Interim Report - Report No 133, 1972

Case No 685 (Bolivia (Plurinational State of)) - Complaint date: 29-OCT-71 - Closed

1. 313. This case was examined by the Committee at its session in February-March 1972, when it submitted to the Governing Body an interim report, which is contained in paragraphs 282 to 296 of the Committee's 129th Report.
2. 314. At its session in June 1972 the Committee, having noted that the Government had not yet supplied the information or observations which it had been requested to supply, adjourned its examination of the case.
3. 315. In a communication dated 18 May 1972, addressed direct to the ILO, the Government transmitted certain observations in connection with the trade union situation in Bolivia.
4. 316. 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. 317. The Committee recalls that the complaint concerned mainly the arrest at La Paz airport of three representatives of the Confederation of Manufacturing Workers of Bolivia in October 1970, and the detention, in particular, of the following trade union leaders: Juvenal Garabito (Cochabamba), Carmelo Andrade (Presencia newspaper), Jacinto Quispe (General Secretary, ASIB), Roberto Moreira (court employee), Erasmo Barrios Villa (Potosi University Workers), Luis Peñaranda (executive, Press Federation), Rodolfo Brum (Nueva América Radio), Victor Michel (delegate, Huanuni Assembly), Angel Astete (Secretary, Miners' Cultural Association, San Florencio), Julián Jiménez (Colquiri Miners' Association), Juan Flores (Secretary, Federation of Manufacturing Workers, La Paz), Patricio Cuentos (Secretary, Disputes Section, Federation of Manufacturing Workers, La Paz), Pedro Cruz (Disputes Secretary, State Teachers' Union, Huanuni mine, Oruro), and Lindo Fernández, David Quiñónez and René Higueras (Bolivian Workers' Confederation-COB). In addition, the complainants supplied a list of women whom they alleged to have been imprisoned. This list included the names of Edmy Alvarez Daza, a leader of the Bolivian Workers' Confederation, and Enma de Bacarreza, leader of the La Paz Teachers' Union. The complainants stated that the house of the latter had been searched and that she had been taken to the Ministry of the Interior to make statements. This, continued the complainants, had lasted several days, during which her house was watched by the police.
2. 318. In this connection, since no specific replies to these allegations had been supplied by the Government, a fact that prevented the Committee from expressing a considered view to the Governing Body with regard to the complaint, the Committee emphasised, as it has often done in the past in similar cases, that when detailed factual charges are put forward governments should formulate detailed factual replies for objective examination by the Committee. The Committee, at the same time, drew the attention of the Government to the rule which it has followed in a number of cases, namely that, where allegations are made that trade union leaders or workers have been arrested for trade union activities, and the governments' replies amount to general denials of the allegations or are simply to the effect that the arrests were made for subversive activities, for reasons of internal security, or for crimes under ordinary law, the governments concerned should be requested to submit further and as precise information as possible concerning the arrests, particularly in connection with the legal or judicial proceedings instituted as a result thereof and the result of such proceedings, in order to enable the Committee to make a proper examination of the allegations.
3. 319. Accordingly, the Committee requested the Government to supply detailed information concerning the judicial proceedings instituted against the trade union leaders in question, as well as the text of the sentences and the grounds adduced therefor.
4. 320. In its communication of 18 May 1972, the Government states that it respects and guarantees the independence of workers' organisations and the free exercise of trade union rights. The Government adds that seven Confederations and forty federations are operating normally and that no strikes have taken place for seven months. The Government supplies a list of organisations which have re-elected their officers since 21 August 1971.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 321. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government. It regrets, however, that despite the urgent nature of the matters involved, the Government has again failed to communicate any information concerning the specific allegations formulated by the complainants. In this connection the Committee would draw the attention of the Government to the observation which it made as early as its First Report, namely that the purpose of the whole procedure is to promote respect for trade union rights in law and in fact, and that 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.
2. 322. The Committee would recall that in all cases involving the arrest, detention or sentencing of a trade union official, the Committee and the Governing Body, taking the view that individuals have the right to be presumed innocent until found guilty, have considered that it was incumbent upon the government to show that the measures it had taken were in no way occasioned by the trade union activities of the individual concerned. The Committee would also recall that in cases of this kind, when the Committee and the Governing Body have reached the conclusion that allegations relating to the arrest, detention or sentencing of trade unionists did not call for further consideration, this was only after considering observations from the governments concerned indicating the specific measures taken against such persons and showing sufficiently precisely and with sufficient detail that the measures were in no way occasioned by the exercise of trade union freedoms but by activities outside the trade union sphere which were either prejudicial to public order or of a political nature.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 323. In these circumstances, and with regard to the case as a whole, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to note with regret that, in spite of the urgent nature of the matter, the Government has supplied no specific observations on the allegations made by the complainants, with the result that the Committee is unable to reach its conclusions on the case;
   • (b) to recall that the purpose of the whole procedure is to promote respect for trade union rights in law and in fact, and that 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;
   • (c) to draw the attention of the Government to the considerations and principles set out in paragraphs 318 and 322 above;
   • (d) to request the Government once again to supply detailed information concerning the judicial proceedings instituted against the trade union leaders mentioned in paragraph 317 above, as well as the texts of the sentences and the grounds adduced therefor; and
   • (e) to take note of this interim report, it being understood that the Committee will submit a further report when it has received the information requested in accordance with subparagraph (d) of this paragraph.
     • Geneva, 9 November 1972. (Signed) Roberto AGO, Chairman.