Interim Report - Report No 243, March 1986

Case No 1258 (El Salvador) - Complaint date: 26-JAN-84 - Closed

Display in: French - Spanish

Go to:

INTRODUCTION
A. The Committee's general conclusions
The Committee's recommendations
Z. ANNEX

366. At its February 1985 meeting the Committee on Freedom of Association was informed that the Government of El Salvador was ready to accept a direct contacts mission to examine the various aspects of Cases Nos. 953, 973, 1016, 1150, 1168, 1233, 1258, 1269, 1273 and 1281, noted this information with interest and expressed the hope that, upon receipt of confirmation from the Government, arrangements could be made at an early date for such a mission to take place (see 238th Report of the Committee, para. 21, approved by the Governing Board at its 229th Session (February-March 1985)).

366. At its February 1985 meeting the Committee on Freedom of Association was informed that the Government of El Salvador was ready to accept a direct contacts mission to examine the various aspects of Cases Nos. 953, 973, 1016, 1150, 1168, 1233, 1258, 1269, 1273 and 1281, noted this information with interest and expressed the hope that, upon receipt of confirmation from the Government, arrangements could be made at an early date for such a mission to take place (see 238th Report of the Committee, para. 21, approved by the Governing Board at its 229th Session (February-March 1985)).
367. During the visit of the Director-General of the ILO to El Salvador in May 1985, he proposed a direct contacts mission to His Excellency the President of the Republic, in conformity with the decision adopted by the Committee on Freedom of Association at its February 1985 meeting regarding the complaints pending against El Salvador. 0n this occasion the President stated that, although he had not requested an ILO mission, he did not reject the direct contact; mission proposed, and indicated that the country opened its doors to the ILO mission.
368. In its 239th Report (May 1985), approved by the Governing Body at its 230th Session (May-June 1985), the Committee took the following decision in connection with the cases relating to El Salvador: "As regards the cases relating to El Salvador (Cases Nos. 953, 973, 1150, 1168, 1233, 1258, 1269, 1273 and 1281), the Committee notes that following an official visit by the Director-General to the country, the Government is willing to accept a direct contacts mission with a view to examining the various aspects of these cases. The Committee hopes that the necessary arrangements will be able to be made shortly so that this mission can take place as soon as possible."
369. In a communication received on 8 November 1985 the Salvadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the ILO that the direct contacts mission could visit the country.
370. The Director-General of the ILO appointed Mr. Andrés Aguilar, member and former president of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights and member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights as his representative to conduct the mission. The mission took place in San Salvador from 12 to 16 January 1986. During the mission the Director-General's representative was accompanied by Mr. Alberto Odero, member of the Freedom of Association Branch of the International Labour Standards Department, and Mr. Luis Zamudio, Regional Adviser on Standards.
371. The mission was received by the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, His Excellency Miguel Alejandro Gallegos, by Dr. Lázaro Tadeo Bernal Lizama, Vice Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, and Dr. Antonio Lara Gavidia, Head of the International Affairs Department of the Ministry, by the members of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee of the Legislative Assembly, by senior officials of the Ministry of Justice, and by representatives of employers" and workers' organisations.
372. El Salvador has ratified neither the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), nor the Right to organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).
373. In the first place, the Committee wishes to thank Mr. Andrés Aguilar for having agreed to carry out the direct contacts mission, as well as for his detailed report on the pending cases, which has allowed the Committee to examine them. The Committee considers that the report of the Director-General's representative attests to the usefulness of missions of this kind in clarifying matters arising from allegations by the complainant organisations.
374. Since the content of the allegations and the information supplied by the Government, as well as the information obtained by the Director-General's representative during the mission are contained in the mission report (see Annex), the Committee can proceed directly to formulate its conclusions on the various cases.

A. The Committee's general conclusions

375. The Committee takes note of the report of the Director-General's representative on the mission carried out in El Salvador from 12 to 16 January 1986. The Committee also notes that the mission enjoyed full freedom of action and movement and that the authorities of the Ministries of Labour and Justice with which it came into contact gave it every facility and co-operated actively in obtaining the information requested by the Committee on Freedom of Association.
376. The Committee notes that, according to the mission report, although there has been a marked drop in the frequency of attempts on lives and physical integrity, and in the number of disappearances and arrests of persons connected with the trade union movement since the elections of May 1984, there is continued insecurity. The Committee also notes that the mission ascertained that a wide variety of trade union organisations representing all tendencies exist and operate in the country and that they play an active and militant role in national life and resort to strikes. The organisations having recourse to direct action include public-sector workers' organisations, despite the fact that such action is illegal for this category of workers. Nevertheless, according to the mission report, trade union activities are often conducted in an atmosphere of fear which has an unfavourable effect on their exercise, and according to the organisations interviewed, such activities are viewed with hostility in many employers' circles - particularly in the private sector - which oppose the formation of organisations and the exercise of their rights.
