Interim Report - Report No 279, November 1991

Case No 1434 (Colombia) - Complaint date: 18-FEB-88 - Closed

1. 483. The Committee has examined these cases on several occasions, most recently at its November 1990 meeting, when it presented an interim report to the Governing Body (see 275th Report of the Committee, para. 167-203, approved by the Governing Body at its 248th Session (November 1990)). Subsequently, the Government sent its observations in communications of 8 January, 28 May and 13 September 1991.
2. 484. 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. Previous examination of the cases

1. 485. When the Committee examined Cases Nos. 1434 and 1477 at its meeting in November 1990, it made the following recommendations on the outstanding allegations (see 275th Report, para. 203):
2. Bearing in mind the content of the new allegations made by the complainant organisations, which include the murder of a further 50 trade unionists since the last examination of the case in February 1990, the Committee must express its deepest concern at the large number of trade union leaders and trade unionists who have been murdered or who have disappeared and conclude that, despite the reduction in the number of murders and disappearances as compared to 1987 and 1988, the situation continues to be extremely serious and incompatible with the provisions of the Conventions on freedom of association ratified by Colombia. Given that the measures adopted to put an end to the violence affecting the trade union movement have been clearly insufficient, the Committee once again urges the Government to continue to adopt measures for the total eradication of the paramilitary or self-defence groups and to strengthen the staff and means available to the judiciary and to keep it informed of the results of such measures.
3. The Committee expresses its concern that according to the documentation furnished by the Government only with very rare exceptions have the judicial inquiries undertaken since 1986 made it possible to identify or condemn the persons allegedly responsible for the murders and disappearances.
4. In accordance with the Government's request, the Committee asks the complainant organisations to provide more information on the place, time and circumstances of the alleged murder or disappearance of 58 trade unionists whose names appear in Annex I of this Report, so that the Government may communicate its observations; it requests the Government to reply to the allegations concerning the murder of the 55 trade unionists whose names appear in Annex II of this Report and concerning whom no observations have been received. The Committee emphasises the importance in all cases of murder and disappearance of trade unionists for the facts to be clarified, the responsibilities to be ascertained and the guilty parties to be punished.
5. The Committee asks the Government to inform it of developments in the penal proceedings under way against the trade union leaders Norberto Serna, Héctor Castro, Henry Hurtado, Jorge Bailón and Toribio Bohórquez, and to indicate the specific charges brought against them. The Committee also requests the Government to reply to the allegations concerning the arrest of the trade union leader Francisco Javier Sepúlveda and the searching of the premises of FESTRACOR-CUT and ADEMACOR-CUT.
6. The Committee urges the Government to reply in detail to each of the allegations concerning the acts of violence or arrests and searches which remain pending after the Committee's examination of the cases at its February 1990 meeting (see 270th Report, paras. 227, 230 and 255) and to indicate in particular if judicial inquiries have been initiated. As regards the allegations concerning the National Federation of Coffee Growers, the Committee asks the Government to inform it of the results of the dismissal proceedings under way against trade union leaders.
7. Finally, the Committee asks the Government to inform it of the results of the administrative investigation of the Bank of Caldas following the denunciations by the Trade Union of Workers of the Bank of Caldas concerning the dismissal of several union leaders, the payment of wage increases to non-unionised workers and unionised workers who renounce their membership in the organisation and acts of anti-trade union discrimination based on the discriminatory granting of benefits enshrined in the arbitration award and to answer the allegations concerning the cancellation of the registration of the regional executive committee of the trade union in Medellín and the legal personality of the trade union organisation in Manizales.
8. B. The Government's reply
9. 486. In its communication of 8 January 1991 the Government notes that the rise in violence, organised crime and drug trafficking led it to take measures usually associated with a state of siege, for example, by providing judges with adequate protection and giving them certain legal means to expedite investigations and the gathering of information, with a view to facilitating the sentencing of persons who attack the life, honour and property of Colombian citizens. The Government designed machinery which creates incentives for the reduction of penalties and the discretional application of extradition procedures in respect of persons who voluntarily turn themselves in, confess their crimes and cooperate with the judicial system. The Government also approved an ordinance for the defence of the judiciary, which modifies indictment procedures by transferring the responsibility for investigation from judges to entities serving as judicial police. Moreover, it is now possible to isolate judges from the pressures and risks to which they have often been exposed, so as to ensure that investigations will eventually lead to punishment. In accordance with the provisions of the Anti-Terrorist Ordinance, a public jurisdiction has been set up to deal with persons who seek to destabilise legally constituted institutions.
