Interim Report - Report No 112, 1969

Case No 571 (Bolivia (Plurinational State of)) - Complaint date: 23-DEC-68 - Closed

1. 191. The complaint of the World Confederation of Labour is contained in three communications dated 23 December 1968, 30 December 1968 and 23 January 1969. The text of each of these communications was forwarded on receipt to the Government, which has made its observations on them in a communication dated 28 March 1969.
2. 192. Bolivia has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), but not the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 193. The complainants alleged in a telegram dated 23 December 1968 that Mr. Alejandro Barrisueta, a leader of the Bolivian Trade Union Action (ASIB), which is affiliated to the Latin American Confederation of Christian Trade Unionists, itself affiliated to the World Confederation of Labour, had been arrested and imprisoned at La Paz with other miners' leaders and held incommunicado.
2. 194. In a letter dated 23 January 1969 the complainants give the following details concerning this aspect of the affair. Mr. Barrisueta and many other active trade unionists were arrested on 19 December 1968; on 24 December the ASIB applied for a writ of habeas corpus with a view to securing the release of Mr. Barrisueta, since all the other arrested workers had been released " thanks to pressure by the workers, by various advanced elements in the country and by international organisations and to intervention by the Bolivian Catholic Church ".
3. 195. When the writ of habeas corpus had been applied for to secure the release of Mr. Barrisueta, the complainants go on the Bolivian authorities informed the ASIB that he had been banished to Ixiamas. " The sole purpose of this measure ", the complainants asserted, " was to avoid his appearing before the law courts."
4. 196. " What is clear ", they continue, " is that, according to the authorities, Mr. Barrisueta was released on the night of 24 December. The information we have received shows that he was subjected to severe physical torture during his imprisonment, but the most serious part of the affair is that his whereabouts are unknown. All the signs suggest that Mr. Barrisueta is being held by the police so that the lamentable physical state he has been placed in by the torture shall not be known. "
5. 197. Another aspect of the case can be seen in the communication dated 30 December 1968 from the complainant organisation, which gives information supplied to it by the ASIB. On the occasion of elections held in the Siglo XX mines, four groups were seeking the leadership of the union: the independents, the official list, the GRIT and the Christian Democrat Party. The representatives of the four groups appeared before the Regional Labour Inspector for the Llallagua district to establish an agreement that the winning group, whichever it might be, would be recognised by the Ministry of Labour in the exercise of its functions.
6. 198. The independents gained the election by a large majority, " since it genuinely represents the mining working class, which has full confidence in its leadership ". It appears, however, that the agreement has been violated by the Government, through the Ministry of Labour, which refuses to recognise the managing committee and insists that the minority group, namely the official list, shall be incorporated in it to the extent of 50 per cent.
7. 199. The workers, according to the complainants, do not accept this arrangement and have taken many steps to have it annulled. All attempts at a peaceful settlement have been exhausted, all attempts to establish a dialogue and understanding with the Ministry of Labour have been useless, and the Ministry maintains its uncompromising position.
8. 200. The Government, in its observations, begins by stating that it is not unusual for professional agitators, working against the background of Castro-communist guerrilla warfare, to endeavour both inside and outside the country to cloak their subversive activities by making accusations before the international organisations concerning the violation of human and trade union rights in Bolivia. These procedures, the Government continues, are intended to maintain a persistent violation of the national laws and to create a climate of anarchy and chaos in the country.
9. 201. In reply to the allegations that have been made, the Government confines itself to stating that Mr. Barrisueta is not registered as an officer of any trade union organisation recognised in the country and that the ASIB has no legal existence, since it has no documents establishing its legal personality, a fact that excludes its assuming the right to represent the workers.
10. 202. The Government therefore ends by suggesting that the Committee should first determine the legal status of the ASIB and that it is only when the Government has seen the findings of the Committee in this connection that it will be able to deal officially with any request for information and observations.
11. 203. The Government, in its present observations, appears to suggest that, since the ASIB has no legal existence, the allegations contained in the present complaint are inadmissible.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 204. A first comment is called for. If, in the absence of recognition by the authorities or of registration-which itself may be the result of a failure by the organisation concerned or of a refusal by the authorities-or for any other reason, ASIB has no legal existence, it nevertheless has a de facto existence as borne out by its membership of an organisation affiliated to the complainant organisation.
2. 205. A second, even more important observation must be made. The complainant is not in fact the ASIB but the World Confederation of Labour, an organisation that has consultative status with the ILO and in relation to which no question of receivability can arise.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 206. In these circumstances-and in view of the extreme seriousness of some of the allegations made-the Committee considers that it ought to recommend the Governing Body:
   • (a) to urge the Government to be good enough to reply without delay to the allegations that Mr. Barrisueta has been arrested and tortured and to state where he is at present;
   • (b) to request the Government to be good enough to present its observations concerning the allegations analysed in paragraphs 197 to 199 above relating to the trade union elections carried out in the Siglo XX mines;
   • (c) to request the complainant organisation to be good enough to give all relevant information concerning the trade union functions of Mr. Barrisueta;
   • (d) to take note of this interim report, on the understanding that the Committee will submit a new report when it is in possession of the information specified in the three preceding subparagraphs.
     • Geneva, 27 May 1969. (Signed) Roberto AGO, Chairman.