Interim Report - Report No 194, June 1979

Case No 919 (Colombia) - Complaint date: 23-JAN-79 - Closed

1. 323. Complaints relating to infringements of freedom of association in Colombia and additional information have been submitted by the following organisations: World Federation, of Trade Unions (WFTU) (23 January and 8 February 1979); Latin American Central of Workers (CLAT) (14 February 1979); National Federation of State Workers (FENALTRASE) (15 February 1979); World Confederation of Labour (WCL) (28 February 1979); Trade Unions International of Workers in the Metal Industry (UISTM) (2 March 1979); Permanent Congress for Trade Union Unity of the Workers of Latin America (CPUSTAL) (27 March 1979). The Government forwarded its observations in several communications, dated 8 March, 16 April and 10 May 1979.
2. 324. Colombia 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. Allegations made by the complainants

1. 325. In their complaints, the WFTU and several other organisations challenged Decree No. 1923, known as the "Security Statute", and specifically its alleged use against trade unionists and union officials. This Statute, which is based on the legislation relating to the state of siege that has been in force in Colombia since 1949, was promulgated on 6 September 1978. Its provisions simplify judicial procedure, increase certain penalties and extend the competence of military penal law to include certain offences committed by civilians. With its letters dated 23 January and 8 February, the WFTU submitted documents signed by a number of Colombian trade union organisations claiming that the Security Statute is used against the trade union movement, that several union leaders have been arrested and are being held by the Military Institutes Brigade and that some people have been ill-treated. Trade unionists and workers have been arrested on grounds of rebellion or the illegal carrying of firearms whereas the real reasons for the Government's action, according to the complainants, is anti-union repression. At the end of 1978, several people were reportedly killed, including the agricultural union leader of the Trade Union Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CSTC), Pedro Pablo Bello. According to the complainants, the severe repression that is exercised in the rural areas has spread to the urban sector; the headquarters of the CSTC has reportedly been attacked by paramilitary groups, radio and television networks are said to be censored and a Decree of 8 January 1978 has suspended the right to lodge a plea of habeas corpus.
2. 326. According to the FENALTRASE in its communication of 15 February 1979, the Security Statute, which describes any grievance connected with labour as subversive, has led to the organisation by the army and secret services veritable campaigns against the peasants and, in some cases, has resulted in the death of union leaders. In Bogotá, specifically, many people including a large number of workers have been arrested and their homes raided on the grounds of offences against law and order. According to the FENALTRASE, this repression is intended to prevent the workers' grievances from obtaining a proper hearing.
3. 327. The WCL takes up these various points in its communication of 28 February. In a letter dated 2 March, the UISTM states that the Security Statute, which is supposed to "combat insecurity", is directed more than anything against the workers. Section 4 of the Security Statute provides for prison sentences of from 1 to 5 years for "persons guilty of disturbing law and order or hampering the peaceful conduct of social activities". The Statute also empowers the armed forces and police to condemn civilians without appeal. Furthermore, the radio and television networks are allegedly censored to prevent them from broadcasting information relating to law and order, suspensions and stoppages of work and illegal strikes.
