Interim Report - REPORT_NO256, June 1988

1. 238. The Committee had already examined Case No. 1168 at its meetings in May 1983, May 1984, February-March 1986 and May 1987 (see 226th, 234th, 243rd and 251st Reports of the Committee) and Case No. 1273 at its meetings in November 1984, February-March 1986 and May 1987 (see 236th, 243rd and 251st Reports of the Committee).
2. 239. At its meeting in November 1987, the Committee pointed out that the Government had stated in a communication that it would shortly be transmitting its observations on these cases (Nos. 1168 and 1273) (see 253rd Report, para. 8). Since then new allegations have been received from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) dated 14 July 1987, the United Trade Union Federation of El Salvador (FUSS) dated 11 April 1988 and the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) dated 27 April 1988. The Government sent certain observations on 2 September 1987 concerning the allegations made by ICFTU.
3. 240. As the Committee had not received any information from the Government since then on a large number of pending allegations, at its meeting in February-March 1988 it drew the attention of the Government to the fact that, according to the procedure established in Paragraph 17 of its 127th Report, approved by the Governing Body, it would present at its next meeting a report on the substance of the cases in question even if the information and observations requested from the Government had not been received in time. Consequently, the Committee appealed to the Government to transmit its observations as a matter of urgency (see 254th Report, para. 13). Up to the present date, no new information has been received from the Government.
4. 241. El Salvador has ratified neither the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) nor the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Previous examination of the cases

1. 242. At its latest examination of the substance of Cases Nos. 1168 and 1273 (May 1987 (251st Report)) certain questions remained pending before the Committee. The Committee had in particular requested that (Case No. 1168):
   • - a judicial inquiry should be undertaken into the disappearance of the trade union leaders Elsy Márquez and José Sánchez Gallegos;
   • - further information should be provided on the arrest of some trade union members who were being held in custody and/or tried, indicating in particular the specific charges brought against them. The Government had reported that these persons were not in any of the detention centres in the country, but that it would ascertain whether they had been held at some stage in police security centres. The Committee also requested that (Case No. 1273):
   • - a judicial inquiry be instituted into the alleged murder of the trade unionists Francisco Méndez and Marco Antonio Orantes (the Government had reported that the former had disappeared but that no state security body knew anything about his disappearance);
   • - it should be informed of the progress in the trial concerning the murder of the trade union leader José Aréstides Mejéa;
   • - it should be sent additional information on the arrest of Adalberto Martínez (23 June 1986), a member of the ANDA Workers' Union; Andrés Miranda (27 June 1986), a member of the FUSS, and Gregorio Aguillón Ventura (1 February 1986), who had been arrested by the rural police (policéa de hacienda) and allegedly placed at the disposal of a military court, accused of political and related offences, as well as José Antonio Rodríguez (18 August 1986), a member of the Building Workers' Trade Union, arrested by armed men in civilian clothing while he was on his way to the Construction Company "Bruno Tonza" where he worked. It requested indications as to the specific reasons for these arrests and whether the persons concerned had already been released;
   • - observations should be transmitted on the raid of the ANDES premises on 20 April 1986 by members of the armed forces, who confiscated documents and part of the files of the organisation, including the list of members;
   • - observations should be sent on the dismissal of six trade union leaders in the telecommunications sector as a result of the strike called on 15 April 1986.

B. New allegations

1. 243. In a communication dated 14 July 1987 the ICFTU denounces the fact that on 8 July 1987 during a mass meeting organised by the Workers' Union of the Social Security Institute, which was on strike for socio-economic demands, the strikers were violently repressed by military forces stationed inside the Institute building. The communication adds that the military fired against the demonstrators, injuring a number of people more or less severely, and that the Social Security Institute subsequently continued to be occupied by military forces (Case No. 1273).
2. 244. The United Trade Union Federation of El Salvador (FUSS), in a communication of 11 April 1988, alleges that on 10 April at 2.00 a.m. the house of Mrs. Marta Castaneda, a member of the Coffee Union (SICAFE) and leader of the Women's Committee of that union, was blown up. The building, at number 21, Colonia Lamatepec, Pasaje F, Zona D, in the town of Santa Ana, was completely destroyed, together with all that was in it. The communication from the FUSS states that five minutes after the attack against the trade unionist Castaneda and her son, who were fortunately not in the building, a unit of the Second Infantry Brigade of the same town, accompanied by the rural police, appeared on the scene. On 7 and 8 April, the Colonia was surrounded and searched by members of the Second Infantry Brigade who kept it sealed off until 2.00 p.m. on 8 April when the trade unionist Castaneda was allowed to leave. Finally, the communication denounces the persecution of the trade unionist Marta Alicia Sigüenza, a member of the general executive committee of SICAFE, who has been unable to come to her place of work, the San Ignacio Co-operative, and has been forced to hide for fear of being killed by the government forces (Case No. 1273).
3. 245. In a communication of 27 April 1988, the WFTU alleges the persecution of members of the Union of Salvadorian Telecommunications Workers (ASTTEL), in particular its General Secretary, Mr. Raphael Sanchez, who was dismissed, and the current General Secretary, Mr. Humberto Centeno, who was arrested and beaten. It also alleges the detention and torture of Mr. Centeno's two sons as a means of pressuring the Union, and the death at the hands of death squads of the unionists Victor Manuel Hérnandez Vasquez, Medardo Ceferino Ayala and José Herbert Guardado.

