Interim Report - Report No 230, November 1983

Case No 1198 (Cuba) - Complaint date: 29-APR-83 - Closed

1. 700. The complaint is contained in a communication from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) dated 29 April 1983. The ICFTU sent further information and new allegations in a communication dated 8 June 1983. The Government replied in letters of 23 May and 28 September 1983.
2. 701. Cuba has ratified both 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. Background to the case

1. 702. The ICFTU, in a telegram dated 18 April 1983 to the Director-General of the ILO, expressed its great concern at the information it had obtained concerning trade union repression in Cuba. The ICFTU reported that some 200 workers had been tried for having attempted to organise a strike in the sugar industry. According to some reports, five of these workers had already been executed, namely: Ezequiel Díaz Rodríguez, José Luis Díaz Romero, Carlos García Díaz, Benito García Olivera and Donato Martínez García. According to other sources of information, however, the sentences on these persons had been commuted to 30 years' imprisonment. In view of the seriousness of this information, the ICFTU requested the Director-General of the ILO to approach the competent authorities of Cuba with a view to obtaining all relevant information on these allegations and ascertaining that trade union rights and freedoms were respected in Cuba.
2. 703. In response to the request of the ICFTU, the Director-General sent a communication dated 21 April 1983 to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, in which it attached the telegram from the ICFTU and requested the Government to comment thereon.
3. 704. The Government sent the observations requested by the Director-General in a communication of 3 May 1983 in which it describes the information furnished by the ICFTU as infamous and states that the laws and Constitution of the Republic of Cuba clearly and unequivocally include the right of manual and professional workers freely to establish and join trade union organisations. Likewise, the Constitution guarantees the right of workers, as of the entire Cuban people, to assemble, to hold discussions and to express their opinions freely on all matters affecting them. The Constitution of the Republic not only clearly establishes right of assembly and the right to organise but, furthermore, proclaims that the Cuban State must provide the material means of actually putting these rights into daily practice. As can be seen in the international statistics that are known to the ILO, practically all Cuban workers belong to trade unions which are grouped in the Confederation of Cuban Workers. Furthermore, Cuban penal legislation - which, like the rest of the country's legislation, is scrupulously respected by the Government of the Republic and the law courts of the State - contains no provision whereby citizens could be penalised for activities of a trade union nature. All this should be clear to anyone claiming to be concerned with events in Cuba.
4. 705. The Government adds that what does not and will not exist in Cuba, because the workers would not allow it, is a situation like the alleged one described by the instigators of this campaign. No one has been penalised for the alleged offence of having sought to organise a supposed strike. The persons mentioned in the telegram of the ICFTU were never sentenced to death. They were penalised by the courts of Cuba, in accordance with the law in force, for the offence of continuously sabotaging the national economy by activities which, furthermore, endangered the lives of other citizens. The group in question is an insignificant one, which includes the avowed agents of foreign services and they were discovered and arrested with the collaboration of the workers and citizens of the country. For these reasons, the Government states that it categorically and scornfully refutes the misrepresentation of the facts and the lies that have been spread.
5. 706. Subsequently, in a communication dated 29 April 1983, the ICFTU lodged a formal complaint against the Government of the Republic of Cuba in which it made the following allegations.

