Interim Report - Report No 99, 1967

Case No 479 (Nicaragua) - Complaint date: 12-MAY-66 - Closed

1. 16. The complaint is contained in a communication dated 12 May 1966 addressed to the Director-General by the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions (I.F.C.T.U.). The text of the complaint was transmitted to the Government by a letter dated 26 May 1966 to enable it to submit its observations.
2. 17. Besides the complaint of the I.F.C.T.U, which is admissible under the procedure in force since the complaining organisation is an international Organisation having consultative status with the I.L.O, several other complaints referring to the same occurrences have been received from trade union organisations operating in countries other than Nicaragua. On the recommendation of the Committee the Governing Body decided that these additional complaints could not be received under the procedure in force because they emanated from national organisations of workers in countries other than the one to which the complaints relate and having no direct interest in the matters raised in the allegations. The decisions of the Governing Body concerning the complaints dismissed as irreceivable were conveyed to the Government at the proper time.
3. 18. Concerning the complaint submitted by the I.F.C.T.U, the Committee, at its meeting held in November 1966, took note of a communication from the Government announcing the future submission of the observations for which it had been asked and decided to post pone it; consideration of the case until such time as it should have received those observations. At its meeting held in February 1967 the Committee again postponed its examination of this matter to the following session, since the Government's observations contained in its communication dated 3 February 1967 had been received too late.
4. 19. Nicaragua has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), or the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 20. In its communication dated 12 May 1966 the I.F.C.T.U alleges that Mr. Amadeo Vanegas, a leader of the Independent Trade Union Movement of Nicaragua (MOSAN), went to the locality of Santa Rosa del Peñón in order to hold a meeting with the workers of a chalk quarry. Upon his arrival he was detained by the local police in accordance with alleged orders from their superiors. The complainants add that Mr. Vanegas was taken on foot to the town limits of Santa Rosa del Peñón, where he was released, and that a member of MOSAN, Lidia Madariaga, who had witnessed the unlawful detention of Mr. Vanegas, followed him in order to see what happened and approached him after he had been released. " Shortly after ", the I.F.C.T.U goes on to state, " Lidia Madariaga was found dead on the road back to Santa Rosa del Peñón, with her skull crushed in." The complainants refer to the lack of safeguards for trade union rights and add that the facts they report are a flagrant violation of the Constitution and international standards of the I.L.O.
2. 21. In its communication dated 3 February 1967 the Government referred to the previous communications from the Director-General informing it of the Governing Body's decision that various complaints connected with this case were irreceivable on the basis of the recommendation made by the Committee on Freedom of Association and in accordance with the procedure in force.
3. 22. The Government further stated that the police and judicial authorities had investigated the circumstances of the death of Mrs. Lidia Madariaga and had ascertained that it was an ordinary crime passionnel and in no way connected with trade union matters; the murderer had been tried and sentenced. The Government added that it was refraining from sending the documents connected with the case " because the complaints lodged had been deemed irreceivable "; it had therefore considered the matter as closed and any subsequent request as being out of order.
4. 23. In view of this last statement the Committee wishes to point out that, in connection with the present case, the Government had been requested to supply its observations concerning the complaint lodged by the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions on 12 May 1966 (see paragraphs 16 and 17 above). The communications recalling the Government's attention to this request referred expressly to the complaint of the I.F.C.T.U which is the only text that has been transmitted to the Government for that purpose, being a receivable complaint in accordance with the procedure in force. Consequently, the fact that the Committee should have considered inadmissible other complaints relating to the same case does not prevent it from continuing its examination of the allegations made by the I.F.C.T.U.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 24. These allegations refer, first and foremost, to the action of the police who, by detaining and forcibly conducting Mr. Amadeo Vanegas away from his destination, prevented him from holding a meeting with a group of workers. The Government does not refer specifically in its observations to this aspect of the matter.
2. 25. As regards the death of Mrs. Lidia Madariaga which, according to the complainants seemed to have been the result of her trade union activities, the Government states that this crime had nothing to do with trade union matters and that the criminal had been tried and sentenced. The Government further states that it has not sent any documents relating to the judgments because it considered the examination of the case by the Committee as closed.
3. 26. The Committee, however, considers it appropriate to point out, as it has done in many previous cases, that it has regularly followed the practice, when called upon to examine matters which were the subject of national judicial proceedings, of requesting the governments concerned to furnish the text of the judgments pronounced and the grounds adduced therein, where it considered that this information would be of assistance to it in appreciating whether or not allegations were well founded.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 27. In these circumstances, before proceeding with its examination of the case, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to request the Government to be so good as to send its observations concerning the allegations to the effect that the trade union leader, Mr. Amadeo Vanegas, was detained and conducted outside the city limits by the police of Santa Rosa del Peñón because he had tried to hold a meeting with a group of workers;
   • (b) for the reasons set forth in paragraph 26 above, to request the Government to be good enough to furnish the text of the judgment pronounced on the murderer of the trade unionist Mrs. Lidia Madariaga, together with the grounds adduced therein;
   • (c) to take note of this interim report, it being understood that the Committee will submit a further report once it has received the observations and additional information referred to under subparagraphs (a) and (b) above.