Definitive Report - Report No 144, 1974

Case No 723 (Colombia) - Complaint date: 29-SEP-72 - Closed

1. 48. When this case came before the Committee at its February 1973 session, the latter decided to adjourn examination of it pending receipt of certain additional information which it asked the Director-General to request from the Government.
2. 49. The complaint was contained in a communication dated 29 September 1972, supplemented by a communication dated 10 October 1972. This complaint was supported by the World Confederation of Labour in a communication dated 21 November 1972.
3. 50. These communications were transmitted to the Government, which forwarded its observations and additional information by letters dated 10 January 1973 and 31 January 1974.
4. 51. Colombia has ratified neither the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), nor the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 52. The complainants allege that on 22 September 1972 detachments from the Medellin Section of the Department of Security, carrying out the orders of the military authorities, forced their way into the premises of the Antioquia Teachers' Association (ADIDA) and arrested and handed over to the said authorities the following persons: Victor Baena López, President of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) (affiliated to the Latin American Central of Workers (CLAT)); Oscar Oquendo, President of ADIDA (affiliated to the CGT); Rafael Sepúlveda, Vice-President of the ADIDA; Humberto Vanegas and Helena Cadavid, members of the executive of the ADIDA; and Nelly Angel, Secretary of the ADIDA. The complainants added that following a sympathy campaign these persons had been conditionally released on 29 September, but that since then Helena Cadavid had been rearrested and placed in solitary confinement by the authorities of Medellin. The complainants further alleged that Dr. Augusto Villegas Duque, principal legal adviser of the Legal Department of the CGT, had been arrested and placed in solitary confinement by the military authorities of Bogotá.
2. 53. The complainants state that the police, armed with revolvers and sub-machineguns, had burst into the premises of the ADIDA, using force and without a warrant, and seized trade union material, a mimeograph, correspondence and other documents and carried them away together with other working materials after upsetting everything and doing considerable damage.
3. 54. In its communication of 10 January 1973 the Government states that the trade union leaders mentioned in the complaint had been arrested for having taken part in disorderly conduct. It points out that they have all been released.
4. 55. Following the Committee's decision at its February 1973 session to ask the Director-General to request certain additional information, a letter was addressed to the Government on 12 March 1973 requesting it: (a) to indicate whether proceedings were still pending against the persons mentioned in the complaint and now at liberty and, if so, to specify the nature of the "disorderly conduct" which, in the eyes of the Government, had justified their arrest; (b) to indicate the procedure followed on the occasion of the alleged police raid on the premises of the ADIDA, stating in particular whether the raid had been pursuant to the delivery of a search warrant by the competent judicial authority; (c) to provide its observations on the allegation to the effect that Dr. Augusto Villegas Duque, principal legal adviser of the Legal Department of the CGT, had been arrested and placed in solitary confinement by the military authorities of Bogotá.
5. 56. In its communication of 31 January 1974, the Government states that there are no proceedings pending against the persons mentioned in the complaint, who are now at liberty. As concerns the police raid on the premises of the ADIDA, the Government indicates that a state of siege had been proclaimed throughout the country under article 121 of the Colombian Constitution. In such circumstances the military authorities are empowered to carry out a search of any premises without a warrant in connection with acts directed against public order, and this is what happened in the case under consideration. The Government concludes by stating that Dr. Augusto Villegas Duque is now at liberty and no proceedings are pending against him.
6. 57. With regard to the allegations relating to the arrest of trade union officials and of Dr. Augusto Villegas Duque, the Committee notes that the persons mentioned in the complaint are now at liberty and no proceedings are pending against them. The Committee regrets, however, that the Government has not provided any explanation concerning the "disorderly conduct" on the basis of which they were arrested, thereby making it impossible for the Committee to come to its conclusions in full knowledge of the facts.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 58. The Committee considers it relevant to recall the opinion it has expressed on a number of occasions to the effect that the detention by authorities of trade unionists concerning whom no grounds for conviction are subsequently found is liable to involve restrictions of trade union rights, and that in such cases it is important that governments should take steps to ensure that the authorities concerned have appropriate instructions to eliminate the danger of detention for trade union activities.
2. 59. With regard to the allegations relating to the police raid on the premises of the ADIDA, and in particular the allegations referring to the seizure by the policy of documents and working materials and the damage said to have been caused on this occasion, the Committee feels bound to draw the Government's attention to the fact that the International Labour Conference, in the resolution concerning trade union rights and their relation to civil liberties adopted at its 54th Session (Geneva, 1970), has expressed the view that the right to protection of the property of trade union organisations constitutes one of the civil liberties which are essential to the normal exercise of trade union rights.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 60. In these circumstances, and with regard to the case as a whole, the Committee recommends the Government Body:
   • (a) to note the information supplied by the Government to the effect that the persons mentioned are now at liberty and no proceedings are pending against them;
   • (b) to draw the Government's attention to the principles and considerations set forth in paragraphs 58 and 59 above; and
   • (c) subject to this reservation, to decide that the case does not call for further examination.