Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 270, March 1990

Case No 1509 (Brazil) - Complaint date: 15-SEP-89 - Closed

1. 182. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) presented a complaint of violation of trade union rights against the Government of Brazil in a communication dated 15 September 1989 at the request of the Workers' Central Organisation (CUT), which is affiliated to it. The Government sent its comments and observations on this case in a communication dated 15 December 1989.
2. 183. Brazil has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), but it has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Allegations of the complainant confederation

1. 184. In a telex dated 15 September 1989, the ICFTU denounced the murder on 12 September 1989 of trade union leader Valdício Barbosa dos Santos, a member of the executive of the Rural Workers' Union in the town of Pedro Canário, Espirito Santo State. According to the ICFTU, this leader was shot three times with a rifle on his way home from taking his daughter to school. The first persons who arrived on the scene allegedly saw policemen and unidentified persons near the victim's body; they allegedly subsequently disappeared from the town, together with the police inspector. The ICFTU requests the ILO to demand that the Brazilian authorities institute an inquiry and punish those guilty of this murder.

B. The Government's reply

1. 185. In a letter dated 15 December 1989, the Government admits that the leader of the Rural Workers' Association of Pedro Canário and Conceiçao de Baria, Valdício Barbosa dos Santos, known as "Léo", was murdered on 12 September 1989 at 10 a.m., six kilometres from his home in the Floresta do Sul district in the town of Pedro Canário, Espirito Santo State, with three 12-calibre bullets. The Government explains that this trade union leader was a former candidate of the Workers' Party (PT/Pedro Canário) to the town council and a member of the grass-roots ecclesiastical community of Floresta do Sul.
2. 186. The Government alleges that this trade union leader was one of the main organisers of the occupation of the Ipuema farm in the Floresta do Sul district, which took place on 4 June 1989 and during which the owner of the farm, José Machado Neto, and Sergio Narcisio da Silva, a soldier in the Espirito Santo military police, were killed. Since then, according to the Government, Valdício Barbosa dos Santos was living under death threats.
3. 187. The Government adds that the persons suspected of having ordered this murder were Antonio Wilson Fiorot, a doctor, and Galeno Tinoco de Resende, a doctor and landowner, both relatives of José Machado Neto. The person suspected of having committed the murder is José Monteiro de Barros Filho, known as "Ze Capeta".
4. 188. Lastly, the Government states that an administrative inquiry was instituted by the civil police of Espirito Santo State, led by police inspector José Meyer, but that the accused persons had still not been found.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 189. The Committee notes that this case concerns the murder of a rural trade union leader, Valdício Barbosa dos Santos, leader of the Rural Workers' Association. The Government does not deny the facts but claims that the murder followed the violent occupation of a farm, led by this trade union leader, and the death of the owner of the farm and a soldier defending it. The Government names the persons suspected of having committed the crime but states that they have not yet been found.
2. 190. The Committee, for its part, strongly deplores the murder of the trade union leader referred to in this case. It recalls that a climate of violence such as that surrounding the murder or disappearance of trade union leaders constitutes a serious obstacle to the exercise of trade union rights; such acts require severe measures to be taken by the authorities (see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, third edition, 1985, para. 76).
3. 191. The Committee therefore urges the Government to ensure that an independent judicial inquiry be carried out in order to ascertain fully the facts, determine responsibilities, punish those responsible and prevent the repetition of such actions.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 192. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee strongly deplores the murder of the leader of the Rural Workers' Association, Valdício Barbosa dos Santos, and recalls that a climate of violence and intimidation constitutes a serious obstacle to the exercise of trade union rights.
   • (b) While noting that, according to the information supplied by the Government, an administrative inquiry has been instituted by the civil police of Espirito Santo State regarding this matter, the Committee urges the Government to ensure that an independent judicial inquiry be carried out in order to fully ascertain the facts, determine responsibilities, punish those responsible and prevent the repetition of such actions.
   • (c) The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of this inquiry and, in particular, to state whether the persons suspected of having ordered or committed this murder have been arrested and tried.