377. In general, the Committee concludes from the mission report that there is still a need to make much progress in El Salvador to achieve genuine respect for human rights in general and trade union rights in particular. The Committee notes that according to the authorities of the Ministry of Labour, this is one of the main objectives of Government policy, and concrete measures to this effect have been and are being taken.
378. While the Committee is aware of the serious difficulties El Salvador is facing, it calls on the Government to adopt appropriate measures to guarantee that trade union rights may be exercised in a normal fashion; this will only be possible in conditions in which fundamental human rights are respected and in a climate free of violence, pressures and threats of any kind.
B. The Committee's conclusions on Cases Nos. 953, 973, 1016 and 1233
379. All of these cases concern the death or disappearance of trade union leaders and trade unionists. The Committee had requested the Government to carry out judicial investigations into these matters or to keep it informed of investigations in progress.
380. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, there are no records of any proceedings being opened concerning the death of the union leader Tomás Rosales (Case No. 953), or the death of the union leaders José Santos Tiznado and Pedro González (Case No. 973). The Committee notes that the Government intends to pursue the investigations into these allegations and to send the relevant observations to the ILO.
381. The Committee notes that the Government states that the proceedings in connection with the death of the trade unionists Manuel Antonio and José Antonio Carrillo Vázquez (Case No. 973) were dropped since it was not possible to identify the three persons who murdered them. According to the Government, the proceedings in connection with the murder of the trade union leader Santiago Hernández were also dropped since it was not possible to identify the persons responsible for the crime.
382. The Committee also notes the information supplied by the Government on the status of proceedings for the wilful homicide of trade unionists Rodolfo Viera, Michael Hammer and Mark Pearlman (Case No. 1016). The Committee notes in particular that former National Guards José Dimas Valle and Santiago Gómez González admitted before the magistrates to having taken part in these acts and are to be publicly tried on charges of wilful homicide.
383. Moreover, the Committee notes that the Government has not yet been able to supply information on the disappearance of trade union leader Rafael Hernández Olivo (Case No. 973), but that it will do so as soon as possible.
384. In these circumstances, the Committee regrets that the proceedings concerning the homicide of Manuel Antonio and José Antonio Carrillo Vázquez and of Santiago Hernández have failed to identify those responsible for the crime, and that they have been dropped. The Committee requests the Government to take steps with a view to the opening of an investigation into the alleged homicide of Tomás Rosales, José Santos Tiznado and Pedro González, in respect of whom there is no record of any proceedings having been opened. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of developments concerning the disappearance of the trade union leader Rafael Hernández Olivo, as well as of the final outcome of the proceedings concerning the wilful homicide of the trade unionists Rodolfo Viera, Mark Pearlman and Michael Hammer, indicating whether the investigation has been able to establish who instigated the crime committed by the two defendants.
C. The Committee's conclusions on Case No. 1150
385. In the most recent examination of the case by the Committee, the allegation concerning the arrest of Marta Imelda Dimas, Secretary of the Transport Workers' Trade Union, who had been imprisoned since 9 October 1982, remained pending. The Committee requested the Government to supply precise information concerning the detention of this trade unionist, who had been detained for many months, and to state the specific acts with which she was charged. The Committee requested that this person be released or tried as soon as possible by an impartial and independent judicial authority, and asked the Government to keep it informed of developments in the situation.
386. The Committee takes note of the documentation handed to the mission regarding the detention of Mrs. Marta Imelda Dimas, which took place in January 1981, and her release in February 1981 (events unrelated to the allegations in the present case). The Committee observes, however, that in the appendices to the documentation handed to the mission by the Minister of Labour, there is an order for the release of Mrs. Imelda Dimas, issued by the Supreme Court of Justice on 7 December 1982, on account of "lack of grounds for her detention".
387. In these circumstances, the Committee regrets that this trade unionist was imprisoned for over two months, and draws the Government's attention to the fact that the detention of trade unionists for trade union activities or membership is contrary to the principles of freedom of association.
D. The Committee's conclusions on Case No. 1168
388. This case concerns 25 trade union leaders and trade unionists alleged by the complainant organisation to be under arrest or missing, whose names appear in the Annex to the Committee's 234th Report along with those of another nine persons respecting whom more precise allegations were made in connection with other cases. The Committee urged the Government to supply detailed information on the specific acts with which the arrested persons were charged and on developments in the proceedings against them, and to provide details on the whereabouts of those who were missing.
