Interim Report - Report No 122, 1971

Case No 632 (Brazil) - Complaint date: 08-JUN-70 - Closed

1. 127. The complaint of the Latin American Federation of Christian Trade Unions (CLASC) is set forth in a communication dated 8 June 1970; that of the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) in a communication dated 17 June 1970 and that of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) in a communication dated 19 June 1970.
2. 128. On 3 July 1970 the texts of these communications were transmitted to the Government for its observations. The Government replied by a communication dated 27 October 1970.
3. 129. On 30 November 1970 the WCL communicated a number of further allegations. On 10 December 1970 the text of the communication was transmitted to the Government for its observations. To date no reply has been received from the Government on the subject of these latest allegations.
4. 130. Brazil has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), but not the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 131. The complainants allege in their communications of June 1970 that a trade unionist of São Paulo, Mr. Olavo Hansen, was arrested together with sixteen of his colleagues during the officially authorised May Day celebrations at the sports ground " Maria Zélia " in São Paulo. It is further alleged that Hansen was subjected to lengthy interrogation by the Political Police (the DOPS) and so badly treated that when he got back to his cell he could no longer stand. For several days he was abandoned to his cot; he could neither get up, nor speak, nor urinate. On 13 May his corpse was found near the Ipiranga Museum: it was covered with lesions and contusions-the product of the brutal tortures to which he had been subjected. His death was officially registered on 9 May 1970, but his family was only informed on 13 May 1970 (the date on which his corpse was discovered).
2. 132. In addition to the allegations relating to the arrest, torture and killing of Mr. Olavo Hansen, two of the complainants (the WCL and the WFTU) allege (without, however, giving details) that a similar fate befell Mr. Salvador Tolezano who was, at the time of his death, a leader of the Bank Employees' Union. The Committee dealt with these allegations in its 120th Report (see Case No. 623).
3. 133. Two of the complainants (the WCL and CLASC) ask for the establishment by the ILO of a commission of inquiry to carry out an on-the-spot investigation in Brazil in view of the repeated and serious infringements of freedom of association and human rights in that country.
4. 134. The WCL in its communication of 30 November 1970 alleges that a number of other trade union leaders have been persecuted as follows for carrying out trade union activities: Victorio Chinagli, President of the Male Nurses' Union of Campinas (State of São Paulo), was kept in custody from April until August 1970 and was maltreated by the police during interrogation; Dr. Marco Aurelio, a trade union counsel working in Campinas (State of São Paulo), was kept in custody during the month of April and was tortured during the preliminary interrogation; it is not known whether or not be is still in prison; Aristocles Batista, President of the Railwaymen's Union, Ferro Leopoldina (Rio de Janeiro), has been condemned to eight years' imprisonment; Ahuera, also from Ferro Leopoldina, has been condemned to several years' imprisonment after having been tortured while awaiting trial.
5. 135. The Government, in its communication of 27 October 1970, replies to the complainants' allegations concerning Mr. Olavo Hansen. The Government's reply essentially consists in a summary Magistrate of an official investigation carried out by the Public Prosecutor's Office to determine the cause of death of Mr. Olavo Hansen. According to this information, Olavo Hansen and certain others were arrested on 1 May 1970 at the " Vila Maria Zélia " Sports Stadium and a police inquiry was initiated into their attempt against the security of the State, that is to say, for having distributed subversive pamphlets. The Government advises that Hansen was a militant member of the Trotskyist wing who had already been brought to trial before a military court in 1964 and who maintained contact with individuals charged with crimes against national security as well as being an agent for the newspaper " Frente Operaria " (an organ of the Revolutionary Workers' Labour Party).
6. 136. The Government further states that " after Hansen had passed through the No. 1 Police Battalion and the Operação Bandeirantes (OBAN) ", he was interrogated by the Department of Political and Social Order (DOPS) on 4 May 1970. Mr. Dias, who carried out the preliminary questioning, noted that at the time " he showed no signs of any injury or ill treatment ".
