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Around 100 riot police stopped striking civil servants in the Central African Republic (CAR) from holding a rally in the capital Bangui on Saturday by sealing off the headquarters of the largest trade union.
Labour Minister Jacques Bothy acknowledged that the police acted illegally.
"Security forces violated workers' rights," Bothy told IRIN. "The trade union headquarters is an international zone under the control of the International Labour Organization".
He said the police action complicated "the whole negotiation process" to find a solution to the ongoing strike.
Civil servants have been on strike since October demanding up to 45 months of salary arrears. In mid-November the government pledged to pay two months of their salaries before the end of the month but the government only paid one month. The Union syndicale des travailleurs de Centrafrique has told its members to continue the strike until the government pays another month's arrears.
In a letter published on Monday, the union said, "The regime has shown that it is willing to repress peaceful demonstrations and take away people's individual and collective rights."
The letter called on the people of the CAR to be vigilant against what it said could evolve into a new dictatorship, and it vowed to take the government to court.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