B. The complainant's allegations

1. 707. In its communication of 29 April 1983, the ICFTU alleges that according to its information 50 workers were arrested in Havana in October 1982 for having tried, with their comrades, to organise an independent trade union to defend their interests. The group of workers belongs to the State construction undertaking which has its headquarters in Havana and is engaged in work at the "Lenin Park" recreation centre in the city. The matter was brought before the Cuban courts as case No. 88/1982 and the charges were of "crimes against the security of the State" and "industrial sabotage". The death sentence was passed by the Havana court on five of the workers: Ezequiel Díaz Rodríguez, José Luis Díaz Romero, Carlos García Díaz, Benito García Olivera and Donato Martínez García. Their companions received prison sentences of up to 24 years.
2. 708. The ICFTU adds that an appeal was lodged with the People's Appeal Court but was rejected by the latter at the end of January 1983. A further appeal was lodged with the State Council, presided over by Fidel Castro. The ICFTU also states that sources close to the workers concerned have reported that the death sentences have been commuted to sentences of 30 years' imprisonment. Nevertheless, according to the same sources, the case is still open for the Cuban authorities which means that the risk of the death sentences being applied cannot be totally ruled out.
3. 709. Moreover, the complainant states that the Cuban authorities are known to be exerting moral pressure on workers who were connected closely or even remotely with the attempt to set up an independent trade union, in order to prevent them from spreading information about this matter.
4. 710. In its communication of 8 June 1983, the ICFTU alleges that according to information from reliable sources inside Cuba, four lawyers from a group practice (Mr. Aramias Taboada, aged 57, Mr. Francisco Moura, aged 50, Mr. Israel Tamayo, aged 43 and Mr. Ruben Quinteros, aged 65) were arrested at the end of March simply for having interceded on behalf of the five workers who had been sentenced to death by a court of the first instance and subsequently to long terms of imprisonment. Furthermore, in the same situation and for the same reasons as the other four lawyers, Dr. Nicasio Hernandez de Arenas,' one of the judges of the Havana People's Court, was also arrested.
5. 711. According to the ICFTU, the same sources of information report that no date has yet been set for the hearing of case No. 88/1982.
6. 712. The ICFTU also states that it has learnt of further arrests that have taken place during the year, mainly of workers. The arrests concern the following matters:
   • - in the province of Sancti Spiritus, formerly known as "Las Villas", some 200 smallholders were arrested for damaging their own crops as a form of protest against the obligation to deliver most of their produce to the food distribution centre known as ACOPIO (which deals with agricultural and other produce), which pays them according to the prices established by the regime;
   • - two workers from the "Pedro Marrero" brewery, also known by its former name of "Tropical", in Havana, were arrested for suggesting that an independent trade union should be set up; and
   • - an unspecified number of workers (between 20 and 30) from the "Central Chaparra" sugar refinery in Oriente were arrested when they were found trying to organise an independent trade union comprising the firm's lorry drivers.
7. 713. It should be mentioned, the complainant continues, that trade union membership is compulsory in Cuba and that there is only one union per labour centre which, in turn, belongs to a single confederation; the payment of trade union dues is also compulsory.
8. 714. Finally, the complainant alleges that in addition to trying to establish an independent trade union, the workers who have been under arrest since October 1982 and those mentioned in the cases that have come to light more recently have made various protests, such as statements and short work stoppages, in order to draw the Government's attention to the "voluntary" work on Sundays. This "voluntary" work is actually considered to be compulsory since failure to work on any Sunday in the year without justification earns a black mark for the person concerned who then loses the possibility of obtaining from the Confederation of Cuban Workers the vouchers without which he cannot buy the products considered as luxuries, such as refrigerators, television sets and fans. The "voluntary" Sunday work is mainly agricultural; eight hours' work are involved and workers are obliged to cover considerable distances so that in fact they have to give up their entire Sunday to this activity.