4. 328. According to the UISTM, on 25 September 1978 - following the entry into force of the Security Statute - workers were arrested by the police and state secret service agents. These workers, who were employed in the Incametal metalworking enterprise in Medellin, were holding a strike in order to obtain the negotiation of a collective agreement. In Bogotá, the workers of Productos Metálicos Promel, a Chrysler subsidiary, were striking for better pay. Citing the provisions of the decree mentioned above, the authorities prohibited these workers from holding any meetings and confiscated all written propaganda connected with the strike. The UISTM also refers to the arrest of several trade unionists and to the ill-treatment to which they are said to have been subjected.
5. 329. According to the complainants, Pedro Pablo Bello, a CSTC union official in the agricultural sector, met his death in the course of repressive action against the peasants which was stepped up following the adoption of the Security Statute. The complainants also referred to the death of Arelino Ul, an indigenous governor, Manuel Martinez Quiraz, a lawyer, and four farmers.
6. 330. Several other trade union leaders are said to have been arrested in Bogotá and to be held by the military Institutes Brigade. According to the UISTM, the secretary of the National Federation of Metalworkers (FENTRAMETAL), Jaime Antonio Ruiz, was arrested at work at 11 a.m. on 12 December 1978 by the state secret service and taken to the "Baraya Battalion". Also according to the UISTM, Hipolito Valderrama, a FENTRAMETAL union leader, was arrested at home at 5 a.m. on 13 December 1978 and taken by army units to the "Caldas Battalion".
7. 331. According to the CLAT, the union leaders of the workers of the Agustin Codazzi Geographical Institute, Jorge Tulio Legro Tafur, Alfonzo Moya Romero, Alvaro Quijano Rozo and Henry Vicente Rivera García, were arrested on 15, 16 and 17 January 1979.
8. 332. Mrs. Elena Isaac Hurtado and Hernando Solano Pareño, two government employee union officials who were arrested respectively on 4 and 22 January, are in the same situation as the persons mentioned above.
9. 333. Mrs. Ligia Mayorga Manguera and Artidoro Linares Bustos of the National Union of Agricultural Industries, Francisco Eriel Santos, a trade unionist in the Croydon enterprise, and Augusto Leon Olarte Cely have also been arrested. The FENALTRASE also cites Arnulfo Zapata and Miguel Caro Diaz, government employee union leaders, Jaime Torres Fernández and Jorge Humberto Serna, a teachers' union official. Finally, in a telegram dated 27 March 1979, the CPUSTAL denounces the arrest of Osorio Rozo, general secretary of the CSTC, and the forcible entry into his home.
10. 334. In their communications, the complainants describe the ill-treatment and torture to which a large number of the detainees are said to have been subjected. They provide details on the conditions of detention and treatment inflicted on several persons, particularly Valderrama and Ruiz, and copies of several authenticated complaints submitted to the Public Prosecutor in which the signatories, many of which are trade unionists, claim to have been tortured by certain members of the armed forces.

