CMNT_TITLE

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Guatemala (RATIFICATION: 1952)

Other comments on C087

Observation

Direct Request

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Sections 256, 292, 294 and 414 of the Penal Code. The Committee recalls that in its previous comments: (i) it examined allegations by the Guatemalan Trade Union, Indigenous and Rural Movement (MSICG) asserting that sections 256, 292, 294 and 414 of the Penal Code facilitated the criminalization of peaceful labour protests by means of an excessively broad and subjective characterization of common offences (such as the usurpation of buildings or the paralysation of means of transport); (ii) it noted the Government’s reply indicating that the penal provisions referred to were focussed on safeguarding the whole of the population, and it should be borne in mind that the mere fact of legally regulating illicit conduct does not entail the suppression of labour or trade union rights by the State; and (iii) on the basis of the foregoing, it requested the Government to provide specific information on any instances in which any of the sections of the Penal Code referred to above had been applied in practice in the case of labour protests.

The Committee notes the Government’s reply, which refers to information provided by the Special Human Rights Section of the Office of the Public Prosecutor. The Special Section indicates that none of the cases submitted by the MSICG contain elements related to labour protests. Clarifying that its request was not confined to cases submitted by a specific trade union, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide specific information on any instances in which any of the above-mentioned sections of the Penal Code have been applied to any form of labour protests in practice.