Definitive Report - Report No 364, June 2012

Case No 2859 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 27-MAY-11 - Closed

Allegations: Killing of a trade union official

1. 538. The complaint is contained in a communication dated 27 May 2011 from the Trade Union Confederation of Guatemala (UNSITRAGUA), the General Confederation of Workers of Guatemala (CGTG), the Unified Trade Union Confederation of Guatemala (CUSG) and the National Defence Front (FNL).
2. 539. The Government sent its observations in a communication dated 13 March 2012.
3. 540. Guatemala 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. 541. In their communication dated 27 May 2011, the UNSITRAGUA, the CGTG, the CUSG and the FNL allege that Mr Idar Joel Hernández Godoy, Finance Secretary of the central executive committee of the Izabal Banana Industry Workers’ Union (SITRABI), which is affiliated with the CUSG, was killed on 26 May 2011.
2. 542. According to the allegations, the trade union official was in a vehicle belonging to the union and was leaving Finca Campo Nuevo, which is owned by Bandegua, located in the municipality of Morales in the department of Izabal, for the SITRABI head office to conduct union business. The complainants state that, according to information gathered at the scene of the crime, Mr Hernández Godoy was intercepted within the precincts of the municipality of Los Amates by two persons on a motorcycle who fired several shots at him. Several bullet holes were found in both the body of the trade union official and in his vehicle, which was written off after having collided with the back of a truck sitting at the edge of the road.
3. 543. The complainants allege that this is the result of a systematic policy of abduction, harassment, exile and murder that has been operating in the country for many years and which includes violence directed at the working class in general and at trade union officials in particular.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 544. In a communication dated 13 March 2012, the Government indicates that, in order to gather information on the case, it requested information from the special unit for offences committed against trade unionists within the Public Prosecution Service on the measures taken to investigate the murder of Mr Idar Joel Hernández Godoy.
2. 545. The Public Prosecution Service provided details on the evidence obtained, namely: (1) an expanded version of the police report dated 26 May 2011; (2) a file containing the personal details of the deceased, as well as the details of the incident that occurred 209 kilometres along the Ruta al Atlántico, curva el Pino, Aldea Quiligua Los Amates in the department of Izabal; (3) the report of the full-time service unit on the reported threats against Mr Idar Joel Hernández Godoy, which contains a record of his murder but makes no mention of other threats; (4) the communication received from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare dated 24 June 2011 containing the names of the members of the executive committee and consultative council of SITRABI, which lists Mr Idar Joel Hernández Godoy as Finance Secretary; and (5) the report of the judge of first instance for labour and social welfare matters of the department of Izabal dated 14 September 2011, which states that neither the family of Mr Idar Joel Hernández Godoy nor the trade union has instituted legal proceedings or taken any other kind of action against Bandegua.
3. 546. The Public Prosecution Service states that the report of the specialized criminal investigation division of the district of Puerto Barrios highlights the interviews conducted with the following people:
   • (a) Edyn Yovani Díaz García, the driver of the truck with which the vehicle in which the deceased was found collided.
   • (b) Nidia Anabella Hernández Nova, an employee of the company and the daughter of the deceased.
   • (c) Selfa Sandoval Carranza, an employee of the company and a member of the trade union.
   • (d) Marta Julia Recinos de López, a resident of the area where the incident occurred.
   • (e) Santos Delma Amador Colindres, a resident of the area where the incident occurred.
   • (f) Cesar Humberto Guerra López, the Labour and Disputes Secretary of the executive committee of SITRABI.
4. 547. According to SITRABI, there was apparently no labour dispute under discussion at the time of Mr Godoy’s death. However, the Government refers to a report from the company Tigo, dated 21 September 2011, regarding the list of incoming and outgoing calls made from the telephone of Mr Idar Joel Hernández Godoy. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare does not possess accurate information regarding those calls to enable it to confirm or deny the possibility of him having received threatening calls.
5. 548. As part of the investigation, a statement was taken from the general secretary of the SITRABI regarding financial disputes, complaints and the way in which Mr Idar Joel Hernández Godoy managed the finances of the trade union, to the effect that irregularities had been detected and attributed to him, which could have motivated the action taken against the now deceased Mr Godoy.
6. 549. Moreover, the Prosecutor’s Office of Puerto Barrios Izabal captured two individuals known for committing robberies and working as hired killers, both of whom rode a motorcycle, in order to establish their identity and to gather information on the motorcycles. At this stage of the investigation, Ms Selfa Sandoval, a supervisor at SITRABI, appeared before the authorities and was shown photos of both the detainees and the motorcycles. An examination of the photos revealed that the detainees and the motorcycles were not a match, ruling out the two suspects as the perpetrators of the crime. During the course of the investigation, two individuals were also arrested for a separate robbery in the department of Jalapa but it is assumed that they could well have been involved in the murder of Mr Godoy. The authorities confiscated two firearms from the individuals, which have been subjected to testing by ballistics experts in order to establish whether they can be linked to the murder of the trade union official. The results of the tests are currently before the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF). As for the detainees, the special unit for offences committed against trade unionists within the Public Prosecution Service stated that they had been formally charged with robbery.
7. 550. The Government concludes by indicating that the scientific investigations will continue until the veracity of the facts has been established.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 551. The Committee notes that in the present case the complainants allege the killing of a trade union official, Mr Idar Joel Hernández Godoy. The Committee deeply deplores the murder of this trade union official and emphasizes the seriousness of this incident. The Committee recalls that the right to life is a fundamental prerequisite for the exercise of the rights contained in Convention No. 87, and that freedom of association can only be exercised in a climate that is free from violence, pressure or threats of any kind and in which fundamental rights, particularly those relating to human life and personal safety, are fully respected and guaranteed [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth (revised) edition, 2006, paras 42 to 44]. The Committee further recalls that the killing, disappearance or serious injury of trade union leaders and trade unionists requires the institution of independent judicial inquiries in order to shed full light, at the earliest date, on the facts and the circumstances in which such actions occurred and in this way, to the extent possible, determine where responsibilities lie, punish the guilty parties and prevent the repetition of similar events [see Digest, op. cit., para. 48].
2. 552. In this respect, the Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government on the measures taken to investigate the murder of Mr Godoy and observes that two individuals have been arrested. The Committee requests the Government and the competent authorities to make every effort to shed light on the murder, to determine where responsibilities lie and to punish the guilty parties. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the ongoing investigation and of any developments concerning the legal proceedings instituted and firmly expects that, in the near future, the perpetrators and instigators of this murder will be identified, judged and punished by means of severe penalties that avoid further violent acts against unionists.
3. 553. Lastly, given that the allegation concerns murder, the Committee will pursue its examination thereof within the framework of Case No. 2609.

The Committee’s recommendations

1. 554. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) Deeply deploring the murder of the trade union official, Mr Idar Joel Hernández Godoy, the Committee requests the Government and the competent authorities to make every effort to shed light on the murder, to determine where responsibilities lie and to punish the guilty parties. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the ongoing investigation and of any developments concerning the legal proceedings instituted and firmly expects that, in the near future, the perpetrators and instigators of this murder will be identified, judged and punished by means of severe penalties that avoid further violent acts against trade unionists.
   • (b) Given that the allegation concerns murder, the Committee will pursue its examination thereof within the framework of Case No. 2609.
   • (c) The Committee draws the special attention of the Governing Body to the extreme seriousness and urgent nature of the matters dealt with in this case.