7. 137. It is further stated that on 8 May Hansen said he did not feel well and asked for a doctor. He was examined by Dr. Ciscato (the physician of the Policlinic of the Department of Political and Social Order), who ordered him to be taken to the Army General Hospital in Rio Paulo, where he was given a bed and suitable treatment. He died at about 6 a.m. the following morning (9 May): the cause of death was established by the duty doctor at the hospital as being kidney failure due to a chronic and finally acute condition. The post-mortem report of the same date stated that internal examination of the body was negative from the anatomopathological and forensic standpoints. However, a toxicological examination of the stomach content, of the liver and of a blood sample was positive in revealing the existence of the insecticide " Paration ".
8. 138. The Government further states that up to the evening of his arrest Hansen had been working at the " Industria Agro-Pecuaria ", an undertaking which handles fertilisers and insecticides, the latter including a product called " Paration ". While it was not established that he had any of this product on his person at the time of his arrest the police thought it possible that he might have had some hidden in his clothing or about his person. The Government further advises that Dr. Ciscato claims that when he examined Hansen on the night of 8 May, Hansen told him that he had long suffered from kidney trouble and was in fact undergoing treatment for it: Dr. Ciscato was of the opinion that Hansen died from kidney failure.
9. 139. The Government states, in conclusion, that the investigation into the cause of Hansen's death revealed exogenous poisoning by the insecticide " Paration " (as the most likely cause of death) since all the evidence went to show that at the time of his arrest he had either a quantity of this poison on his person, or else was suffering from chronic poisoning which led to kidney failure. The Government accordingly maintains that since he was in this condition prior to his admission to the military hospital and since he received proper medical treatment at the hospital, his death was natural and could not therefore be attributed to any third parties.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 140. In cases of this kind, where it is alleged that the death of a person has a direct bearing on the exercise of trade union rights, the Committee has invariably stressed the desirability of the Government instituting an immediate and impartial inquiry in order to elucidate the facts and to determine responsibilities. In the present case it would appear from the Government's reply that an inquiry was held and that the inquiry concluded that no third party could be held responsible for Hansen's death.
2. 141. The Committee, however, feels bound to point out that while the inquiry concluded that Hansen died on 9 May 1970 as a result of " Paration " poisoning operating on a kidney condition, the Government does not present any comments or observations with regard to the allegation that Hansen's bruised and battered corpse had been found outside the Museum of Ipiranga on 13 May 1970, the day on which Hansen's family were notified of his death. The Committee requires further information from the Government in order to enable it to come to conclusions on this part of the complaint. Accordingly, it recommends the Governing Body to ask the Government for its observations on these allegations together with the text of the decision rendered by the court and the grounds adduced therefor.
3. 142. As regards the requests made by CLASC and the WCL on 8 and 17 June 1970 respectively for the establishment by the ILO of a commission of inquiry to carry out an on-the-spot investigation in Brazil in view of the repeated and serious infringements of freedom of association and human rights in that country, the Committee considers it premature to make any recommendation concerning these requests until the Government has had an opportunity of providing this further information.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 143. In all these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) (i) to take note of the inquiry instituted by the Government to determine the probable cause of Mr. Olavo Hansen's death;
   • (ii) to ask the Government to explain in detail the procedure followed in the interrogation of Mr. Olavo Hansen;
   • (iii) to ask the Government for its observations on the allegations according to which Mr. Olavo Hansen's bruised and battered corpse was found outside the Museum of Ipiranga on 13 May 1970, together with the text of the decision rendered by the court and the grounds adduced therefor;
   • (b) to request the Government to furnish its observations on the allegations relating to Messrs. Victorio Chinagli, Aristocles Batista and Ahuera and Dr. Marco Aurelio;
   • c) to take note of this interim report on the understanding that it will submit a further report when it has received the additional information requested from the Government in sub-paragraphs (a) (ii) and (b) above.
     • Geneva, 25 February 1971. (Signed) Roberto AGO, Chairman.