Interim Report - Report No 395, June 2021

Case No 3395 (El Salvador) - Complaint date: 14-AUG-20 - Active

Allegations: The complainant organizations denounce the murder for anti-union reasons of Mr Weder Arturo Meléndez Ramírez, trade union official and worker at the Municipality of San Salvador

1. 174. The complaint is contained in a communication from the Salvadoran Association of Municipal Workers (ASTRAM) and the Union of Workers of the Municipality of San Salvador (STAMSS) dated 14 August 2020 (received on 4 December 2020).
2. 175. The Government sent its observations in a communication dated 7 May 2021.
3. 176. El Salvador has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), the Workers’ Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135), and the Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151).

A. The complainants’ allegations

1. 177. The complainant organizations denounce the murder for anti-union reasons of Mr Weder Arturo Meléndez Ramírez (Mr Meléndez), trade union official and worker at the Directorate for Solid Waste Management at the Municipality of San Salvador, which occurred on 7 August 2020 in Colonia Guatemala 1 of San Salvador at approximately 6.45 p.m.
2. 178. The complainant organizations indicate that, according to the information they have received, Mr Meléndez was present in the above-mentioned location when two individuals on a motorbike approached him; one of them got off the motorbike, went towards Mr Meléndez and shot him ten times; the two individuals then fled on the motorbike to an unknown location. The complainants indicate that Mr Meléndez died on the way to the hospital of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute and that according to the medical assessment the preliminary cause of death was found to be death by gunshot wounds.
3. 179. The complainant organizations state that Mr Meléndez was one of their most important trade union officials and that he was deeply committed to the welfare work carried out by his organization. The complainants also state that Mr Meléndez was murdered in the exercise of his trade union activities, that is to say while he was collecting, in the above-mentioned location, a donation of bread for the communities that are supported on an ongoing basis by the trade union movement.
4. 180. According to the complainant organizations, Mr Meléndez was one of the trade union leaders who publicly denounced through different types of media, including social networks, the irregularities committed in the Municipality of San Salvador under the authority of its then mayor. According to the complainants, these irregularities include withholding deductions from workers’ wages but not making the corresponding payments of the contributions to the Pension Fund Administrators, the Salvadoran Social Security Institute and the Social Housing Fund, and not paying the instalments due for loans obtained by workers at various banking or financial institutions. The lack of effective payment of the deductions withheld from wages is damaging to the workers concerned and has been reported to the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MTPS), resulting in a notification being submitted to the Attorney-General’s Office.
5. 181. The complainant organizations allege that they have sufficient evidence to conclude that the murder of the trade union official was not due to common crime, but was intended to put an end to the denunciations he had been making in his position of trade union leader.
6. 182. The complainants state that Mr Meléndez was not in conflict with anyone, that he never mentioned having any enemies and that the then mayor was the only person who had reported problems with the trade union official as he had alleged that the then mayor had committed offences of misappropriation or withholding of deductions that were prejudicial to the workers of the Municipality of San Salvador. The complainant organizations indicate that as Mr Meléndez was one of the people who, as a workers’ representative, had focused on denouncing all the irregularities committed by the then mayor, this situation cannot be ruled out as the motive for the murder. Furthermore, the complainants state that it is common knowledge that the then mayor is closely associated with members of gangs or mobs and that he is being prosecuted for this crime before the courts of San Salvador.
7. 183. The complainant organizations add that some days before the murder of the trade union official, the then mayor had wanted to dismiss him because of the denunciations that he was making against him and that this situation was made known at the extraordinary session of the board of the Municipal Directorate for Sustainable Solid Waste Management, number 26, held on 18 July 2020 on the premises of the Diego de Holguín Municipal Complex. At that session, according to the complainants, the then mayor specifically stated, among other comments, that he would assume all legal consequences that may arise regarding the dismissal of Mr Meléndez, and then, after this item was put on the agenda, a vote was taken on his dismissal. The complainants go on to say that all those present at the session, apart from one person, voted in favour of the dismissal and that the person who voted against it was later dismissed by the Municipal Council. The notification of the dismissal of Mr Meléndez did not come into effect and was pending implementation at the time of his death.
8. 184. According to the complainant organizations, the fact that the then mayor had tried to dismiss the trade union official and that he spoke disrespectfully about him is a demonstration of trade union persecution against him and this in turn shows that the then mayor could be linked to the murder.
