Interim Report - Report No 160, March 1977

1. 316. By a telegram dated 5 March 1976, the world Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) presented a complaint alleging interference with the exercise of trade union rights in Spain.
2. 317. The Government furnished its observations with respect to this complaint in letters dated 14 May and 26 October 1976.
3. 318. Spain 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. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 319. In its complaint, the world Federation of Trade anions alleges that the Spanish police intervened brutally in Vitoria to crush a demonstration by workers in support of their legitimate demands. The WFTU adds that, as a result of this intervention, two persons were killed and several were injured. The complainant organisation requests the ILO to intercede with the Government to secure respect for ILO principles concerning freedom of expression, the right to demonstrate and the right to strike, and the adoption of measures permitting Spanish workers to exercise their trade union and democratic rights in full freedom.
2. 320. In its first reply, the Government states that it deeply deplores the loss of human lives and the injuries resulting from the incidents which took place in Vitoria following acts of violence and public disturbances constituting a threat to the peace of the city, which it was the bounden duty of the forces of law and order to preserve.
3. 321. The Government adds that the forces of law and order acted with the greatest possible restraint and made use of their firearms only when forced to do so in self-defence, their lives being in danger.
4. 322. Following these incidents, charges were laid and legal proceedings were initiated, as a result of which two persons were deprived of their liberty, namely Jesús Fernandez Naves and Manuel Olabarria Bengoa. In its second communication the Government stated that these persons had finally been freed on 4 August 1976, in application of the Legislative Decree granting amnesty.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 323. In a number of cases in the past in which dispersal of public meetings or demonstrations by the police have involved loss of life, the Committee has attached great importance to the circumstances being fully investigated by an immediate and impartial inquiry and to the regular legal procedure being followed to determine the justification and responsibility for the action taken by the police.
2. 324. In the opinion of the Committee, it is not clear from the Government's reply whether such an inquiry has in fact been carried out.