Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 333, March 2004

Case No 2204 (Argentina) - Complaint date: 30-MAY-02 - Closed

Allegations: The complainants allege the death, injury, criminal persecution and repression of trade union officers and workers who participated in peaceful protests

1. 216. The complaint is contained in a communication from the Confederation of Argentine Workers (CTA) of May 2002. In a communication of 1 July 2002, the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) supported the complaint. In a communication of 10 July 2002, the Latin American Central of Workers (CLAT) also supported the complaint.
2. 217. The Government sent its observations in communications of 6 September 2002, 13 January, 25 April, 31 October 2003 and 20 January 2004.
3. 218. Argentina 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. The complainants’ allegations

1. 219. In their communication of May 2002, the complainants allege the death, criminal persecution and repression of trade union officers and workers who participated in peaceful social protests. They indicate that, as a result of structural adjustments implemented in the country since the 1990s and deepening social exclusion, many social protests and demonstrations took place from 1997 onwards. One of the methods used was to create roadblocks in which participants generally demanded the creation of jobs, an increase in social spending (especially in the field of education and health) and compliance with agreements concluded with provincial governments and/or the national Government. According to the complainants, the institutional response to social protests was characterized by the repression and criminal persecution of those involved, mainly trade union representatives and activists and unemployed workers. Repression took the form of disproportionate and unjustified force, which left numerous people injured and several people dead. In many cases, the federal courts intervened ordering the repression of demonstrations and were later responsible for conducting the investigations. For all the reported cases of injuries or deaths, the legal investigations are at a standstill and those responsible have not been identified.
2. 220. The protests also led to the criminal persecution of demonstrators, and at present over 2,800 people are being prosecuted (according to information from the Human Rights Secretariat of the CTA). Those being prosecuted are workers who for the most part are unemployed and extremely poor and, in many cases, unable to put up an effective defence, and for whom the discredit associated with facing prosecution will prevent them from securing work. The majority of cases are still open, thereby prolonging the legal uncertainty of the accused persons.
3. 221. The complainants describe the manner in which the social protests are conducted and indicate that, generally speaking, once the road is blocked, a local, provincial or national Government representative appears on the scene with the aim of reaching an agreement with the demonstrators. A document is produced, sometimes in the presence of a prosecutor, and signed by the representatives of workers involved in the demonstration. Subsequently, the signatories are accused of being those criminally responsible in the prosecutions initiated. Therefore, most of the people prosecuted are the trade union officers or social leaders who accompany the demonstrators, as well as representatives designated by the demonstrators.
4. 222. The complainants state that certain alternative means of expression, such as peaceful protests, are fundamental for unemployed workers, who do not have the possibility of using methods such as strikes or collective bargaining.
5. 223. The CTA details, province by province, numerous cases of repression and criminal persecution. Some of these cases refer to trade unionists, whereas others involve unemployed persons, and the CTA does not provide information on the trade union nature of the action taken by these people, neither does it indicate whether such action was organized by a trade union. Most of the cases refer to roadblocks. The following is a list of the cases referring to trade unionists which involve, or may involve, trade union activities:
   • - Buenos Aires Province: Mr. Sergio Ariel Basterio, General Secretary of the Association of Aeronautical Personnel (APA) and member of the National Executive Committee of the CTA, and Mr. Edgardo Aníbal Llano, Deputy Secretary of the Association of Aeronautical Personnel (APA), were prosecuted for allegedly violating section 194 of the Penal Code (obstructing the highway) as the result of a protest following disputes at the Aerolíneas Argentinas enterprise towards the end of 2001.
   • - Autonomous City of Buenos Aires: In the early morning of 19 April 2001, the Federal Police repressed a demonstration by trade unions affiliated to the Argentine Workers Movement (MTA) who were demonstrating in front of the National Congress for the approval of a labour reform act. Although physical force was used initially to restore the flow of traffic, once this had been done, there was indiscriminate repression and around 30 people were injured, four of whom with bullet wounds.
   • - Tierra de Fuego Province: Owing to a meeting of health workers, held in January 2002 at the Río Grande Regional Hospital, security forces committed brutal acts of repression. The intervening judge defined the events as sedition, and the summary proceeding is still under way.
   • - Santa Fe Province: During the social crisis leading up to the resignation of former President Fernando de la Rúa, Mr. Claudio Lepratti, trade union representative of the Association of State Workers (ATE), was murdered by police in Rosario city, whilst he was carrying out his professional duty in a school canteen.
   • - Neuquen Province: Mr. Julio Durval Fuentes, General Secretary of the Confederation of Argentine Workers (CTA) of the Neuquen Province, currently has 20 criminal actions against him and Mr. César Abel Sagredo, Deputy Secretary of the Association of State Workers (ATE) of the State of Neuquen, currently has ten criminal actions against him.
     • Mr. Luis Alberto Rodríguez, General Secretary of the Confederation of Argentine Workers (CTA) of Zapala city, is accused of committing an offence against public safety for having participated in a protest in Zapala city along with a large group of workers and unemployed persons (1999).
     • Mr. Alejandro Mansilla is accused of committing an offence against public safety for his participation in a roadblock to demand work for a group of unemployed persons belonging to the CTA (2001).
     • Messrs. Juan Morales, Oscar Buyones, José Antonio Ríos, Pablo M. Jiménez, Juan Manuel Sallavedra and José Arbajou are accused of committing an offence against public safety for their participation in a roadblock in Senillosa city to demand work for a group of unemployed persons belonging to the CTA (2001).
     • Mr. Carlos Quintriqueo, General Secretary of the ATE in the Neuquen Province, is accused of violating section 194 of the Penal Code for his participation in a roadblock held by unemployed persons and workers in Junín de los Andes city (2001).