9. 185. Lastly, the complainant organizations ask the Committee to intervene in order to request the Government to carry out an immediate and effective investigation into the murder of Mr Meléndez and to demand that the authorities, in particular the Municipality of San Salvador, fully respect the exercise of freedom of association, in order to prevent further repression or attacks against trade union officials and leaders both inside and outside the municipality in question.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 186. In a communication of 7 May 2021, the Government provides information on the actions taken by the MTPS, the Attorney-General’s Office and the National Civil Police concerning the murder of Mr Meléndez. In the same communication, the Government refers to the statement issued by the Human Rights Ombudsman on 9 August 2020 condemning the murder of Mr. Meléndez and requesting the Attorney General’s Office and the National Civil Police to carry out effective investigations that consider all possible alternatives, including that the cause of the murder may be linked to a reprisal for the trade union activities performed by Mr. Melendez.
2. 187. The MTPS indicates that it has taken steps to seize the competent judicial bodies to investigate the murder of Mr Meléndez. The MTPS indicates that, to that effect, it has made public statements condemning the murder in various media and has approached the Minister of Labour of Guatemala in his capacity as chair pro tempore of the Council of Ministers of Central America and the Dominican Republic to inform him of the facts of the case and seek his support.
3. 188. Furthermore, the MTPS states that, in October 2020 and March 2021, exercising its constitutional powers and on its own initiative, it: (i) submitted criminal notifications to the Attorney-General’s Office seeking relevant investigations; and (ii) provided the Attorney-General’s Office with information on the suspects in the murder of Mr Meléndez, after receiving a statement from a citizen who sought witness protection. Lastly, the MTPS states that organized crime impacts on trade union leaders who, like Mr Meléndez, denounce the widespread corruption.
4. 189. The Government also submits the information provided by the Attorney-General’s Office on the steps it has taken as part of the investigations into the murder of Mr Meléndez. Those steps include, among others, interviews of witnesses and other people under protection, police visual inspections of the crime scene, the union leader’s vehicle and the vehicle that drove him to the hospital, the forensic examination and post mortem of the corpse, and the seizure of some assets. The Attorney-General’s Office also indicates that it has obtained a certified copy of Mr Meléndez’s employment record and the criminal notifications submitted by the MTPS and, in 2020, by ASTRAM in relation to his murder.
5. 190. Finally, the Government submits, as one of the appendixes to its communication of 7 May 2021, a document entitled “Proposal for reform of the Criminal Code”, which was drafted by the MTPS with the aim of improving the protection of freedom of association. It proposes the amendment of various provisions of the Criminal Code relating to aggravated homicide, aggravated bodily harm, aggravated threats and coercion in order to include among the hypothesis of these crimes assaults that specifically affect trade union leaders and trade unionists.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 191. The Committee observes that in this case the complainant organizations are denouncing the murder for anti-union reasons of Mr Weder Arturo Meléndez Ramírez (Mr Meléndez), trade union official and worker at the Municipality of San Salvador, on 7 August 2020 in San Salvador, while Mr Meléndez, as alleged by the complainants, was carrying out trade union welfare activities.
2. 192. The Committee deeply deplores the murder of the trade union official Mr Meléndez. The Committee notes with concern that the complainants link the murder to the trade union leader’s union activities and, in particular, his alleged public denunciation of the irregularities committed by the then mayor of the Municipality of San Salvador. The Committee observes that the complainants consider that, as a result, the leader was subject to trade union persecution by the then mayor, who had allegedly spoken disrespectfully about him and had sought to dismiss him days before his death; the complainants thus allege that it could not be ruled out that this conflict may have been the motive for his murder.
3. 193. The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government. Firstly, the Committee notes that the Government refers to the statement issued by the Human Rights Ombudsman on 9 August 2020 condemning the murder of Mr Meléndez and requesting the Attorney General’s Office and the National Civil Police to carry out effective investigations that consider all possible alternatives, including that the cause of the murder may be linked to a reprisal for the trade union activities performed by Mr Melendez.