B. Reply of the Government

1. 335. With respect to Decree No. 1923 to institute a Security Statute, the Government indicates in its communication dated 16 April 1979 that this text, as required by the Constitution, was submitted to the Supreme Court on 7 September 1978 for a ruling on its Constitutionality. This Decree was made under Decree No. 2131 of 7 October 1976 which declares "a breakdown of law and order and a state of siege throughout the territory of the country". It is designed to:
   • - ensure the complete and rapid administration of justice in Colombia;
   • - defend labour which is a social obligation
   • - protect the life, honour and goods of all persons and guarantee the safety of members of society;
   • - restore law and order where it has broken down;
   • - maintain law and order by means of the adoption of security measures.
2. 336. With respect to the claim that Decree No. 1923 empowers bodies of the armed forces and chiefs of police to judge civilians without appeal, the Government refers to the statement of the Supreme Court that the procedure provided for under the stated Decree "contains sufficient precautions to safeguard the rights of the offences described therein". The Government also quotes a statement by the Prosecutor for the armed forces to the effect that the procedure laid down in the Security Statute guarantees the strict enforcement of the law in as much as the accused enjoys every right of defence throughout his trial. Finally, in the words of the Supreme Court ruling, although the abusive exercise of the right of association can be prohibited "it must be understood that this provision does not concern the peaceful and normal exercise of the right to strike and entails no restriction on this right, which is fundamentally distinct from the right of association both in its use and in its objective".
3. 337. With respect to the censorship of radio and television provided for under the Security Statute, the Government refers to the Supreme Court which fully admits "the restriction and, if necessary, the banning of information and comments the broadcasting or knowledge of which could affect law and order or delay its restoration".
4. 338. The Government states that the strike at Incametal was declared illegal by the Minister of Labour in resolution No. 3645 of 21 September 1978, a copy of which it enclosed. It transpires from this resolution that a strike occurred while a collective accord (pacto colectivo) was in force. This accord, entered into in October 1975 by the employer and the then non-unionised workers of the enterprise, stipulates that it expires on 20 October 1979.: According to the resolution, the union which, at the time of the signing of the agreement had only a small membership, had grown to represent a majority of the workers and had called a strike in order to obtain the negotiation of a collective agreement (convención colectiva). The Ministry of Labour states that it possesses no information on the arrests that are said to have taken place on this occasion and that an inquiry into the matter has been addressed to the competent authorities.
5. 339. According to the Government, a satisfactory solution has been found to the dispute in connection with the strike in the Promel enterprise of Bogotá, following the intervention of Ministry of Labour officials.
6. 340. In its communications, the Government supplies information on the persons mentioned by the complainants. According to the Government, these persons were not arrested in their capacity as workers or trade unionists, but as citizens acting outside the law and for reasons that had nothing to do whatsoever with their union activities - more specifically, according to the ministry of Defence, on the grounds of their "probable links with a subversive movement". The Government firmly denies the allegation that such steps were taken to repress trade union activities and states that there was certainly no intention to infringe Constitutional guarantees or rights. Furthermore, the Government asserts its determination not to relinquish its inherent right to defend the security of the State by taking action to avert and punish any subversive activity within the framework and limits of the law.
7. 341. With regard to the death of persons in circumstances that are not specified by the complainants, the Government replies that it has not been established that these persons were exercising trade union activities or that their death was connected with such activities and that there is certainly no evidence that they have been executed by the Government. Moreover, the Government emphatically denies that the application of the Security Statute has led to the death of union leaders.
8. 342. The Government has supplied the following information on the situation of the persons arrested. Several of them have been released; some have been sentenced under Decree no. 1923 for the illegal carrying of firearms and others have been placed under preventive detention by order of the Eighth Penal Magistrate of the Military Institutes Brigade in connection with an inquiry into the crime of rebellion.
9. 343. Detainment orders have also been pronounced in the case of several other persons who were still being held in custody at the beginning of April 1979.
10. 344. As regards Rozo Osorio, the Government sent with its letter of 4 May 1979 a statement from the Ministry of Defence to the effect that his home has not been searched, that he has not been transferred to military premises to be interrogated by the judicial police, that he is not being sought by the military authorities and that no warrant has been issued for his arrest.
11. 345. In a communication dated 8 March 1979, the Government supplies information on Hipólito Valderrama Ortiz (FENTRAMETAL union leader), who has been sentenced under Decree No. 1923 (Security Statute) to one year's imprisonment for the illegal carrying of firearms, and on Antonio Ruiz Muneton (secretary of the same organisation), who is among the persons who have been released.
12. 346. As to the allegations of ill-treatment, the Government firmly rejects them and states that the information supplied by the complainants, and specifically the complaints referred to in paragraph 334 above, cannot be considered as being founded. In support of its statement, the Government submits a copy of a military court nonsuit in an inquiry instituted by the President of the Republic into the other allegations of torture. With respect to the allegation of ill-treatment to which Valderrama and Ruiz are said to have been subjected, the Government states that it is extremely important that the complainants should submit proof.