389. The Committee notes that Alfredo Hernández Represa, Arcadio Rauda Mejía, Jorge Alberto Hernández and Francisco Zamora, who were tried for political offences and finally acquitted, were released pursuant to a judicial order of 8 October 1984. The Committee also notes that Julio Alberto Lizama was released on 23 July 1985, as his guilt was not proven.
390. Moreover, the Committee notes that representatives of the National Federation of Trade Unions of Salvadorian Workers told the mission that Elsy Márquez had been missing since 1980, and that no judicial investigation into her disappearance had taken place. The Committee also notes that representatives of the Revolutionary Trade Union Federation confirmed the allegations that José Sánchez Gallegos (the Federation's former General Secretary) had been abducted in Guatemala City and that his whereabouts were still unknown. The Committee requests the Government to undertake an investigation to determine the whereabouts of these trade union leaders and to keep it informed thereof.
391. With respect to the other 18 persons, the Committee notes that the Deputy Director-General of Penal Centres and Rehabilitation informed the mission that a meticulous search had been made of the records of the Directorate-General and that none of the persons listed was, or had been, imprisoned in any of the penal centres in the Republic.
392. The Minister of Labour informed the mission that he was awaiting information from the Ministry of Public Safety on all the persons mentioned by the complainants, with a view to determining whether any of them had ever been imprisoned by the security forces and for what reasons. The Minister of Labour stated that this information would be transmitted to the ILO. Thus, the Committee is awaiting information from the Government on these persons, who were allegedly arrested and whose names appear in the following list:
Raúl Baires: Propaganda Secretary of BPR
Francisco Gómez Calles: Worker in the Izalco textile factory
José Vidal Cortez: Propaganda Secretary of the Intesa Textile Trade Union
Luis Adalberto Diza: General Secretary of the People's Liberation Movement (MLP)
Héctor Fernández: Trade union activist
Héctor Hernández: Second Secretary of SETRAS
Jorge Hernández: Member of the Trade Union of Workers of the Salvadorian Social Security Institute (STISS)
Carlos Bonilla Ortiz: Member of STISS
Silvestre Ortiz: Industrial Disputes Secretary of SETRAS
Maximiliano Montoya Pineda: SETRAS
Raúl Alfaro Pléitez: General Secretary of the Trade Union of Workers of "Constancia SA" (brewery)
Roberto Portillo: Leader of the Trade Union of Workers in the Electrical Industries of El Salvador (SIES)
Antonio Quintanilla: Former General Secretary for Administration of the Constancia Trade Union, arrested with his wife
Santos Serrano: General Secretary of the Trade Union of the firm "Rayones SA"
Auricio Alejandro Valenzuela: Finance Secretary of the Trade Union of Workers in the Electrical Industries of El Salvador (SIES)
René Pompillo Vásquez: Member of STISS
Manuel de la Paz Villalta: General Secretary of STISS
José Alfredo Cruz Vivas: Member of STISS
E. The Committee's conclusions on Case No. 1258
393. This case concerns the detention of 11 trade union leaders, alleged threats against the life of another, and Decree No. 162, which the complainants claim is contrary to the principles of freedom of association.
394. With regard to the alleged detentions, the Committee notes that according to information contained in the mission report, 11 of the 12 persons in question have been freed, while the other (José Rito Amaya) is still imprisoned, although he himself declared to the mission that he was neither a trade union leader nor a trade unionist.
395. The Committee observes that in the case of Isabel Flores, Julio César González and Santos Valentín, the reasons for the arrests were unrelated to trade union activities, and involved, in particular, robbery, assault and other criminal activities. In the case of other trade union leaders (Rafael Mártir Méndez and Carlos Zometa), the Government has reported that they were responsible for recruiting within their trade union organisations members for terrorist organisations. In the case of Victor Manuel Martínez and Purificación Chicos, it appears from the mission report that their detention is related to strike activities. Lastly, the Government has reported that Jorge Artigas is not imprisoned, and that Eleuterio Iraheta and Américo Fuentes were released when the judicial authorities found that there were no grounds for their temporary detention on charges of illegal economic activities.
396. The Committee notes that all of these trade union leaders are now free, but given that some were detained for trade union activities, it draws the Government's attention to the fact that the detention of trade union leaders or members for reasons connected with their activities in defence of the interests of workers constitutes a serious interference with civil liberties in general and with trade union rights in particular.
