Interim Report - REPORT_NO199, March 1980

283. Case No. 929 was examined by the Committee in May 1979 when it submitted interim conclusions thereon, approved by the Governing Body at its 210th Session. The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) presented allegations which were treated in Case No. 938, and the two cases together were considered by the Committee and further interim conclusions were submitted to the Governing Body which approved them at its 211th Session. The Government has submitted additional information in a letter dated 26 December 1979.

1. 283. Case No. 929 was examined by the Committee in May 1979 when it submitted interim conclusions thereon, approved by the Governing Body at its 210th Session. The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) presented allegations which were treated in Case No. 938, and the two cases together were considered by the Committee and further interim conclusions were submitted to the Governing Body which approved them at its 211th Session. The Government has submitted additional information in a letter dated 26 December 1979.
2. 284. Honduras has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 285. The allegations arise, in part, from events which took place on 6 March 1979 in the Bemis Handal textile plant in San Pedro Sula. According to the Latin American Central of Workers (CLAT), the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), the intervention of the police and security forces to break up the workers' strike and their occupation of the plant resulted in the burning down of the plant and the death of several workers. The WFTU provided a list of trade unionists and professors who had allegedly beau arrested for organising a strike in Honduras.
2. 286. In its previous replies, the Government stated that during the incidents on 6 March 1979, the fire was deliberately started in the Bemis Handai undertaking by the occupants with the intention of destroying it. Investigations led to the detention of 11 persons who remained at the disposal of the criminal judge, and according to the Government's statements no account was taken of their trade union affiliation in the decision of this judge to detain them. The Government confirmed the death of one worker, indicating that he had been shot with a .22 calibre weapon not used by the public security forces and stated that judicial proceedings were underway into the death of this worker. In a later communication the Government stated that two of the persons detained had requested and been granted medical examinations which resulted in their release on bail, along with another detainee.
3. 287. At its November 1979 Session, the Governing Body, on the recommendation of the Committee, requested the Government to provide the texts of the judgements and to transmit its observations about the WFTU complaint.
4. 288. In its letter of 26 December 1979, the Government indicates that, on 21 December 1979 two more of the persons detained, Messrs. Adalberto Córdova Turcios and Tómas Nativi, have also been released on bail following medical examinations. The other remaining persons under investigation for the events at the Bemis Handal plant are still detained in San Pedro Sula. Judicial proceedings concerning the eleven persons who had been arrested are still underway.