Interim Report - REPORT_NO270, March 1990

1. 358. The complaint appears in a communication of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) dated 3 July 1989. The Government sent its observations in a communication dated 8 January 1990.
2. 359. The Dominican Republic has ratified both 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. The complainant's allegations

1. 360. In its communication of 3 July 1989 the ICFTU alleges that, although during the 48-hour strike called for 19 June 1989 by most of the trade union organisations of the country (including the CNTD, affiliated to the ICFTU) to protest against the Government's economic policy, the workers demonstrated peacefully, the police and armed forces reacted extremely violently. They fired on peaceful demonstrators, killing three, wounding dozens and arrested over 3,000 people throughout the country. The ICFTU calls for an inquiry into the death of the workers and the unconditional release of all those under arrest.

B. The Government's reply

1. 361. In its communication of 8 January 1990 the Government states that the 48-hour general strike from Monday 19 June 1989, which was called by certain social groups and political parties opposed to the constitutional Government, failed as a protest against the current economic policy because of the incoherent and disorganised way in which it was run by the political groups behind it. As a result it collapsed of its own accord within less than 24 hours. It was a political protest aimed at destabilising the Government in which a number of trade union organisations, including the Unified Workers' Confederation (CUT), were set up as guinea pigs. The Government makes the point that the country's trade union organisations are openly and officially linked to the various political parties and that many of their officials are recognised political leaders.
2. 362. The Government adds that it respected the decision to call a general strike as it believes that opposition groups of workers and of the people have a legitimate right to protest in a country that recognises their full democratic rights, provided they do not pose a threat to public law and order.
3. 363. Instead of the strikers holding a peaceful demonstration however, states the Government, the general strike degenerated within 20 hours into street fighting, public disorder and the destruction of public and private property. The national police and the armed forces therefore found themselves obliged to intervene in order to restore law and order in certain parts of the city of Santo Domingo and of other towns in the interior of the country. In the process it proved necessary to arrest and hand over to the ordinary courts of law those people who were caught disturbing the peace or breaking into private premises. By decision of the President of the Republic, most of these people were released unconditionally just hours after the strike ended; others were formally charged with the offences stated above.
4. 364. The Government stresses that the deaths that occurred in the country on 19 and 20 June were totally unrelated to the general strike, and were isolated incidents taken advantage of by the groups backing the strike who attributed them to the police. Several people were wounded while resisting arrest.
5. 365. The Government concludes that while the strike was actually in progress no repressive measures whatsoever were taken against its backers and militants and that the arrests that were made were for the reasons given.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 366. The Committee observes that the allegations of the complainant organisation and the Government's reply contradict one another: on the one hand, according to the ICFTU, the police and armed forces reacted extremely violently during the general strike of 19 June 1989, firing on peaceful demonstrators, killing three, wounding dozens and arresting over 3,000 people throughout the country; the Government, on the other hand, claims that the deaths were totally unrelated to the general strike but were taken advantage of by its backers, that the arrests during the strike effected persons caught fighting in the streets, causing public disorder and destroying property and that several people were wounded while resisting arrest by the police. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, most of those arrested were released when the strike ended and that others were formally charged with the offences referred to.
2. 367. In view of the contradiction between the allegations and the Government's reply, the Committee can only deplore that these acts of violence resulted in three deaths and a considerable number of wounded, and request the Government to inform it of developments and of the outcome in the criminal proceedings initiated in connection with the aforementioned deaths and against those persons who are still under arrest (including the text of the judgements handed down), so that it has sufficient information at its disposal to be able to reach conclusions on the allegations.