397. With regard to the alleged death threats against the trade union leader Salvador Carazo, the Committee notes that according to the mission report, it is unclear whether responsibility for the alleged events can be attributed to the authorities.
398. As regards the murder of the trade union leader Juan Pablo Mejía Rodriguez, the Committee notes that proceedings have reached the stage of examination of witnesses, and that no one has yet been arrested. The Committee deeply regrets the murder of this trade union leader and requests the Government to keep it informed of developments in the proceedings.
399. Lastly, with reference to Decree No. 162, the Committee notes that it was returned by the Constitutional President of the Republic to the National Legislative Assembly with some observations and recommendations; and has therefore not entered into force. Moreover, the Committee observes that the Decree provides that "whenever exigencies of the service so require, personnel may be detached from one office to another, in any place in the territory of the Republic or abroad, for a period not exceeding 12 months, which may be extended." The Committee considers that this provision does not relate to questions concerning freedom of association.
F. The Committee's conclusions on Case No. 1269
400. The Committee had requested the Government to investigate the alleged interception of correspondence between the National Association of Educators of El Salvador ("ANDES 21 de junio") and the World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP). The Committee had reached this conclusion in the absence of a reply to this allegation from the Government.
401. The Committee notes the Government's recent observations, in which it categorically states that this allegation is false. The Committee observes, however, that representatives of "ANDES 21 de junio" stated to the mission that the allegations of interference with correspondence were true. In these circumstances, and in view of the different versions supplied by the Government and the organisations involved, the Committee would merely point to the principle that all workers' organisations have the right to affiliate with international organisations of workers implies the right of national and international trade union organisations to maintain contact with one another, without interference by the public authorities.
402. In its previous examination of the case, the Committee also requested the Government to indicate to what extent the national legislation guaranteed to the organisation "ANDES 21 de junio" the guarantees provided for in Convention No. 87. The Government replied that "ANDES 21 de junio" was not a body legally registered as a trade union; that the national legislation did not entitle this association to any of the guarantees provided for under Convention No. 87, but that the organisation enjoyed protection to the extent that its activities follow standard Procedures and did not result in disturbances of the peace. The Committee considers that this information is not sufficiently specific to allow a precise understanding of the rights that the legislation confers on "ANDES 21 de junio". Nevertheless, the Committee observes that representatives of "ANDES 21 de junio" stated to the mission that their organisation was of a trade union nature and was governed by its own rules. The Committee also notes that in its previous examination of the case it had concluded that everything appeared to indicate that "ANDES 21 de junio" was a workers' organisation whose purpose was to further and defend the interests of workers. In these circumstances, the Committee reiterates its previous conclusions and trusts that this organisation, although not categorised legally as a trade union but rather an association, will enjoy the necessary guarantees for the exercise of its activities and the promotion and defence of the interests of its members.
403. As concerns the new allegations of arrests contained in the communication of 11 July 1985 from the World Federation of Trade Unions, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, the trade union leader Modesto Rodriguez was arrested for belonging to the Communist Party, but that the order for his provisional arrest was revoked by the judicial authorities on 9 September 1985, since there were insufficient grounds for his continued detention.
404. As regards the arrest of the trade unionists Joaquín Menjívar and Elsy Esperanza Alvarenga, the Committee notes that both are now free. The Committee observes that the former had been detained for having participated in a number of terrorist activities, such as attacks on military barracks and a newspaper, and that the latter was released because the acts on the basis of which proceedings had been commenced had occurred in 1977 and 1978 and were thus time-barred.
405. In general, while noting that the judicial authority dropped the charges against Modesto Rodriguez and Elsy Esperanza Alvarenga, the Committee deplores the detention of these trade unionists and draws the Government's attention to the principle that the detention of trade union leaders and members against whom no specific charges are upheld restricts the exercise of trade union rights (see, for example, 211th Report, Case No. 1031 (Nicaragua), para. 548) and that such measures can give rise to a climate of intimidation and fear prejudicial to the normal exercise of trade union activities (see, for example, 236th Report, Case No. 1066 (Romania), para. 121).
G. The Committee's conclusions on Case No. 1273
406. Concerning the trial under way against several leaders of the FSR, the Committee notes that representatives of this organisation told the mission that no proceedings had been initiated against their arrested leaders. Nevertheless, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, the judicial authority had ordered the release of those concerned since there were no grounds for their detention and the proceedings instituted against them had been dropped. In these circumstances, since all of the persons in question have been released, since the Committee has already formulated its conclusions on the detention of these trade union leaders in its previous report (see 236th Report, para. 550), and since the Government states that all judicial proceedings have been dropped, the Committee considers that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.