C. The Government's reply

1. 715. The Government sent its observations on the allegations in communications to the Director-General dated 23 May and 28 September 1983. In the first of these communications the Government states that the complaint is calumnious since none of the supposed "trade unionists" ever had the intention of establishing any kind of trade union movement or of creating any type of organisation. The citizens referred to in the communication of the complainant organisation did not even have any labour links at the time of their arrest and trial. Only one of them was working on the family land as a small farmer, the other four being engaged in various illegal activities. The facts which led to their arrest and sentencing in case No. 88/1982 before the Provincial Court, in a trial that was carried out in accordance with the legal provisions in force in the country, are connected with various acts of sabotage, including setting fire to sugar-cane plantations and grazing land, a tobacconist's shop, hayricks, etc. At the time of their arrest they were planning to set fire to big shops and stores in the capital, collecting arms and other equipment to carry out activities of this kind and were beginning to devise plots to attack government leaders. Moreover, the persons in question, who are the subject of the complaint and whose guilt was proved at the trial, admitted to these activities.
2. 716. The Government points out, moreover, that there are discrepancies between the two communications of the ICFTU. The first one states that it concerns "some 200 workers who were trying to organise a strike in the sugar sector and the death of some of them". The second communication speaks of 50 workers belonging to the State Ministry for Construction, who were working in the "Lenin Park" recreation centre and who were trying to establish an independent trade union to defend their interests. These discrepancies, the Government states, merely demonstrate that an attempt is being made, pointlessly, to undermine the prestige of Cuba by inventing a "case" of infringement of freedom of association for obvious purposes of propaganda.
3. 717. In its communication of 28 September 1983, the Government sends a certified copy of ruling No. 9 of the People's Supreme Court of the Republic of Cuba, dated 6 April 1983, dealing with the actions that were judged and the final sentence passed. According to the Government, this sentence constitutes unequivocally proof of the campaign of calumny and defamation organised against Cuba.
4. 718. Lastly, the Government describes the information provided in the last communication of the ICFTU as calumnious, stating that it is impossible to give a serious reply to such calumny which relates to supposed facts that have no connection whatsoever with case No. 1198 but are merely figments of their inventors' imagination.