C. The Government's reply

1. 246. On 2 September 1987 the Government sent its observations concerning the incidents that had occurred at the Salvadorian Social Security Institute and been denounced by ICFTU, stating that on the morning of 8 July 1987 a group of trade union members were demonstrating in front of the administrative offices of the Institute. Acting on higher orders, members of the national police were guarding the building and 85 per cent of the staff who were working at the time. The Government's communication states that the demonstrators entered by force, breaking through the safety cordon and, in spite of the repeated appeals of the officials to remain calm and reasonable, threw themselves on the police, attacking them with clubs in which nails were embedded and shoving them, injuring several of them as a result. After these violent actions on the part of the demonstrators, shots were heard and the security forces spread out to seek cover and ascertain where the shots came from. Two members of the police, as well as two national television journalists, were wounded by bullets. The communication adds that the Government condemns this type of action, whose planning had been denounced on various occasions as forming part of the politico-military strategy of the FMLN-FDR to bring about a confrontation between these unions and the authorities in order to destabilise the democratic process and tarnish the image of the Government in national and international public opinion.

D. The Committee's conclusions

1. 247. Before examining the substance of the cases, the Committee considers it necessary to recall the views that it expressed in its First Report (para. 31) and which it has had occasion to repeat in various circumstances: the purpose of the whole procedure set up in the ILO for the examination of allegations of violations of freedom of association is to promote respect for trade union rights in law and in fact. As the procedure protects governments against unreasonable accusations, governments on their side should formulate, so as to allow objective examination, detailed replies to the allegations brought against them. The Committee wishes to stress that, in all the cases presented to it since it was first set up, it has always considered that the replies from governments against whom complaints are made should not be limited to general observations.
2. 248. The Committee deeply regrets that the Government has not sent all the information requested by the Committee on these cases and that, in view of the time that has elapsed, it has had to consider them without having access to all the information necessary for a thorough examination.
3. 249. The Committee notes that the pending allegations concern the disappearance of the trade union leaders Elsy Márquez and José Sánchez Gallegos; the detention and/or proceedings against certain trade union members, in particular Raúl Baires, Francisco Gómez Calles, José Vidal Cortez, Luis Adalberto Díaz, Héctor Fernández, Héctor Hernández, Jorge Hernández, Carlos Bonilla Ortiz, Silvestre Ortiz, Maximiliano Montoya Pineda, Raúl Alfaro Pleitez, Roberto Portillo, Antonio Quintanilla and wife, Santos Cerrano, Auricio Alejandro Valenzuela, René Pompillo Vásquez, Manuel de la Paz Villalta and José Alfredo Cruz Vivas (Case No. 1168).
4. 250. The Committee also notes that there are allegations still pending concerning the alleged murder of the trade unionists Francisco Méndez and Marco Antonio Orantes; the progress of the trial relating to the murder of the trade union leader José Aréstides Mejéa; further details on the detention of Adalberto Martínez (23 June 1986) a member of the ANDA trade union, Andrés Miranda (27 June 1986) a member of the FUSS, Gregorio Aguillón Ventura (1 February 1986) who is believed to have been detained by the rural police and to have been placed at the disposal of a military court, accused of political and related crimes, and José Antonio Rodríguez (18 August 1986) a member of the Union of Workers of the Building Industry. Other allegations pending relate to the raid on the premises of ANDES by armed forces on 29 April 1986, when part of the files and documents of the organisation were seized together with the membership list, and to the dismissal of six trade union leaders in the telecommunications sector as a result of the strike called on 15 April 1986 (Case No. 1273).
5. 251. The Committee wishes to express its deep concern at the gravity and persistence of the allegations presented which relate to the disappearance, murder, detention and intimidation of a large number of trade unionists in El Salvador. Similarly it deplores the lack of additional information on the alleged violations of the fundamental human rights and freedom of association of the persons concerned. While bearing in mind Article 8 of Convention No. 87 according to which workers and employers and their respective organisations, like other persons or organised collectivities, must respect the law of the land, on condition that the said law does not impair the guarantees provided for in the Convention, the Committee wishes to underline the principle it has expressed on numerous occasions that a free trade union movement cannot develop in a system which does not guarantee fundamental rights, and especially the right of workers who are members of a union to meet on union premises, the right to free expression of opinion whether verbally or in writing, and the right of workers who are union members to be protected, in case of detention, by the guarantees of due legal process, which should be initiated as soon as possible. Similarly, the Committee would recall that a climate of violence such as that surrounding the murder or disappearance of trade union leaders is a serious obstacle to the exercise of trade union rights; such acts require stringent measures to be taken by the authorities. As regards the search of trade union premises, the resolution on trade union rights and their relation to civil liberties, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 54th Session (1970), states that the right to effective protection of trade union property is a fundamental civil liberty essential for the normal exercise of trade union rights.
6. 252. With respect to the denunciation made by ICFTU concerning the incidents that occurred on 8 July 1987 during a mass meeting organised by the Workers' Union of the Social Security Institute, the Committee takes note of the Government's information to the effect that it condemns this type of action and that the action in question is, in its opinion, part of the politico-military plans of an organisation bent on destabilising the Government. The Committee notes that the complainant's allegations and the comments of the Government give a contradictory version of events. It would recall that, in the past, when unrest broke out leading to loss of life and/or serious injuries, it had pointed out that the instigation of independent judicial inquiries by the government concerned is a particularly effective method for elucidating all the facts, determining responsibilities, punishing the guilty parties and preventing the repetition of such acts.
7. 253. Lastly, the Committee notes that the Government has not supplied its observations on the allegation made by the FUSS on 11 April 1988 concerning the bomb attack against the trade union leader Marta Castaneda and her son, or on the alleged persecution of the trade unionist Marta Alicia Sigüenza.