10. 487. In its communication of 27 May 1991, the Government states that Colombian society has been victimised for several decades by a climate of violence which has a number of sources. In the past 40 years society has had to cope with extra legal armed groups. Many of these groups, having lost an ideological basis for their actions as a result of recent international developments, have abandoned the ethical principles that had guided similar efforts in earlier years, and have resorted to abduction and extortion to finance their activities; by executing peasants and civil servants, by attacking police forces and soldiers caught off guard, they have made terrorism the mainstay of their military strategy. This problem has been compounded recently by the immense economic power of drug traffickers and the world demand for drugs, a very worrisome phenomenon which has increased violence in Colombia and sown terror in various sectors of the country. Nevertheless, none of these scourges has weakened the State's conviction that it is necessary to act within the law to protect the democratic foundations of the system. Faced with the violence and aggression of the guerrilla movement, recent governments have responded by offering to engage in, and engaging in negotiated peace processes, promoting social development programmes and searching for ways to broaden democratic participation. To counter drug trafficking, the Government has successfully sought to enhance the effectiveness of the fight against this crime. Measures aimed at drug trafficking include the following objectives: to expand crop substitution programmes and the eradication of coca, marijuana and poppy crops; to tighten controls against the importation and illegal diversion of chemical agents used in the manufacture of cocaine; to control jurisdictional maritime areas and airspace through the Navy and Air Force with a view to neutralising the illicit traffic of drugs, weapons, explosives and chemical inputs; to reduce the volume of processing and export of cocaine through ongoing efforts to search out and destroy illegal processing installations, especially through the National Police; to reduce the incentives, profitability and impunity of drug traffickers (in part, through investigations into cash flows and illicit profits); to enhance international cooperation aimed at weakening drug trafficking networks, reducing profit margins and achieving a better balance between the distribution of the associated costs, while protecting national interests; to control chemical substances used as inputs, and to counteract money laundering through international cooperation of law enforcement and judiciary authorities; to expand international cooperation in illicit crop substitution programmes; to bring to justice anyone who participates in any aspect of the illegal trade in drugs, and guaranteeing the necessary conditions for the effectiveness of the work of the courts.
11. 488. The Government notes that the peace process has had a significant impact in reducing political violence in regions such as Urabá and Córdoba. Previously, the level of violence and political assassinations in these regions had reached the most critical levels, but the violence has been subsiding since March 1990, when the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), in response to the Government's proposals, stated its willingness to suspend its offensive in order to enter into dialogue with the Government. The EPL's willingness to discuss peace with the Government had an enormous repercussion on the level of violence in the region. The drop in the number of murders of activists, peasants and workers coincided with the establishment of demobilised areas and reached its lowest levels upon demobilisation (the Government encloses a table which shows how the incidence of these kinds of murder fell significantly in this area when the dialogue with the EPL was opened). Likewise, the Government encloses a document prepared by the Administrative Department of the Presidency, which describes the programmes to be undertaken in the Urabá Antioqueño area with a view to boosting economic production, promoting social development and securing peace.
12. 489. In addition, the Government has adopted measures that are consistent with its policy to promote, defend and protect human rights:
13. (1) Decrees designed to dismantle the so-called paramilitary groups, namely: Decree No. 813 of 1989, which contains provisions to fight death squads, groups of hired assassins, self-defence or private justice groups, erroneously called paramilitary groups, by creating a coordinating and advisory committee for this purpose; Decree No. 814 of 1989, which creates the Special Armed Force to fight death squads, groups of hired assassins and self-defence or private justice groups, erroneously called paramilitary groups; Decree No. 815 of 1989, which limits the right of individuals to carry arms, as a preventive measure.
