Rapport intérimaire - Rapport No. 93, 1967

1. 287. In a letter dated 17 March 1966 sent directly to the I.L.O the Latin American Peasant Federation declared, in very general terms and without providing further details, that violent reprisals had been taken against the leaders of the Agrarian Trade Union Movement, an affiliate of the complaining organisation, and that Mr. Dario Cabrera Trillo had been assaulted; the nature of the assault was not specified.
2. 288. Before transmitting the complaint to the Government of Peru the Director-General notified the above-mentioned organisation, by a letter dated 1 April 1966, that any additional information it wished to submit in support of its complaint should be sent within one month's time. The complainants sent no further communication within the time stated.
3. 289. In another communication, dated 11 May 1966, the Latin American Peasant Federation submitted concrete allegations concerning the detention of the trade union leader mentioned above, which were conveyed to the Government by a letter dated 19 May 1966; the Government answered by a communication dated 21 June 1966 from the Permanent Delegation of Peru in Geneva.
4. 290. Peru 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. 291. In their communication dated 11 May 1966 the complainants state that Dario Cabrera Trillo, a rural trade union leader, was detained by the Military Intelligence Service of Peru on 2 May 1966, as he was going to the airport to travel to Mexico in order to attend a meeting of the Latin American Peasant Federation. According to the complainants, Mr. Cabrera Trillo was held incommunicado in the Control and Safety Section of that service until 6 May. It was not the first time that this trade union leader had suffered persecution at the hands of the police, since he had already been publicly pointed out in newspaper reports as a " communist leader who sows discord among rural workers "; the real reason why he was persecuted, however, was because of his energetic action on behalf of the organisation and defence of the rights of Peruvian rural workers. The complainants asked the I.L.O to make representations to the Government of Peru in order to obtain his release.
2. 292. In its reply dated 21 June 1966 the Government first refers in general terms to the existence of a state of law in Peru, guaranteed by the Constitution. It affirms that the country's judicial organisation guarantees the full and normal exercise of Constitutional rights, including those of petition, assembly and free movement, as well as habeas corpus when any one of those rights is violated. The system operated within an organised order under which individuals and institutions exercised their rights and fulfilled the obligations laid on them by civilised life and the respect due to the State. Any person charged under criminal law was assured, inter alia, of the right to be tried in accordance with pre-existing laws and the right of defence.
3. 293. In the specific case of the rural trade union leader Mr. Darío Cabrera Trillo the investigations carried out by the Government had, according to the latter, established beyond all doubt his persistent action as an agitator in the Satipo region and his participation in the revolutionary left-wing movement which was responsible for beginning the guerilla war in Peru; he was therefore placed at the disposal of the Second Police Section, which operated under a code that had been established for many years and amply guaranteed the right of defence.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 294. The Committee points out that in many previous cases, where allegations that trade union leaders or workers have been arrested or detained on account of trade union activities have been met by governments with statements that the arrests or detentions were made for subversive activities for reasons of internal security or for common law crimes, the Committee has always followed the rule that the governments concerned should be requested to submit further information as precise as possible concerning the arrests or detentions and the exact reasons therefor. If in certain cases the Committee has concluded that the allegations relating to the arrest or detention of active trade unionists do not call for further examination, this has been after it has received information from the governments showing in a sufficiently clear and detailed way that the arrests or detentions were in no way occasioned by trade union activities but solely by activities outside the trade union sphere which were either prejudicial to public order or of a political nature.
2. 295. The Committee further points out that in past cases in which the matters raised have been the subject of proceedings before a national judicial authority it has followed the practice, considering that the decisions given might make available information of assistance to it in appreciating whether or not allegations were well-founded, of requesting governments to communicate the text of the judgments given and the grounds adduced therein.
3. 296. Lastly, the Committee has always insisted, in all cases where trade union leaders have been detained either for political offences or for common law offences, on the importance it attaches to the right of all detained persons to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment by an impartial and independent judicial authority.
4. 297. In the present case the complainants allege that Mr. Cabrera Trillo was arrested because of his trade union activities and the Government replies that the arrest was motivated by his activities aimed at disturbing public order and armed subversion and that he had been brought to trial before the Second Police Section, whose procedural rules, it states, guarantee the right of defence.