4. 194. The Committee also takes note of the Government’s indications on the actions taken by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MTPS) concerning the murder of Mr Meléndez, namely: (i) its public condemnation of the murder in various national forums and at the international level; (ii) the criminal notifications submitted to the Attorney-General seeking relevant investigations; and (iii) the provision of information to the Attorney-General’s Office on the suspects in the murder of Mr Meléndez, as a result of a statement from a citizen who requested witness protection. Furthermore, the Committee observes that the MTPS states that organized crime impacts on trade union leaders who, like Mr Meléndez, denounce the widespread corruption.
5. 195. The Committee further notes that the Government provides information on the steps taken by the Attorney-General’s Office and the National Civil Police, which include interviews of witnesses and other people under protection, police visual inspections of the crime scene, the union leader’s vehicle and the vehicle that drove him to the hospital, the forensic examination and post mortem of the corpse, the seizure of some assets and the obtaining of a certified copy of Mr Meléndez’s employment record.
6. 196. Finally, the Committee notes that the Government submits, as one of the appendixes to its communication, a document entitled “Proposal for reform of the Criminal Code”, which was drafted by the MTPS with the aim of improving the protection of freedom of association. It proposes the amendment of various provisions of the Criminal Code relating to aggravated homicide, aggravated bodily harm, aggravated threats and coercion in order to include among the hypothesis of these crimes assaults that specifically affect trade union leaders and trade unionists.
7. 197. The Committee duly notes these various elements. The Committee deeply deplores the murder of Mr Meléndez and recalls that the right to life is a fundamental prerequisite for the exercise of the rights contained in Convention No. 87 (ratified by El Salvador) and that the rights of workers’ and employers’ organizations can only be exercised in a climate that is free from violence, pressure or threats of any kind against the leaders and members of these organizations, and it is for governments to ensure that this principle is respected [see Compilation of Decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association, sixth edition, 2018, paras 81 and 84].
8. 198. Noting the actions taken to date by the MTPS, the Attorney-General’s Office and the National Civil Police to investigate and shed light on the facts of the murder of Mr Meléndez, the Committee also 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 Compilation, para. 94].
9. 199. While observing that the complainants allege that Mr Meléndez was murdered because of his trade union activities, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the competent authorities: (i) prioritize the ongoing investigations and devote all necessary efforts to identify and punish without delay both the instigators and perpetrators of the murder; and (ii) take full account in the investigations of all relevant elements arising from Mr Meléndez’s trade union activities. The Committee recalls that it is important that all instances of violence against trade union members, whether these be murders, disappearances or threats, are properly investigated. Furthermore, the mere fact of initiating an investigation does not mark the end of the Government’s work; rather, the Government must do all within its power to ensure that such investigations lead to the identification and punishment of the perpetrators [see Compilation, para. 102].The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed, without delay, of the progress made in this respect.
10. 200. In addition, in the light of the facts reported, the Committee requests the Government to ensure that the workers from the institution in which Mr Meléndez carried out his trade union activities enjoy adequate protection against any act that may cause prejudice to them by reason of their participation in union activities.
11. 201. With regard to the “Proposal for reform of the Criminal Code”, which was drafted by the MTPS with the aim of improving the protection of the freedom of association of trade union leaders and trade unionists, the Committee requests the Government to provide up-to-date information on actions taken in relation to this initiative.
12. 202. Lastly, the Committee draws the Governing Body’s attention to the serious and urgent nature of this case.

The Committee’s recommendations

1. 203. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee deeply deplores the murder of the trade union official, Mr Meléndez, and urges the Government to take all necessary steps to ensure that the competent authorities: (i) prioritize the ongoing investigations and devote all necessary efforts to identify and punish without delay both the instigators and perpetrators of the murder; and (ii) take full account in the investigations of all relevant elements arising from Mr Meléndez’s trade union activities. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed, without delay, of the progress made in this respect.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to ensure that the workers from the institution in which Mr Meléndez carried out his trade union activities enjoy adequate protection against any act that may cause prejudice to them by reason of their participation in union activities.
   • (c) The Committee requests the Government to provide up-to-date information on actions taken in relation to the initiative “Proposal for reform of the Criminal Code”, which was drafted by the MTPS with the aim of improving the protection of the freedom of association of trade union leaders and trade unionists,
   • (d) The Committee draws the Governing Body’s attention to the serious and urgent nature of this case.