14. (2) The "Ordinance for the defence of the judiciary", contained in Decree No. 2790 of 20 November 1990, and subsequent Decrees Nos. 99, of 14 January 1991, and 390, of 8 February 1991, which bring about a merger and restructuring of the specialised and public jurisdictions which had previously dealt separately with terrorism and drug trafficking; the Ordinance reassigns functions to the judicial policy and redefines the crimes of abduction and extortion, while raising the corresponding sentences. With a view to protecting public investigators and witnesses, and achieving a better administration of justice which eliminates impunity, the Ordinance authorises the protection of the identity of judges, expert witnesses, witnesses and judicial police agents. Likewise, it contains provisions aimed at controlling situations which may otherwise lead to an increase in the violation of civil rights. In this context, the Ordinance prohibits searches and seizures by military or police agents out of uniform, and reduces the period of preventive detention of persons at the hands of the judicial police. Under previous regulations, detention could last up to seven working days, incommunicado. At present, detention may not exceed 48 hours where the person concerned is in the custody of military investigators, and five days when in the custody of civilian investigating authorities.
15. (3) Some 108 criminal investigation courts have been added to the existing 700; they are the first instance courts as regards crimes against life and property, or those involving the possession of illegal weapons. Likewise, the Criminal Investigation Office created a Human Rights Unit and various Sectional Units in the most seriously affected areas of the country.
16. (4) An Inter-Institutional Working Party has been set up; it is composed of a number of public agencies and its primary objectives are to serve as a means of inter-institutional collaboration in cases requiring urgent action, arising from the violation of human rights; to collaborate with investigating agencies and to institute proceedings to clarify illegal actions and to maintain a record of human rights violation cases. Likewise, there is a Inter-Institutional Human Rights Committee for Labour Organisations, composed of representatives of public bodies and the various trade union groupings, which specifically analyses violations of the human rights of workers and develops preventive machinery to counter the wave of assassinations and disappearances of trade union leaders and workers in general.
17. (5) Another measure has been the creation of the so-called Anti-Assassin Committee, whose primary objective is to overcome the impunity of assassination squads in Colombia by shedding light on their origin, history and objectives. Initially, 20 specific cases of human rights violations will be selected and the corresponding investigations will be reviewed. Subsequently, there will be an evaluation of the state of these cases, and lastly, every effort will be made to identify the persons responsible and to bring them before the courts. The Government's purpose is to go beyond punitive action against these criminals; its main objective is to devise preventive instruments to diminish and ultimately eradicate hired assassins. The cases to be examined by the Committee will include massacres, disappearances, torture and other crimes that are attributed not only to public law enforcement agents, but also to members of the guerrilla and paramilitary forces as well as drug traffickers. In March 1991, the Committee decided to set up a high-level commission responsible for using every means at the State's disposal to solve cases of political assassinations and disappearances. On that occasion the executive reiterated that self-defence groups and the so-called paramilitary organisations will not be tolerated by the State, and that it would never approve the cover-up or impunity of public agents found to have engaged in such crimes, since the Government does not sponsor human rights violations, but on the contrary, condemns and punishes them.
18. (6) A permanent office responsible for investigating human rights violations was set up initially in the Department of Antioquia; plans call for it to be extended to other areas of the country as well.
19. (7) The Presidential Council for the Defence, Protection and Promotion of Human Rights was created in 1987; its major task is to encourage state agencies and social organisations to assume the defence of these rights. The Council has served as a channel of communication enabling individuals and organisations to seek the State's assistance in re-establishing rights which have been infringed or in preventing such infringements.
