4. He was questioned the same night at the police headquarters, in the absence of a lawyer.

On April 8, Ghislain Duggary Assy was sentenced to two years imprisonment for “coalition of public officials” and “obstructing the operation of the public service’. An appeal was filed by his lawyer the day after the conviction; the hearing date remains pending.

Ghislain Duggary Assy’s peaceful action to call for strike to demand, among others, the upgrading of quarterly bonuses for teachers, is not a crime. His conviction and a dozen arrests following the strike notice sent to the Minister of Education on March 21, 2025, constitute a flagrant violation of workers’ human rights, in particular the rights to freedom of expression, strike, and association.

I therefore call upon you to ensure that Ghislain Duggary Assy’s conviction and sentence is quashed, and that he is immediately and unconditionally released, as he is being detained solely for his peaceful human rights activism.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]