Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 234, June 1984

Case No 1237 (Brazil) - Complaint date: 04-OCT-83 - Closed

1. 203. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the International Federation of Plantation, Agricultural and Allied Workers (IFPAAW) submitted a complaint of violations of freedom of association Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 in a communication of 4 October 1983. Subsequently, the IFPAAW supplied additional information in support of the complaint in communications dated 26 January and 7 February 1984. The Government presented its observations in a communication of 17 January 1984.
2. 204. Brazil has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87); it has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. The complainants' allegations

1. 205. The ICFTU and IFPAAW indicate that on 13 August 1983 Margarida Maria Alves was murdered while standing with her son in front of her residence, receiving several bullets in the head fired by three individuals who had alighted from a car. She was at that time President of the Union of Rural Workers of Alagoa Grande (State of Paraíba, in north-eastern Brazil), of which she had been one of the founders in 1967. The complainants emphasise in their communications that this State is a sugar-growing region in which for many years workers have lived in absolute poverty and have been deprived of the most elementary rights. It is stated in the complaint that at the time of the murder of its President, the Union was preparing a campaign of various demands concerning, in particular, the provision of minimum working conditions such as payment of a minimum wage, an eight-hour work day, payment of overtime, annual leave, etc. The complainants point out that a political group called "Grupo da Várzea" composed of sugar-cane plantation owners had strongly opposed the workers' trade union. According to the inhabitants of Paraíba, this group was already responsible for the murder in 1962 of a president of the Union of Rural Workers, Mr. Joao Pedro Teixeira. As in the case of other trade union leaders of the region, Margarida Maria Alves is reported to have received death threats if she continued her activity in defence of workers in sugar plantations, threats stemming in particular from plantation owners. The complainant organisations allege that the murder of the President is, so far as the plantation owners are concerned, a further attempt to intimidate workers in the sugar plantations in north-eastern Brazil in their struggle for justice.
2. 206. In its communications of last January and February, the IFPAAW submits information from the Centre for Rural Workers' Education and Culture (CENTRU), of which the murdered President was one of the founder members and the director. This information concerns not only the facts but also the holding of the inquiry and emphasises in particular the predominance of the IFPAAW's trade union activities in the campaign in defence of workers' rights, in which other trade unions are associated; it also provides details concerning the activities of the employers, that is to say the sugar plantation owners.
3. 207. This information contains an account of the following developments: after four months' inquiry, Gilberto da Rosa, delegated by the judicial authorities to carry out an investigation into the murder of Margarida Maria Alves, disclosed to the press the names of the President's three killers who, according to him, were acting on behalf of the landowner Anótnio Régis. This assertion, contained in the CENTRU information bulletin annexed to the IFPAAW's letter of January 1984, is followed by information concerning Anótnio Régis himself and the "Grupo da Várzea". This major landowner, known to the inhabitants of the region in particular for his violence and his authoritarianism, is alleged to be a member of the organisation composed of landowners of the Várzea region called "Grupo da Várzea", a group which, it is claimed, exercises political domination over various State and Federation Parliamentarians. According to the CENTRU publication, the Secretary for Security, Dr. Fernando Milanez, was appointed to his post in accordance with instructions given by this group.
4. 208. The second IFPAAW letter dated February last contains a CENTRU communication providing additional information. The activities of the Alagoa Grande trade union and of Margarida Maria Alves are described in greater detail. First, it is pointed out that the campaign in defence of workers' rights is being conducted by 32 rural workers' trade unions, by the Federation of Agricultural Workers (FETAG) and by the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG). The principal objectives of this campaign launched in the State of Paraíba are to secure a work card, annual payment of an extra month's wages, annual leave, an eight-hour work day, etc. It is stated that a small number of rural workers in the State of Paraíba enjoy these basic rights but that about 150,000 workers are deprived of them. The Alagoa Grande trade union is considered as playing a leading role in this campaign among the 13 trade unions of the Brejo region. It appears from the CENTRU communication that the union activities were directed above all against the major landowners and that they were followed by threats on the life of union leaders, in particular, Margarida Maria Alves. According to the CENTRU statement, the Brejo region is politically dominated by the Várzea group, allegedly the most reactionary from the political standpoint in the State of Paraíba. According to the actual words of the inhabitants of the region, the members of this group are as a rule murderers and are responsible for the murder in 1962 of Pedro Teixeira, president of a peasants' league in a town near Alagoa Grande. In its communication CENTRU refers to a statement by the member of Parliament Aécio Pereira, brother-in-law of Aguinaldo Veloso Borges, a sugar-processing factory owner and president of the Grupo da Várzea, which he reportedly made to the press following the President's death and in which he disputed the claim that Margarida Maria Alves was executed on the orders of a political group which she refused to support, attempting to bring accusations of murder against the "Workers' Party" (PT) and the "Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement" (PMOB) in order to demonstrate the innocence of the group of which his relative is the leader.