20. (8) In 1990 legislation (Act No. 4) was adopted to reform the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor. This legislation also strengthens certain important functions of departmental and provincial public prosecutors; it creates the office of Deputy Public Prosecutor for the Defence of Human Rights, with disciplinary competence to investigate cases of torture, genocide and disappearances; it introduces more effective actions in the necessary defence of the nation's interests through the Deputy Public Prosecutor for Civil Matters, incorporating the important function of promoting actions before the competent authority against public servants who have been found guilty of serious misconduct in office: it strengthens the Special Investigations Office by creating sections for public morals, public order and human rights, public administration, technical and forensic advice and statistics; it assigns to the Deputy Public Prosecutor for the Judiciary and the Administrative Police the task of overseeing agencies currently engaged in judicial police work (Technical Section of the Judicial Police and Administrative Department for Safety); it gives to provincial public prosecutors responsibility in the first instance for disciplinary proceedings against agents and under-officers of the National Police and of the military forces in their territorial jurisdiction; it creates support committees for criminal, administrative and civil matters, responsible for keeping up-to-date records of criminal, civil and administrative proceedings which, in the opinion of the public prosecutor or of the members of the Committee, are of national interest, and for evaluating the work of the members of the Attorney-General's Department and officials of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office who participate in such proceedings.
21. 490. In its communication of 13 September 1991, the Government states that it has responded to the historical challenge of defeating violence by establishing the so-called "National Strategy Against Violence", which rests on three basic objectives: to guarantee that the use of force is confined to the State's armed forces, in accordance with the Constitution; to restore the capacity of the judicial system to punish crime and to fight impunity; and to extend the State's institutions to the entire national territory. Five major policies make up this Strategy and constitute a realistic approach to the problem of violence in the country:
22. (1) the first policy aims at strengthening the initiative of regional and local authorities (governors, superintendents, chiefs of police and mayors), and at reinforcing inter-institutional coordination through sectional security councils, which are responsible for formulating regional security plans in response to the kind of violence prevailing in each jurisdiction, and to perform the corresponding follow-up. Within the context of participatory democracy, the aim is to provide an opportunity for civic and community organisations to contribute to the development of these plans, and to the planning and implementation of economic and social rehabilitation efforts in their respective regions;
23. (2) the second aims at resolving the problem of impunity by strengthening and modernising the judiciary system and its administration, and by promoting respect for the law and developing new, non-judicial institutional procedures to settle disputes between citizens; (3) the third is to formulate principles and criteria to guide the peace policy and the negotiations with the guerrilla movement, aimed at ending their armed uprising;
24. (4) the forth aims at devising specific plans and actions which will enhance the State's ability to confront effectively the various agents of violence (the guerrilla, drug traffickers, delinquents, terrorists, and criminals involved in abduction and extortion);
25. (5) the fifth gives special attention to specific measures to protect and promote human rights throughout the country.
26. 491. The Government will continue to promote an active policy to protect human rights, emphasising the prevention and punishment of violations which are attributed to public servants or members of security forces who, in violation of regulations they are responsible for enforcing, are themselves implicated in human rights violations. The policy in defence of human rights focuses on the following aspects:
27. - a strengthening of procedures for the internal control of state institutions and of procedures under the care of the Chief Public Prosecutor for preventing the violation of the rights of citizens and punishing the guilty;
28. - a broadening of the scope of educational programmes regarding human rights which are designed for public servants, and especially for municipal officials, the judicial police and members of the armed forces and the police;
29. - a refinement of procedures for denouncing, investigating and monitoring cases of violations through municipal officials, the Chief Public Prosecutor's office, the National Criminal Investigation Office, the Presidential Council on Human Rights and civil, military and police authorities. Specifically, the Government has endeavoured to publicise existing machinery for bringing charges and has improved inter-institutional coordination at the regional and local level in an effort to boost the effectiveness of investigation and monitoring procedures;
30. - the introduction of educational programmes in the school system with the medium-term objective of creating a culture of tolerance, mutual respect and the recognition of the rights of others, as cornerstones of democracy
31. - the preparation of an official annual report on the situation of human rights, under the responsibility of the Presidential Council on Human Rights, in coordination with the Chief Public Prosecutor's office;
32. - the development of procedures, at both national and regional level, to facilitate the investigation of cases of disappearances and the identification of homicide victims, with the participation of the National Criminal Investigation Office, the Chief Public Prosecutor's office, the Department of Forensic Medicine and police investigation agencies; and
33. - lastly, the Government will authorise and give its full support to humanitarian efforts to care for persons who have been displaced as a result of the violence.
