Interim Report - Report No 56, 1961

Case No 216 (Argentina) - Complaint date: 14-DEC-59 - Closed

1. 146. In a communication dated 14 December 1959 the Trade Unions International of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Fur Workers (Trade Department of the W.F.T.U.) submitted to the I.L.O a complaint against the Government of Argentina for infringement of trade union rights. The complaining organisation had its complaint endorsed by the W.F.T.U, which submitted the complaint to the I.L.O on its own account by a letter dated 26 February 1960.
2. 147. The complaint was forwarded to the Government for its observations by two communications dated 14 March 1960, and the W.F.T.U was informed of its right to furnish further information in substantiation of its complaint within a period of one month. The Government replied by a letter dated 5 September 1960.
3. 148. The case was submitted to the Committee at its 26th Session (November 1960) and the Committee submitted to the Governing Body an interim report which the Governing Body approved at its 147th Session (November 1960) and which contains certain requests to the Government for additional information.
4. 149. By a letter from the Director-General dated 24 November 1960 the Argentine Government was informed of the Committee's interim conclusions as approved by the Governing Body. The Government replied to the Office by a communication dated 24 February 1961 which arrived too late to be examined by the Committee at its 27th Session (4 February 1961).
5. 150. 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. A. The complainants' allegations

• Allegations relating to the Arrest of Mr. Andrés Framini, General Secretary of the Argentine Textile Workers' Association
  151. 151 Referring to a letter of even date containing identical charges which was addressed to the President of the Argentine Republic the complainants allege in their complaint that Mr. Andrés Framini, General Secretary of the Argentine Textile Workers' Association, has been arrested.
  152. 152 In its reply dated 5 September 1960 the Government states that there is no legal justification for the complaint relating to the allegation that the arrest of Mr. Andrés Framini, General Secretary of the Argentine Textile Workers' Association, is an infringement of freedom of association, since " Mr. Andrés Framini is now under arrest and at the disposal of the Government for political rather than trade union reasons ". Proof of this is afforded, the Government adds, by the fact that the trade union organisation to which Mr. Framini belongs continues to operate without let or hindrance. Furthermore, the Government continues, there is legal authority for this arrest in article 23 of the Constitution, by reason of the state of emergency obtaining in the country.
  153. 153 At its meeting in November 1960 the Committee noted that the Government admitted the fact of Mr. Framini's arrest but denied that it constituted a violation of freedom of association. The Government justified the arrest on the one hand as a measure permitted during a state of emergency by article 23 of the Constitution and on the other hand by the argument that the Government's action had been of a political rather than of a trade union character, since the organisation to which Mr. Framini belonged continued in operation. The Committee had then recalled that in several earlier cases it had emphasised the importance which it had always attached to the principle of a prompt trial by an impartial and independent judicial authority in all cases, including those in which trade unionists were accused of political or criminal offences which the Government considered to be outside the scope of their trade union activities. The Committee also recalled that in the past where allegations concerning the arrest of trade union leaders or workers had been met by governments with statements that the arrests had been made for subversive activities, for reasons of internal security or for common law crimes, the Committee had always followed the rule that the governments concerned should be requested to submit further information of as precise a nature as possible concerning the arrests and particularly as to the legal or judicial proceedings instituted as a result thereof and the result of such proceedings.
  154. 154 In accordance with its usual practice the Committee had recommended the Governing Body to request the Government to inform the Governing Body whether Mr. Framini was still in prison or at liberty on bail, and also to inform the Governing Body as to the legal or judicial proceedings taken in his case and the result of such proceedings.
  155. 155 This request for additional information was submitted to the Government by a letter dated 24 November 1960, to which the Government replied by a communication dated 24 February 1961.
  156. 156 In its reply the Government states that the procedure for taking persons into custody is not at all arbitrary and that the rules governing it are clearly laid down in the Constitution in the event of a state of emergency. Article 23 of the Constitution reads as follows: " In the event of internal disturbances or external attack which endanger the functioning of this Constitution or of the authorities established thereunder a state of emergency shall be declared in the province or territory in which the said disturbance occurs and all Constitutional guarantees shall be suspended therein. During this period however the President of the Republic shall not have power to inflict convictions or sentences. His power shall be confined in such cases to ordering the arrest of individuals or their transfer elsewhere within the country if they prefer not to leave Argentine territory." The Government continues : " The point must therefore be emphasised that while Constitutional guarantees were suspended during the state of emergency and the Conintes Plan the Government (strictly in accordance with the foregoing provisions of article 23 of the Constitution), confined itself to taking into custody those individuals who did not snake use of their option to leave Argentine territory." In other words the Government did not usurp the functions of the judiciary but merely acted in accordance with the legal standards of the Constitution.
