Interim Report - Report No 127, 1972

Case No 396 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 01-OCT-64 - Closed

1. 151. In February 1966 the Committee submitted to the Governing Body an interim report on this case, which is contained in paragraphs 234 to 242 of its 87th Report.$
2. 152. Guatemala 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. 153. The Committee recalls that the complaint related to the imprisonment of the leader of the Guatemalan Social Federation of Christian Peasants, Mr. Paz Muralles. The Government stated, in reply to the allegation, that Muralles was on trial for murder and maintained that this fact had nothing to do with freedom of association.
2. 154. In accordance with the practice followed by the Committee in similar cases in which pending proceedings might make available information of assistance to it in appreciating whether or not allegations were well founded, the Committee, when it first examined the case in February 1965, recommended the Governing Body to request the Government to supply a copy of the judgement pronounced in the case against Mural les and the grounds on which it was based. The Government subsequently, in December 1965, transmitted a copy of a report submitted by the Court Martial Judge of the Military Base of Puerto Barrios to the Chairman of the Judiciary on 19 August 1965. This report referred to the case against Muralles and stated that the trial was still in progress, having reached its final phase, on the conclusion of which sentence would be passed.
3. 155. The Committee, accordingly, at its session in February 1966, recommended the Governing Body to request the Government once again to be good enough to forward the text of the judgement and the grounds on which it was based as soon as it became available. Since that date, despite repeated requests, the Government has not supplied the information which the Committee requires to enable it to reach definitive conclusions in this case.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 156. In these circumstances, the Committee wishes to draw the attention of the Government to the fact that the purpose of the whole procedure is to promote respect for trade union rights in law and in fact, and, if it protects governments against unreasonable accusations, governments for their part should recognise the importance, for the protection of their own good name, of formulating for objective examination detailed factual replies to such detailed factual charges as may be put forward. In the present case, as in all cases involving pending judicial proceedings, the Committee has requested a copy of the judgement in the case against Mr. Paz Muralles and the grounds upon which it is based since it considers that this information will be of assistance in determining whether or not the allegations are well founded.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 157. In all these circumstances, and with regard to the case as a whole, the Committee accordingly recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to draw the Government's attention to the considerations set out in paragraph 156 above; and
   • (b) in view of the fact that it is more than five years since the text of the judgement was requested, to ask the Government, as a matter of urgency, to forward the said text and the grounds on which it is based, and meanwhile to postpone its examination of the case.