34. 492. As regards the alleged murders of trade unionists, the Government states that: (1) proceedings have been instituted in the cases of 101 of the alleged 113 murders (see list attached to 275th Report of the Committee); in seven of these cases the alleged perpetrators of these crimes have been identified or sentenced. (2) As regards the remaining 12 alleged murders, the Government is currently collecting information with respect to seven of them (Risaralda Vereda Argentina, 26.10.88; Jorge Martínez, 22.1.89; Francisco Dumar, 13.2.89; Heriberto López, 14.2.90; Apolinar Fabra, 8.7.90; Rómán Hernández, 17.7.90; and Fredy Enrique Mejía, 17.7.90); the other five trade unionists (Gildardo González, Julio C. Gutierrez, Francisco de Paula Pérez Castrillón, Arturo López and María Elizabeth Suárez) were not murdered and are alive. The Government also reports on developments in the proceedings concerning the disappearance of nine trade unionists whose whereabouts are still unknown (Luis Villadiego, Marlene Medina Gómez, Luis Alberto Builes, Alvaro Usuga, Elvia Marina Díaz, Marcial Alonso González, Christian Roa, Lucio Serrano Luna and Isidro Caballero Delgado).
35. 493. Recently, the country adopted a new Constitution drafted by the Constitutional National Assembly, a popularly elected body in which several political currents were represented, including groups which had previously participated in armed uprisings but had subsequently returned to civilian life in response to the Government's proposals for peace talks. The 1991 Constitution enshrines fundamental labour rights (right to work, freedom of association, the cancellation or suspension of legal personality only by judicial decision, the legal rights of organised labour), and social rights in relation to labour (including collective bargaining and the right to strike).
36. 494. The new Constitution also instituted the office of the "Ombudsman", whose primary function is to promote and publicise human rights. As regards the Ombudsman, it is hoped that similar offices will be instituted at the departmental and municipal levels, with officials who will travel throughout the country to mediate disputes. The Ombudsman will also be responsible for invoking the right of habeas corpus and filing appeals, without prejudice to the rights of the parties concerned, and for filing other suits in his areas of competence. Likewise, he shall draft Bills on issues coming under his competence, and report regularly to Congress.
37. 495. The Constitution also enshrines the "right to protection" of the basic human rights enshrined in the Constitution. This protection will be afforded through apt and prompt machinery, by which a person may have recourse to a judge, regardless of the place or time, when that person feels that one or more of his or her basic human rights are being violated. The judge is required to give the matter priority attention.
38. 496. Within the Judiciary, the Constitution enshrines the "Special National Prosecutor's Office", a body which will enjoy administrative and budgetary autonomy, and which will be responsible, at its own initiative or upon denunciation or dispute, for investigating crimes and bringing charges before the competent judges or courts, except as regards crimes committed by members of law enforcement services while on duty and in connection with such duty. In other words, the Special National Prosecutor's Office shall have ultimate responsibility for investigations, for standardising criteria and defining methods for investigations into crimes.
39. 497. As regards the allegations concerning the Banco de Caldas, the Government provides an update of the administrative labour investigation into the alleged violations of the arbitration award handed down on 24 July 1989 and the dismissal of the trade union's national president, Mr. Diego Rafael Beltrán. These allegations are contained in the records of hearings dated 16 and 22 August 1989. The investigation culminated in the issuance of a resolution on 16 January 1990, which found the Banco de Caldas guilty of violating section 405 of the Substantive Labour Code, as amended by Decree No. 204 of 1957, section 1 (legal rights of organised labour), and ordered the Bank to furnish proof of compliance with section 6 of the arbitration award. The same resolution ordered that the relevant documents be sent to the Departmental Division of Labour and Social Security of Caldas, to enable a determination of whether the trade union is a majority or minority trade union within the Bank, and that the investigation concerning the docking of the wages of negotiators between 28 March and 14 April 1989 be continued.