D. Conclusions of the Committee

1. 1. Allegation relating to the sentencing of workers to prison
2. 719. The Committee notes that the complainant has alleged that 50 workers were arrested, tried and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment (in the case of five of these persons the death sentence having been commuted by a court of the second instance to sentences of 30 years' imprisonment) for having attempted to organise an independent trade union to defend their interests although the charges against them were of "crimes against the security of the State" and "industrial sabotage". Four lawyers and a judge of the People's Court of Havana are said moreover to have been arrested merely for having interceded on behalf of the five workers referred to. Furthermore, the complainant has alleged that in the Republic of Cuba trade union membership and the payment of membership dues are compulsory, there being only one union per labour centre which, in turn, belongs to a single confederation.
3. 720. As regards the allegation concerning the sentencing of 50 workers to long terms of imprisonment for having tried to organise an independent trade union, the Committee notes the Government's statements as well as judgement No. 9, dated 6 April 1983, of the People's Supreme Court of the Republic of Cuba. The Committee notes that the judgement describes 26 of the accused persons, including Ezequiel Díaz Rodríguez, José Luis Díaz Romero, Carlos García Díaz, Benito García Olivera and Donato Martínez García, as "counter-revolutionary, anti-communist and anti-social elements, who had been organised for some time and devoted themselves to various counter-revolutionary activities inspired by their own ideology and influenced by North American imperialist propaganda and by broadcasts from the United States of America; in 1978 they set up the organisation known as the 'Zapata Group', belonging to the ultra-reactionary terrorist organisation 'Alpha 66' based in Miami in the state of Florida, whose fundamental task is to destroy the economy of the country and create panic among the population so as to create an atmosphere of insecurity with the aim of overthrowing our socialist State by violent means." The judgement then describes the facts with which the accused persons are charged: "scattering hooks on roads, setting fire to sugar plantations, starting fires in restaurants, setting fire to or damaging vehicles, setting fire to grazing land, attempting to poison cattle so as to cause large-scale deaths, setting fire to a coffee plant nursery and the food store of the undertaking, setting fire to a tobacconist's shop, sabotage of telephone lines, attempting to set fire to the wooden poles of electric cables and to a high-voltage tower, distribution in public places of a large quantity of counter-revolutionary documents containing libellous and offensive comments against the Commander-in-Chief of the Revolution and signed by the "Company for Sabotage against Communism", incitement against the socialist order and the socialist State. The judgement adds that "these offences of a revolutionary and terrorist nature carried out by the accused persons during the period in question amount to more than 160 acts of sabotage of various kinds, all of which involve the direct or group participation of the accused, Ezequiel Díaz Rodríguez, Benito García Olivera, Angel Donato Martínez Garcia, José Luis Díaz Romero and Carlos García Díaz, who played a direct part in almost all the different activities carried out."
4. 721. Furthermore, as is stated in the judgement, two of the accused were recruited to belong to the counter-revolutionary group and although they accepted they did not take part in the activities referred to; 12 others did not belong to the group but knew of the counter-revolutionary activities and did not denounce them to the authorities and a further person co-operated in the criminal activities of the group. There would thus have been a total of 41 persons accused.
5. 722. The judgement of the People's Supreme Court of the Republic of Cuba revokes the death sentence passed on the five persons named above, sentences each of them to 30 years' imprisonment and upholds the rest of the sentences handed down by the Court of First Instance. As regards the allegation according to which four lawyers and a judge of the People's Court of Havana were arrested merely for interceding on behalf of the five workers who were initially sentenced to death, the Committee notes that the Government has furnished no precise information. Consequently, the Committee requests the Government to send its observations thereon.
6. 723. After carefully examining the judgement of the People's Supreme Court of the Republic of Cuba, dated 6 April 1983, the Committee notes that the judgement does not mention activities of a trade union character on the part of the 41 accused. Consequently, the Committee considers that the sentence rendered by the Court was based on acts other than their trade union activities.
7. 724. Nevertheless, the Committee notes that the complainant has reported that the trial and judgement of the persons concerned stemmed from the attempt to organise an independent trade union. In this regard the Committee cannot fail to point out on this question that from the point of view of trade union legislation the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has for several years been objecting to section 3 of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 1977, designed to set up and maintain a single trade union system, and which expressly mentions the Confederation of Cuban Workers. The Committee of Experts has considered that this provision might constitute an obstacle to the creation of another confederation if the workers so wished and has expressed the hope that the Government will adopt the necessary measures to delete the reference in the legislation to a specific trade union organisation. In these circumstances the Committee endorses the comments made by the Committee of Experts.
8. 2. Allegations relating to the arrests of workers for trade union reasons
9. 725. The Committee notes that the rest of the allegations relate to the arrest of some 200 peasants in the province of Sancti Spiritus for having participated in collective protest actions, to the arrest of two workers of the "Pedro Marrero" brewery at Havana for suggesting that an independent trade union should be set up and to the arrest of between 20 and 30 workers from the "Central Chaperra" sugar refinery in Oriente for trying to organise an independent trade union comprising the firm's lorry drivers. In this regard the Committee notes the Government's statement of 28 September 1983 which describes the allegations of the complainant organisation as calumny and states that it is impossible to reply seriously to supposed events that have no connection with Case No. 1198 and exist only in the imagination of their inventors. On this point however the Committee notes that the allegations to which the Government has not replied in substance relate to concrete allegations of violations of trade union rights. Consequently, the Committee requests the Government to send, as soon as possible, precise and detailed observations on these allegations.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 726. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to approve the present interim report and, in particular, the following conclusions:
   • (a) As regards the allegation that workers were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for having attempted to organise an independent trade union, the Committee notes that the sentence rendered by the People's Supreme Court of the Republic of Cuba on 6 April 1983 was based on acts other than their trade union activities.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to send its observations on the allegations according to which four lawyers and a judge of the People's Court of Havana were arrested merely for interceding on behalf of the five workers who were initially sentenced to death and who subsequently had their sentences commuted.
   • (c) The Committee endorses the comments of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations concerning the application by Cuba of Convention No. 87 and wishes to stress that section 3 of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 1977 aims at establishing and maintaining a single trade union system; it requests the Government to take the necessary measures to bring this provision into line with Convention No. 87.
   • (d) The Committee requests the Government to send, as soon as possible, the precise and detailed observations which it has not supplied on the allegations concerning:
   • (i) the arrest of two workers of the "Pedero Marrero" brewery for having suggested that an independent trade union should be set up;
   • (ii) the arrest of between 20 and 30 workers in the "Central Chaparra" sugar refinery for having tried to organise an independent trade union;
   • (iii) the arrest of some 200 peasants in the province of Sancti Spiritus for participating in collective protest actions.
     • Geneva, 11 November 1983. Roberto Ago, Chairman.