Seguimiento dado a las recomendaciones del Comité y del Consejo de Administración - Informe núm. 411, Junio 2025

Caso núm. 3378 (Ecuador) - Fecha de presentación de la queja:: 05-FEB-20 - Cerrado

Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body

1. 38. The Committee examined this case at its October 2021 meeting [see 396th Report, paras 274–306] and recalls that it concerns allegations of criminal proceedings against the President of the Ecuadorian Confederation of United Workers’ Organizations (CEDOCUT) and incumbent President of the United Workers’ Front (FUT), Mr Manuel Mesías Tatamuez Moreno, following his participation in a public meeting in the context of widespread protests in October 2019, and the lack of social dialogue on proposed labour reforms. On that occasion, the Committee requested the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the examination of the criminal complaint brought against Mr Manuel Mesías Tatamuez Moreno and trusted that the competent authorities would take full account of the decisions on freedom of association referred to in the conclusions of the case (recommendation (a)). The Committee also trusted that the Government would ensure that any labour reforms proposed in the future would be prepared in consultation with all the representative organizations of workers and employers concerned (recommendation (b)).
2. 39. In its communication of 22 February 2022, the Government indicates that: (i) according to the Attorney General’s Office, criminal case No. 170101819100918 is open for the alleged crime of kidnapping, with Mr Manuel Mesías Tatamuez Moreno under investigation as a suspect; the case is at the pretrial investigation stage and is proceeding in a confidential manner, in accordance with article 584 of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code; and (ii) the Government accepts the Committee’s recommendation regarding consultations with the social partners on labour reform.
3. 40. The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government that, in February 2022, criminal charges against the President of the CEDOCUT and incumbent President of the FUT, Mr Manuel Mesías Tatamuez Moreno, were still being investigated. Regretting that it has not received more recent information on this matter, the Committee notes that it appears from publicly available information that: (i) in March 2022, the National Assembly approved an amnesty bill in relation to the October 2019 protests, the constitutionality of which was subsequently challenged in court; and (ii) Mr Tatamuez Moreno died in October 2024.
4. 41. While recalling that it has not been provided with any details of the specific facts that gave rise to the criminal complaint against Mr Tatamuez Moreno, and noting that it has not received any information on the outcome of the challenge to the aforementioned amnesty law, the Committee emphasizes that, while persons engaged in trade union activities or holding trade union office cannot claim immunity in respect of the ordinary criminal law, the arrest of, and criminal charges brought against, trade unionists may only be based on legal requirements that in themselves do not infringe the principles of freedom of association [see Compilation of Decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association, sixth edition, 2018, para. 133].
5. 42. In the light of the above, regretting the death of Mr Tatamuez Moreno, and having received no further information from the complainant organization, the Committee considers that this case is closed and does not call for further examination.