40. 498. A motion to set aside, filed by the Bank's attorney, was addressed in a resolution of March 1990 which upheld the resolution of 16 January 1990. The petition of appeal was resolved in resolution No. 022 of 22 May 1990, which overturned article 1 of the contested resolution, and upheld article 2 of resolution No. 002 of 16 January 1990. To comply with article 2 of resolution No. 002 of 16 January 1990, the Bank's legal representative stated that the Bank had complied with the resolution, and submitted supporting documentation; nevertheless, the president and general secretary of the trade union of Banco de Caldas contended that the Bank had not yet complied with the above-mentioned resolution.
41. 499. Given the contradictory positions of the parties in this matter, on 8 November 1990 the chief of the Departmental Division of Labour and Social Security of Caldas was requested to verify that the Bank had complied with the resolution in question. In a document of 27 December 1990 the Departmental Division stated that its review of the Banco de Caldas personnel list showed that among its 831 employees, 39 were unionised, and that according to section 37 of Decree No. 2351/65, "A collective agreement concluded between an employer and a union whose membership does not exceed one-third of the total number of workers employed in the undertaking shall only apply to the members of the union concluding the agreement and to persons subsequently acceding to the agreement or joining the union". The Bank deducts trade union dues from 269 employees, as follows: 1 per cent from the wages of 39 employees (who are unionised); and 0.5 per cent from the wages of 230 employees (not unionised because they have resigned from the trade union, but who still benefit from the arbitration award). The remaining personnel is either executive staff or workers who rejected the award prior to its entry into force and acceded to the collective agreement. Subsequently, following another investigation of the Bank, resolution No. 197 of 4 July 1990 found Banco de Caldas guilty of violating clause 1 of the arbitration award, by reason of clause 32 of "Conventional Provisions in Force" and clause 21 of the award regarding education and housing subsidies and optical coverage. Article 2 of this resolution transferred to the Departmental Division of Caldas the allegations of trade union persecution, while article 3 refrained from taking punitive measures against the Bank for infractions in disciplinary proceedings against certain workers. The motion to set aside was resolved by means of a resolution of 24 August 1990, which upheld the above-mentioned resolution. The petition of appeal was resolved in Order No. 003 of 28 January 1991, which did not overturn resolution No. 197 of 4 July 1990.
42. 500. As regards the alleged dismissal of trade union leaders of the National Federation of Coffee Growers, the Government states that it has requested but not yet obtained information from the 12th and 13th labour courts, and that it will supply this information when it is made available.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 501. The Committee has taken note of the following information furnished by the Government: (1) that proceedings have been opened in 101 of the 113 (pending) alleged murders of trade unionists (see the list attached to the Committee's 275th Report), and that charges have been filed or persons sentenced in only seven of these cases; (2) that as regards the remaining 12 alleged murders, the Government is gathering information on seven of these (concerning: Risaralda Vereda Argentina, Jorge Martínez, Francisco Dumar, Heriberto López, Apolinar Fabra, Román Hernández and Fredy Enrique Mejía), and that the other five trade unionists (Gilardo González, Julio C. Gutiérrez, Francisco de Paula Pérez Castrillón, Arturo López and María Elizabeth Suárez) were not murdered and are alive. The Committee also notes that the whereabouts of nine trade unionists who have disappeared, and with respect to whom the corresponding proceedings have been opened, are still unknown (Luis Villadiego, Marlene Medina Gómez, Luis Alberto Builes, Alvaro Usuga, Elvia Marina Díaz, Marcial Alonso González, Christian Roa, Lucio Serrano Luna and Isidro Caballero Delgado).
2. 502. The Committee notes with interest the measures adopted by the Government to bring an end to the violence and, in particular, to eradicate paramilitary and self-defence groups, and to strengthen the staff and means available to the judiciary. Noting that since its November 1990 meeting the complainant organisations have not presented new allegations of violence against the trade union movement, the Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to reach these objectives. It expresses the hope that the new Constitution, which contains important provisions as regards freedom of association and the defence of basic human rights in general, will lead to conclusive progress in the very near future.
