Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 380, October 2016

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 68. The Committee last examined this case, which concerns allegations of the promotion of trade union organizations in the construction sector containing persons engaged in violent and criminal activities, at its June 2013 meeting [see 368th Report, paras 799–810]. On that occasion, the Committee invited the Government to provide follow-up to the initiatives to combat violence in the construction sector within the framework of the national tripartite dialogue body.
2. 69. The Federation of Civil Construction Workers of Peru (FTCCP) provided follow-up in a communication dated 6 November 2013, in which it: (i) alluded again to the existence of mafia organizations operating under the guise of trade unions in the construction sector, and reported that the violence and climate of fear they generated were continuing to increase and were restricting freedom of association; (ii) stated that the FTCCP had been excluded from the Multi-Sectoral Commission created in 2012 to implement remedial action for the problem; (iii) alleged that the criminal organizations were planning to murder certain FTCCP leaders and workers who defied them by exercising their freedom of association; and (iv) reported that trade union leader, Mr Jesús Aníbal Ruiz Díaz, had been murdered on 21 October 2013 while leaving the trade union premises alongside Mr Jorge Sánchez Ramírez, a union member, who suffered serious bodily injury. The complainant also provided further details as to the identity of the suspects, who had since been arrested by the police.
3. 70. In its communication of 21 May 2014, the Government reported that the suspected perpetrators of the murder and injury had been handed over to the Public Prosecutor and that a criminal investigation was ongoing.
4. 71. Expressing its concern over the seriousness of the allegations, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the criminal investigation and proceedings relating to the murder of Mr Jesús Aníbal Ruiz Díaz and the injury of Mr Jorge Sánchez Ramírez. Additionally, recalling the importance of implementing measures to ensure that trade union rights can be exercised under normal conditions in a climate free of violence, pressure, fear and threats of any kind, and also of involving the trade unions concerned, such as the FTCCP, in the process of establishing those measures, the Committee requests the Government to inform it of the initiatives adopted in relation to the allegations of violence and threats made against trade union leaders and members in the construction sector.