Gabon

On 5 February 2020, four union leaders were arrested in Libreville, Gabon, during the demonstration of Dynamique Unitaire, the country's leading trade union organisation, to challenge the government's austerity plan. Using the pretext of the ongoing meetings concerning the reform of the Labour Code on 4 February, the Ministry of Interior pre-emptively banned the demonstration. The trade union leaders decided to go ahead with the planned demonstration, but the authorities sent in the police force, which brutally repressed the protesters and arrested the union leaders.

In Gabon, striking workers at the navy base stevedoring and shipping company Satram in Port-Gentil were set upon by police on 1 October 2020. The strike, which had been ongoing since 25 September to protest 24 months’ salary arrears, ended with violence against the workers by security forces, and the arrest of seven employees.