3. 503. Nevertheless, as it had occasion to do during its last examination of these cases, the Committee expresses its deepest concern over the high number of trade union leaders and trade unionists who have been murdered or are missing, and expresses its concern in view of the fact that, according to the documentation sent by the Government, judicial investigations have resulted in the identification or sentencing of the guilty parties in only very few cases. Again, the Committee emphasises the importance in all cases of assassination or disappearance of trade unionists, of clarifying the facts, identifying the responsible parties and punishing the guilty, and requests the Government to keep it informed of the criminal proceedings concerning the murder or disappearance of the trade union leaders and trade unionists mentioned by name in the preceding paragraph.
4. 504. The Committee regrets that the Government has not sent observations on the allegations concerning acts of violence, arrests and searches which remained outstanding following the Committee's examination of the case in February 1990 (see 270th Report, paras. 227, 230 and 255). The Committee also regrets that it has not received the results of labour court proceedings regarding the dismissal of trade union leaders in the coffee sector, or observations concerning developments in the criminal trials against trade union leaders Norberto Serna, Héctor Castro, Henry Hurtado, Jorge Bailón and Toribio Bohórquez, or information on the charges against them; the Committee requests the Government to supply information in this connection, and requests it also to reply to allegations concerning the detention of trade union leader Francisco Javier Sepúlveda and the search of the former premises of FESTRACOR-CUT and ADEMACOR-CUT.
5. 505. Lastly, the Committee notes the Government's partial observations on the various acts of anti-union discrimination which, according to the allegations, have taken place in the Banco de Caldas. The Committee requests the Government to send precise information on all of the allegations concerning the trade union situation in this Bank and to clarify further the consequences of the several administrative resolutions which it mentions in its reply, regarding the dismissal of several trade union leaders, the alleged wage increases of workers who do not belong to the union or who have left the union, and anti-union discrimination in the granting of certain benefits stipulated in the arbitration award. Moreover, as regards the alleged cancellation of the legal personality of the Banco de Caldas trade union organisation in Manizales, the Committee notes that according to the new Constitution the legal personality of a trade union may only be cancelled or suspended by a judicial decision.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 506. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee notes with interest the measures adopted by the Government to bring an end to the violence and, in particular, to eradicate paramilitary and self-defence groups, and to strengthen the staff and means available to the judiciary. Noting that since its November 1990 meeting the complainant organisations have not presented new allegations of violence against the trade union movement, the Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to reach these objectives and expresses the hope that the new Constitution, which contains important provisions as regards freedom of association and the defence of basic human rights in general, will lead to conclusive progress in the very near future.
   • (b) The Committee expresses its deepest concern over the high number of trade union leaders and trade unionists who have been murdered or are missing, and expresses its preoccupation given that, according to the documentation sent by the Government, judicial investigations have resulted in the identification or sentencing of the guilty parties in only very few cases.
   • (c) The Committee requests the Government to supply further information on the criminal proceedings concerning the murder or disappearance of the following trade union leaders and trade unionists: Risaralda Vereda Argentina, Jorge Martínez, Francisco Dumar, Heriberto López, Apolinar Fabra, Róman Hernández, Fredy Enrique Mejía (murdered); Luis Villadiego, Marlene Medina Gómez, Luis Alberto Builes, Alvaro Usuga, Elvia Marina Díaz, Marcial Alonso González, Christian Roa, Lucio Serrano Luna and Isidro Caballero Delgado (missing).
   • (d) The Committee again requests the Government to supply information on developments in the criminal trials against trade union leaders Norberto Serna, Héctor Castro, Henry Hurtado, Jorge Bailón and Toribio Bohórquez, indicating the specific charges laid against them. The Committee also requests the Government to reply to the allegations concerning the detention of the trade union leader Francisco Javier Sépúlveda and the search of the former premises of FESTRACOR-CUT and ADEMACOR-CUT.
   • (e) The Committee asks the Government to send precise information on all of the allegations concerning the trade union situation in the Bank of Caldes and further to clarify the consequences of the several administrative resolutions which it mentions in its reply, regarding the dismissal of several trade union leaders, the alleged wage increases for workers who do not belong to the union or who have left the union, and the anti-union discrimination in the granting of certain benefits contained in the arbitration award.
   • (f) The Committee requests again the Government to communicate the results of the procedures concerning the dismissals of trade union officials of the National Federation of Coffee Growers.