Definitive Report - Report No 142, 1974

Case No 685 (Bolivia (Plurinational State of)) - Complaint date: 29-OCT-71 - Closed

1. 89. This case was examined by the Committee at its sessions in February-March and November 1972, on which occasions it submitted to the Governing Body interim reports which are found at paragraphs 282 to 296 of the 129th Report and at paragraphs 313 to 323 of the 133rd Report of the Committee respectively.
2. 90. The complaint of the Latin American Federation of Christian Trade Unions is contained in a communication dated 29 October 1971 addressed direct to the ILO. In a further communication dated 1 December 1971 the complainants submitted additional information in support of the complaint.
3. 91. The complaint and additional information were transmitted to the Government, which communicated its observations thereon in letters dated 11 January and 18 May 1972.
4. 92. Bolivia has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), but not the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 93. In its communication dated 29 October 1971 the Latin American Federation of Christian Trade Unions states that the Government continues to violate the rights of workers in Bolivia. The complainants point out that a few days previously, three representatives of the Confederation of Manufacturing Workers of Bolivia who had been invited by the complainants to attend a seminar for the River Plate Basin in Buenos Aires were arrested at La Paz airport by police and armed forces. The complainants add that there is a continually growing list of trade union leaders and members held in concentration camps in the interior of the country and that many are tortured, murdered, abducted without trace, or exiled.
2. 94. In the further communication dated 1 December 1971 the complainants state that at the Sixth Latin American Congress of the Latin American Federation of Christian Trade Unions, held in Caracas from 21 to 27 November 1971, lists were drawn up of trade union leaders deprived of their liberty in Bolivia. According to the complainants these lists are based on reliable information collected from within the country. Copies of the said lists are supplied by the complainants. These lists contain the names of the following 16 trade union leaders, who are stated to have been deprived of their liberty: Juvenal Garabito (Cochabamba), Carmelo Andrade ("Presencia" newspaper), Jacinto Quispe (General Secretary, ASIB), Roberto Moreira (court employee), Erasmo Barrios Villa (Potosi University Workers), Luis Peñaranda (executive, Press Federation), Rodolfo Brum (Nueva América Radio), Victor Michel (delegate, Huanuni Assembly), Angel Astete (Secretary, Miners' Cultural Association, San Florencio), Julián Jiménez (Colquiri Miners' Association), Juan Flores (Relations Secretary, Federation of Manufacturing Workers, La Paz), Patricio Cuentos (Secretary, Disputes Section, Federation of Manufacturing Workers, La Paz), Pedro Cruz (Disputes Secretary, State Teachers' Union, Huanuni Mine, Oruro), and Lindo Fernández, David Quiñónez and René Higueras (Bolivian Workers' Confederation-COB). In addition, the complainants supply a list of women whom they allege to have been imprisoned. This list includes the names of Edmy Alvarez Daza, a leader of the Bolivian Workers' Confederation, and Enma de Bacarreza, leader of the La Paz Teachers' Union. The complainants state that the house of the latter was searched and that she was taken to the Ministry of the Interior to make statements. This, continued the complainants, lasted several days, during which time her house was under police surveillance.
3. 95. In its communication of 11 January 1972 the Government states that, following the coup d'état of October 1970, the Government of General Torres González was forced by extreme left-wing parties to follow a policy which bred fear and insecurity in all sectors of the country. A number of extremist agitators made their way into the Bolivian workers' movement, which had achieved much in the past.
4. 96. The Government claims that all workers' organisations enjoy every guarantee towards their development but that some leaders had compromised themselves politically with the government which was deposed in August 1971, by substituting political activities for trade union activities. These few trade union leaders, on 19 August in Santa Cruz, and on 21 August in La Paz, distributed arms to workers and students whom they had incited against their own brothers.
5. 97. The Government also states that the free functioning of the following organisations is proof that freedom of association is observed: the Confederation of Manufacturing Workers of Bolivia, with 137 member unions; the Trade Union Federation of Railway Workers, with 27 member unions; the Confederation of Bank Employees and Allied workers, with 32 member unions; the Trade Union Federation of Drivers of Bolivia, with 27 member unions; the Trade Union Federation of Construction Workers, with 25 member unions; the Trade Union Confederation of Municipal workers, with 4 member unions; and the National Federation of Mineworkers with 46 member unions. Altogether, the Government states, 7 Confederations, 40 federations, 39 trade unions and other organisations are functioning normally.
6. 98. The Government adds that the small number of former trade union leaders who were arrested when it was proved that they had been involved in activities against the security of the State have been released, and that others will be tried before the ordinary courts s
7. 99. It also states that the aim of the labour policy of the Government is the independence of the Bolivian workers' movement and that there is no justification for any state intervention in the internal affairs of trade unions provided that they are not misled by anarchists.
8. 100. In its communication of 18 May 1972 the Government emphasises that it respects and guarantees the independence of workers' organisations and the free exercise of trade union rights and that seven Confederations and forty federations are operating normally and that no strikes have taken place for seven months. The Government supplies a list of organisations which have re-elected their officers since 21 August 1971.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 101. The Governing Body drew the attention of the Government to the rule which it had followed in a number of cases', namely that where allegations are made that trade union leaders or workers have been arrested for trade union activities, and the governments' replies amount to general denials of the allegations or are simply to the effect that the arrests were made for subversive activities, for reasons of internal security, or for crimes under ordinary law, the governments concerned should be requested to submit further and as precise information as possible concerning the arrests, particularly in connection with the legal or judicial proceedings instituted as a result thereof and the result of such proceedings, in order that a proper examination may be made of the allegations. Accordingly, the Government has been repeatedly requested to supply detailed information concerning the judicial proceedings instituted against the trade union leaders in question, as well as the text of the sentences and the grounds adduced therefor. This information has not been received.
2. 102. At its session in May 1973, the Committee addressed an urgent appeal to the Government to supply this information. This appeal having proved fruitless, the Committee, at its session in November 1973, and by virtue of the procedure set forth in paragraph 17 of its 127th Report, informed the Government that it might submit a report on the substance of the matter at the Committee's present session, even if the information requested from the Government had still not been received. So far the information requested has not been received.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 103. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to recall the observations made by the Committee as early as its First Report, namely that the purpose of the whole procedure is to promote respect for trade union rights in law and in fact, and that the Committee is confident that, if it protects governments against unreasonable accusations, governments for their part should recognise the importance of formulating for objective examination detailed factual replies to such detailed factual charges as may be put forward;
   • (b) to recall that in all cases involving the arrest, detention or sentencing of a trade union official, the Committee and the Governing Body, taking the view that individuals have the right to be presumed innocent until found guilty, have considered that it was incumbent upon the government to show that the measures it had taken were in no way occasioned by the trade union activities of the individual concerned;
   • (c) to recall that in cases of this kind, the Committee and the Governing Body have reached the conclusion that allegations relating to the arrest, detention or sentencing of trade unionists did not call for further examination only after considering observations from the governments showing with sufficient detail that the measures were in no way occasioned by the exercise of trade union freedoms but by activities outside the trade union sphere which were either prejudicial to public order or of a political nature;
   • (d) to draw attention to the principle that it should be the policy of every government to ensure observance of the rights of man and, especially, of the right of all detained or accused persons to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment;
   • (e) to deplore the fact that despite the repeated requests the Government has not submitted the information sought, thereby making it impossible for the Committee to formulate its conclusions on the matter in full knowledge of the facts;
   • (f) to request the Director-General to maintain all appropriate forms of contact with the Government in order to obtain information concerning the situation of the trade unionists mentioned in paragraphs 93 and 94 above who were arrested.