  157. 157 In the many cases in which it had received complaints concerning alleged infringements of freedom of association during a state of emergency or when an emergency had been proclaimed, or under a state security act, the Committee stated that it was not called upon to express an opinion on the need for such legislation or the advisability of it, that being a purely political question. However, the Committee has always considered that it was called upon to examine the possible repercussions of such legislation on trade union rights. In this particular case, while recognising that the action taken was so taken under the Constitutional provision made for a state of emergency, the Committee, as it has done on several earlier occasions, recommends the Governing Body to express the hope that in its relations with employers' and workers' organisations and their representatives the Government will as far as possible rely on measures provided for in ordinary law rather than on emergency measures which are liable by their very nature to involve certain restrictions on fundamental rights.
  158. 158 As regards the particular case of Mr. Framini the Government provides the following information. Under Decree No. 5048 of 29 April 1959 Mr. Framini was taken into custody in accordance with the Constitutional provisions governing a state of emergency. He was accused of fomenting subversive activities totally unconnected with his trade union duties. He was released under Decree No. 6799 of 4 July of the same year. Decree No. 12070 issued at the request of the federal police on 27 September 1959 provided for the re-arrest of Mr. Framini on a charge of engaging in subversive activities. Since Mr. Framini did not make use of the option allowed him under article 23 of the Constitution-which allows persons taken into custody to choose exile instead, as already stated-he was sent to the penal establishments of Viedma and Santa Rosa. Mr. Framini was released under Decree No. 14077 of 8 November 1960. Under Decree No. 15094 of 1 December 1960 he was once more taken into custody for breach of the peace and activities unconnected with his trade union functions. On the very next day, however, the decree providing for his arrest was cancelled (Decree No. 15122 of 5 December 1960) and he is now at liberty.
  159. 159 In view of the number of times Mr. Framini has been arrested, and in view above all of the somewhat special procedure followed in this connection (see paragraphs 156 and 157 above), the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw the Government's attention once more to the importance which the Governing Body has always attached to the principle that in all cases, including those in which trade unionists are accused of political or criminal offences which the government considers to be outside the scope of their trade union activities, the persons involved should be judged promptly by an impartial and independent judicial authority.
  160. 160 Subject to that reservation, and in view of the fact that Mr. Framini is now free, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.
• Allegations concerning the Strike of Textile Workers and Action Taken against the Strikers
  161. 161 The complainants allege that after some 100 days of fruitless negotiation and a refusal on the part of the employers to improve conditions of work the 200,000 textile workers were forced to come out on strike, and that subsequently many trade union leaders and textile workers were sent to concentration camps set up in the south of the country, where they are alleged to be ill-treated.
  162. 162 In its reply dated 24 February 1961 the Government denies that there are concentration camps in the south of the country. It states that in that part of the country there are only penal establishments where persons sentenced to banishment by the appropriate courts serve their sentences. In addition, in a telegraphic addendum to its reply, the Government states that the Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Orders of the Chamber of Deputies is now preparing a report " which will be transmitted to the Committee on Freedom of Association in due course ", concerning the accusation relating to alleged concentration camps and the ill-treatment of interned workers.
  163. 163 In these circumstances the Committee, considering that the additional information announced by the Government may be of real assistance in reaching a decision, has decided to postpone consideration of this aspect of the matter pending receipt of the said information.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 164. As regards the case as a whole the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to decide, with regard to the allegations concerning the arrest of Mr. Andrés Framini, General Secretary of the Argentine Textile Workers' Federation:
   • (i) to express the hope that in its relations with employers' and workers' organisations and their representatives the Government will as far as possible rely on measures laid down by ordinary law rather than on emergency measures which by their very nature are liable to involve certain restrictions on fundamental rights;
   • (ii) to draw the Government's attention once more to the importance it has always attached to the principle that in all cases, including cases in which trade unionists are accused of political or criminal offences which the government considers to lie outside the scope of their trade union activities, they should be judged promptly by an impartial and independent judicial authority;
   • (iii) to decide, since Mr. Framini is now at liberty once more, that, subject to the observations made in subparagraphs (i) and (ü) above, this aspect does not call for further examination;
   • (b) to take note of the present interim report with respect to the allegations relating to the strike of textile workers and action taken against the strikers, it being understood that the Committee will report further thereon when it has received the further information announced in this connection by the Government.