C. Conclusions of the Committee

1. 347. In several cases where it has had to examine complaints of alleged infringements of freedom of association where a state of siege or of emergency has been declared or in accordance with a law on state security, the Committee has considered that it is not the Committee's business to rule on the necessity or desirability of this legislation, which is a purely political matter, but has expressed the opinion that it should investigate the possible repercussions of such legislation on trade union rights.
2. 348. In the present case, the Committee notes that, in their allegations, the complainants link the restrictions on trade union rights and the arrest of union members to the application of Decree No. 1923 instituting a Security Statute. The Government, on the other hand, denies that the stated legislation is directed against union activities and that the persons in question have been arrested in their capacity as union members or on account of their union activities.
3. 349. The Committee has taken note of the gravity of some of the allegations which relate to the death of certain persons, and specifically the union official Pedro Pablo Bello. In this connection, the Committee has always pointed out the importance that it attaches, in the case of persons who have lost their lives in similar situations, to the fact that the circumstances of the death were the subject of an impartial and independent inquiry in order to elucidate the facts and determine responsibility.
4. 350. Nevertheless, the Committee has, in general terms, expressed the view that trade union leaders or members have the same duty as everybody to observe the law and that they benefit from no immunity in the event of its infringement. The Committee considers, however, that governments can help the Committee in its examination of cases submitted to it by providing information on the specific facts that have led to the arrest of trade unionists.
5. 351. In the present case, the Committee notes that the Government has supplied information concerning the release of several persons but that other union members referred to in the complaints have been sentenced or are still in custody.
6. 352. On many previous occasions where allegations have concerned the sentencing of trade unionists to terms of imprisonment, the Committee has invited the Government concerned to supply information on the specific facts leading up to their sentencing, together with a copy of the judgements rendered with the reasons adduced therefor. The Committee believes that it would be useful to follow this practice in the present case also, so that it can reach its conclusions in full possession of the facts.
7. 353. With regard to the persons under arrest, the Committee considers that it would likewise be useful for it to have precise information on the specific facts held against them and on the legal action that may be taken against them and the results of such action.
8. 354. The Committee recalls in this connection that, on the occasion of its examination of another case relating to Colombia, it had already stated, in connection with the arrest of trade unionists, that the bringing of detained persons before the appropriate judge without delay was one of the civil liberties which should be ensured by the authorities in order to safeguard the exercise of trade union rights.
9. 355. The Committee notes that the Government categorically denies the accusations of ill-treatment submitted by the complainants and that it states that the information supplied by them cannot be considered as being founded. As regards allegations concerning the ill-treatment to which detainees are said to have been subjected, the Committee has previously stressed in general terms the importance of carrying out an inquiry into the facts in order to establish responsibilities and of taking appropriate action, in particular, to give precise instructions and apply effective sanctions so as to ensure that no detainee is subjected to ill-treatment.
10. 356. With respect to the allegations relating to strikes, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, the dispute in the Promel enterprise has been settled through the intervention by the Ministry of Labour.
11. 357. The Committee notes that the strike at Incametal, which was aimed at obtaining a collective agreement, has been declared illegal by virtue of the provisions of the Labour Code on the grounds that a collective accord (Facto colectivo) between the employer and the non-unionised workers of the enterprise was currently in force.
12. 358. In another case relating to Colombia, the Committee has already had occasion to consider the matter of collective agreements. The Committee recalled that Article 4 of Convention No. 98 (ratified by Colombia) invites governments to take appropriate measures to "encourage and promote the full development and utilisation of machinery for voluntary negotiation between employers or employers' organisations and workers' organisations, with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements." The Committee considered that direct negotiation between the undertaking and its employees, by-passing representative organisations where these exist, might in certain cases be detrimental to the principle that negotiations between employers and organisations of workers should be encouraged and promoted. It considers it desirable to obtain information on the current situation in the dispute at Incametal.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 359. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends to the Governing Body:
   • (a) as regards the death of Pedro Pablo Bello, to request the Government to indicate whether an inquiry has been conducted into his death and, if so, to communicate its findings;
   • (b) as regards the allegations relating to the detention and sentencing of certain persons:
   • (i) to note with interest that several of them have been released;
   • (ii) to request the Government to supply additional information on the specific facts leading up to the arrest or sentencing of the trade unionists referred to (see paragraphs 342 and 343) and to supply a copy of the judgements that have been or may be pronounced, with the reasons adduced therefor;
   • (iii) to note the statements of the Government concerning the allegations of ill-treatment to which the detainees are said to have been subjected and to request the Government to indicate whether inquiries have been initiated in connection with the persons named by the complainants (see paragraph 346);
   • (c) as regards the allegations relating to the action taken in connection with strikes:
   • (i) to note that the strike at Promel has been resolved thanks to the intervention of the Ministry of Labour;
   • (ii) as to the strike at Incametal, to draw the attention of the Government to the principles and considerations expressed in paragraph 358 above and to ask it to supply information on the current situation in the labour dispute at this enterprise;
   • (d) to take note of the present interim report.