B. The Government's reply

1. 209. In its communication of 17 January 1984, the Government supplies information concerning the murder of Margarida Maria Alves as well as the inquiry which was conducted subsequently. It attaches to its communication copies of decisions of the police delegation concerning the inquiry and press cuttings describing in chronological order events relating to the holding of the inquiry. The Government indicates that the murder of Margarida Maria Alves at 6 p.m. on 12 August 1983 was a tragedy which shook public opinion, principally on account of the perverse elements which characterised it. The following day, in view of the seriousness of the facts and the difficulty in elucidating them, Dr. Rimondo Milanez, Secretary for Public Security, suggested to the State Governor that he should request the Court of Justice of the State of Paraíba to constitute a judicial commission to investigate the affair. The Court, meeting in plenary session on 17 August, rejected the request by 13 votes to two, on the grounds that the crime had not disturbed law and order. The Governor then appointed Mr. Gilberto Indrusiak da Rosa as special representative to carry out an inquiry into the crime. In the course of his inquiry, the representative requested, on 29 September 1983, that a group of seven gypsies, on whom certain suspicions rested, be remanded into custody. Subsequently, charges against this group of gypsies were dropped but other evidence enabled charges to be brought against Amauri José do Rego, Amaro (or Mario) José do Rego (his brother) and a third person known by the name of "Toinho". At the same time, the group of gypsies previously charged was released. Consequently, on 8 December 1983, the head of the inquiry, Mr. Gilberto Indrusiak da Rosa, presented proof of the guilt of the persons remanded in custody at his instigation, the three suspects Amauri José do Rego, Amaro José do Rego and "Toinho" as perpetrators of the crime, and also a fourth person (Marcos Antònio Coutinho Régis), as having planned it. According to the press cuttings communicated by the Government, the murderers received a sum of 500,000 cruzeiros for murdering the trade union President.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 210. First, the Committee deeply deplores the tragic murder in August 1983 of Mrs. Margarida Maria Alves, President of the Union of Rural Workers of Alagoa Grande, State of Paraíba, who was shot down in cold blood in front of her residence by three individuals who had alighted from a car.
2. 211. The Committee notes that according to the information communicated by the complainant organisations, at the time of the tragedy the trade union, of which the victim was not only the President but also one of the founders, was preparing with 13 other unions to present claims against the major landowners in the sugar-growing region of Brejo, as part of a broader campaign in defence of workers' rights, in which 32 rural unions of the State of Paraíba are participating. As a result, the President as well as other trade union leaders had received threats on their lives, and the aim of this tragedy was allegedly to break up the campaign to put forward claims and the trade union itself.
3. 212. While noting that an inquiry was conducted by the judicial authorities and led to the arrest of three culprits who, according to the information provided by all. the parties, acted on behalf of Marcos António Coutinho Régis, who was also charged in this affair, the Committee points out that no mention was made of the judicial proceedings which should follow. The Committee urges the Government to communicate information concerning action taken after these charges were made and in particular to supply the texts of the judgments, together with the reasons adduced therefore, as soon as they have been handed down in the case against these four persons.
4. 213. Furthermore, the Committee must recall that trade union rights can only be exercised in a climate that is free from violence, pressure or threats of any kind against trade unionists, and that it is for governments to ensure that this principle is respected. The Committee emphasises that in the present case the allegations of the complainant organisations concerning the political character of the "Grupo da Várzea" and its criminal dealings are of a sufficiently serious nature and appear to ascribe to this group of employers an authority and power over workers which are incompatible with the harmonious development of labour-management relations.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 214. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to approve this report, and in particular the following conclusions:
   • (a) The Committee deeply deplores the tragic murder of Margarida Maria Alves, President of the Union of Rural Workers of Alagoa Grande, which shook public opinion and struck a serious blow against the campaign in defence of the rights of workers employed in sugar-cane plantations and against the trade union itself.
   • (b) While noting that an inquiry led to charges being made against three perpetrators of the crime and their organiser, a member of the "Grupo da Várzea", a political group of plantation owners employing rural workers in the region, the Committee requests the Government to communicate information concerning action taken following the charges made against the four criminals.
   • (c) The Committee further urges that stringent measures to combat the violent dealings of such groups of employers as well as provisions to protect the free exercise of trade union rights be adopted without delay.
   • (d) The Committee requests the Government to communicate a copy of the judgments, together with the reasons adduced therefore, as soon as they have been handed down.