Interim Report - Report No 133, 1972

Case No 672 (Dominican Republic) - Complaint date: 12-JUN-71 - Closed

1. 300. This case has already been the subject of a report by the Committee, contained in paragraphs 114 to 118 of its 131st Report. In this report the Committee, and subsequently the Governing Body, noted that despite repeated requests, the Government had still not furnished its observations on the allegations made.
2. 301. Immediately after the Committee's session, held on 30 May 1972, the Director-General received the Government's observations, which are contained in a communication dated 25 May 1972.
3. 302. The Dominican Republic 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. 303. The complainants allege that according to information provided by their member organisation in the Dominican Republic-the National Union of Heavy-Machinery Operators-the headquarters of the UNACHOSIN and POASI unions were broken into and ransacked and that Mr. Albuquerque, General Secretary of the UNACHOSIN union, and 39 other workers, members of this organisation, were arrested. The complainants maintain that these acts were carried out by members of the national police force in collaboration with a private organisation connected with the Government and called the " Juventud Democrática Reformista Anticomunista ".
2. 304. In its observations, the Government states that " the furniture and premises belonging to the POASI and UNACHOSIN unions are private union property and, if they have been destroyed, the unions can apply to the courts for any damages sustained since the registration of a union, by conferring legal personality upon it, gives it power to institute court proceedings ".
3. 305. The Government adds that the premises of the UNACHOSIN union were handed back to the union's officers a few days after the incident and that " trade union activities in both the POASI and the UNACHOSIN are proceeding normally ".

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 306. While it notes that, according to the information related in the preceding paragraph, the situation in the POASI and UNACHOSIN unions appears to have returned to normal, the Committee also notes, from what is stated in paragraphs 304 and 305, that the Government does not deny that there had been such intervention.
2. 307. In these circumstances, the Committee finds itself obliged to recommend the Governing Body, as it did when it last examined the case:
   • (a) while it recognises that trade unions, like other associations or individuals, cannot claim immunity against a search of their premises, to emphasise the importance that should be attached to the principle that such a search should be made only following the issue of a warrant by the ordinary judicial authority, after that authority has been satisfied that reasonable grounds exist for supposing that such a search will provide the evidence required to prosecute for an offence under ordinary law, and provided that the search is limited to the purposes in respect of which the warrant was issued;
   • (b) to draw the Government's attention to the fact that the International Labour Conference, at its 54th Session (Geneva, 1970), in its resolution concerning trade union rights and their relation to civil liberties, considered that the right to protection of trade union property was one of those civil liberties which are essential to the normal exercise of trade union rights.
3. 308. As regards the allegations concerning the arrest of Mr. Albuquerque, General Secretary of the UNACHOSIN union, and of 39 other workers, members of this organisation, the Committee notes that the Government has made no reference to this matter in its observations.
4. 309. The Committee recalls that, in all cases involving the arrest, detention or sentencing of trade union leaders, the Committee itself and the Governing Body, taking the view that individuals should be presumed innocent until found guilty, have considered that it was for the Government to show that the measures it had taken were in no way occasioned by the trade union activities of the persons concerned.
5. 310. The Committee further recalls that in cases of this kind, when the Committee itself and the Governing Body reached the conclusion that allegations concerning the arrest, detention or sentencing of trade unionists did not call for further examination, this was only after observations had been received from the Government showing sufficiently precisely and with sufficient detail that the measures 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.
6. 311. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to request the Government to submit its observations on the complainants' allegations concerning arrests, specifying the present situation of Mr. Albuquerque and of the 39 workers said to have been arrested with him.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 312. As regards the case as a whole, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) as regards the allegations concerning the ransacking of the POASI and UNACHOSIN unions:
   • (i) while it recognises that trade unions, like other associations or individuals, cannot claim immunity against a search of their premises, to emphasise the importance that should be attached to the principle that such a search should be made only following the issue of a warrant by the ordinary judicial authority, after that authority has been satisfied that reasonable grounds exist for supposing that such a search will provide the evidence required to prosecute for an offence under ordinary law, and provided that the search is restricted to the purposes in respect of which the warrant was issued;
   • (ii) to draw the Government's attention to the fact that the International Labour Conference at its 54th Session (Geneva, 1970), in its resolution concerning trade union rights and their relation to civil liberties, considered that the right to protection of trade union property was one of those civil liberties which are essential to the normal exercise of trade union rights;
   • (b) as regards the allegations concerning the arrest of Mr. Albuquerque and 39 other workers, for the reasons stated in paragraphs 309 and 310 above, to request the Government to furnish its observations thereon, specifying the present situation of the persons concerned;
   • (c) to take note of the present interim report, it being understood that the Committee will submit a further report as soon as it has received the additional information referred to in the preceding subparagraph.