   • - Salta Province: Mr. Martín Caliva (General Secretary of the Trade Union of Municipal Employees of Güemes), Mr. Miguel Gamboa, Ms. Miriam de los A. Gonzáles, Ms. Cristina del V. Gómez, Ms. Silvia C. Maidana, Ms. Blanca E. Salvatierra (ATE Güemes), Mr. Juan José Mendoza, Mr. Eduardo Miranda (Trade Union of Municipal Employees of Güemes) and Mr. David Buenaventura (General Secretary of ATE Salta) are accused of obstructing the highway for their participation in January 2000 in a roadblock held 1,135 kilometres along road No. 34 by municipal employees of General Güemes city to demand the payment of five months owed wages.
   • - Córdoba Province: On 8 June 2000, a roadblock was held in the Cruz del Eje area to demand the implementation of benefit plans for the unemployed and to denounce the structural poverty prevailing in the north of the province. The provincial police repressed the demonstration, leaving three people injured and three others in detention.
   • - Chaco Province: On 17 May 2000, the provincial police violently repressed a demonstration by state employees, leaving 15 people injured and eight in detention.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 224. In its communications of 6 September 2002, 13 January, 25 April, 31 October 2003, and 20 January 2004, the Government sent information produced by the Interior Security Department of the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights on the situation of the events reported in various provinces. According to this information, at present the new Government’s relationship with unemployment movements is one based on dialogue by virtue of the efforts made to reduce unemployment and social exclusion. The Government states that although generally speaking the social and employment situation during the previous decade matches the description given by the complainants in some aspects, the priority of the new Government, which took office on 25 May 2003, is to generate a fairer economy aimed at social inclusion. However, the Government considers that this area does not come under the specific responsibility of the Committee. The Government indicates that specific policies are being applied to reverse the consequences of the social and economic crisis which include the Comprehensive Plan for the Promotion of Employment, the National Plan for Employment Regularization, the Plan for Unemployed Male and Female Heads of Households, and the Plan for Local Development and Social Economy implemented by the Ministry of Social Development. The Government also mentions the establishment of a Committee for Legal Analysis of Social Protests, which is comprised of important figures from various sectors of society, distinguished jurists, officials and social actors and is responsible for assessing different variables so that acts which are not exclusively acts of social protest do not come under criminal law; a Bill has been drawn up for this purpose.
2. 225. As regards the various specific events reported, the Government sent the following information concerning the autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the events of 19 April 2002:
   • As regards the events that occurred during the demonstration in front of the National Congress, it should be mentioned that members of the Argentine Federal Police Force provided security services to safeguard the physical integrity of demonstrators, as well as that of those people not participating in the protest.
   • As events developed, traffic on Avenida Entre Ríos, at its intersection with Avenida Rivadavia, was brought to a standstill. For this reason, the prosecutor responsible for contraventions (Fiscalía Contravencional) issued an order to clear the road and pavement of the thoroughfare in question, given that the behaviour of the demonstrators was in violation of section 41 of the “Contravention Code” (Código Contravencional) of the City of Buenos Aires.
   • When repeated contact with representatives of the demonstrators with a view to re-establishing the flow of traffic and appeals made to demonstrators through personal dialogue and using loudspeakers did not lead to positive results, security forces started to clear the thoroughfare.
   • During this procedure, 52 people were detained and proceedings were initiated against them for “affronts to and resistance of authority, disobedience, damage, numerous thefts, and injuries”, with the intervention of the National Criminal Court of First Instance and the Fifth Federal Correctional Court, under the responsibility of Dr. Gabriel Cavallo, Secretariat No. 9, Dr. Javiera Gómez Castilla.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 226. The Committee notes the allegations and the Government’s reply which mainly refer to acts of protest by unemployed persons, with the support of trade union officials, using roadblocks to promote their cause. The Committee observes that in numerous cases this action led to confrontations with the authorities and resulted in deaths and injuries. The Committee observes that legal proceedings have been initiated against those participating in the roadblocks and against the police authorities who repressed the protests.
2. 227. The Committee observes that these allegations refer to events that occurred up until 2002, and that the new Government indicates that its relationship with unemployed persons’ movements is one based on dialogue, given its attempt to generate a fairer economy aimed at social inclusion, and draws attention to a series of specific, relevant policies.
3. 228. The Committee underlines that it is unable to determine whether the protests were organized by trade unions as such. The Committee recalls that protests are protected by the principles of freedom of association only when such activities are organized by trade union organizations or can be considered as legitimate trade union activities as covered by Article 3 of Convention No. 87. On the other hand, the Committee considers that the complaints, as formulated, do not allow for a determination as to whether the issues raised relating to repression during roadblocks relate to the peaceful exercise of trade union rights as contained in Convention No. 87, Article 8, which provides that “in exercising the rights provided for in this Convention, workers and employers and their respective organizations, like other persons or organized collectivities, shall respect the law of the land”.
4. 229. The Committee requests the Government to transmit its observations on the complainants’ allegation that Mr. Claudio Lepratti, trade union representative of the Association of State Workers (ATE), was murdered by police in Rosario city, whilst he was carrying out his professional duty in a school canteen. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of any judicial inquiry undertaken in this respect.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 230. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendation:
   • The Committee requests the Government to transmit its observations on the complainants’ allegation that Mr. Claudio Lepratti, trade union representative of the Association of State Workers (ATE), was murdered by police in Rosario city, whilst he was carrying out his professional duty in a school canteen. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of any judicial inquiry undertaken in this respect.