407. The Committee notes that the new allegations presented since the last examination of the case concern (1) the murder of a trade union leader; (2) the death of several trade unionists in an attempt to repress a strike at the Salvadorian Social Security Institute (ISSS); and (3) the detention of nine trade union leaders.
408. First, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, Mr. Marcos Antonio Orantes had not been arrested. The Committee observes, however, that the Government has not sent observations on the alleged murder of this trade union leader. Faced with this very serious situation and while deeply regretting the murder of this trade union leader, the Committee requests the Government to send its observations on this matter, indicating in particular whether any proceedings have been instituted, and if so, their current status.
409. Secondly, concerning the collective dispute in the Salvadorian Social Security Institute (ISSS), the Committee notes that, according to the Government, public security forces acting under a judicial order evicted persons who had occupied the premises of the Institute, since a court had declared illegal the strike called by members of the workers' union of that Institute, who denied entry to workers and insured persons who came to receive medical care, despite the fact that the Labour Court judge had ordered both the strikers and the rest of the staff to return to work. The Committee also notes that, according to the Government, the eviction did not cause any injuries, let alone deaths, among the members of the trade union organisations involved. The Government stated that the truth of the matter is that members of the public security forces were killed during the incident and that the members of the ISSS union who had occupied the hospital premises denied entry to sick insured persons, causing serious injury to some of them, in some cases even resulting in their deaths.
410. The Committee has considered that strike action may be restricted or even prohibited in the civil service or in essential services in the strict sense of the term (services whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population) (see, for example, 234th Report, Case No. 1255 (Norway), para. 190). The Committee has likewise considered that the hospital sector is an essential service, as defined above (see, for example, 217th Report, Case No. 1091 (India), para. 443). In these circumstances the Committee concludes that the judicial decision declaring the Salvadorian Social Security Institute strike illegal and ordering the eviction of those occupying its premises does not constitute a violation of the principles of freedom of association, inasmuch as the Institute is engaged in medical and health care activities. The Committee regrets the death of several members of the public security forces and some insured persons, and notes that, according to the Government, and contrary to what the complainants maintain, none of the dead or wounded were members of the trade union organisations involved. Lastly, the Committee notes that the ISSS trade union leaders Guillermo Rojas and Jorge Alberto Lara were released within hours of their arrest.
411. Thirdly, as concerns the allegation relating to the arrest of trade union leaders, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, Santos Ríos Lazo and Daniel Heriberto Morales are not, and have never been, under arrest. The Committee also notes that the Revolutionary Trade Union Federation (FSR) told the mission that the trade union leader Salvador Escalante had been arrested two days prior to the Sixth Congress of the FSR for reasons unknown, and that he was released 14 days later. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, Mr. Escalante was arrested for belonging to the People's Liberation Forces, and, since he was a trade union leader, was subsequently released as a demonstration of the Government's good will.
412. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the trade union leader Vilma Angélica Méndez was detained from 17 July until 24 September 1985 for belonging to the Communist Party; she was released since there were no grounds for her detention. The Committee also notes that, according to the Government, Pedro Antonio Blanco Nerio, Rufino Antonio Hernández Tesorero and Natividad Bernal Hernández were arrested on 3 August of the same year on charges of collaboration with terrorist organisations and were released on 8 August and handed over to a delegate of the Human Rights Commission when no evidence of such collaboration could be found.
413. The Committee notes that the judicial authority dropped the charges against the trade union leaders mentioned in the foregoing paragraph and regrets their detention; it draws the Government's attention to the principle that the detention of trade union leaders and members against whom no specific charges are retained restricts the exercise of trade union rights (see, for example, 211th Report, Case No. 1031 (Nicaragua), para. 548), and that such measures can give rise to a climate of intimidation and fear prejudicial to the normal exercise of trade union activities (see, for example, 236th Report, Case No. 1066 (Romania), para. 121).
H. The Committee's conclusions on Case No. 1281
414. In connection with the dismissal of two trade union leaders who worked at the Servipronto S.A. (McDonald's) undertaking, the Committee notes that one of them, Mr. Manuel Antonio Guardado, reached a financial agreement with the undertaking, and that with regard to the other, Mr. Israel Sánchez Cruz, the judicial authority gave a ruling in 1985 terminating his individual employment contract without liability for the employer, on the grounds that he had been absent from work without cause from 21 to 24 April 1983. The Committee notes that, according to Israel Sánchez Cruz's statements to the mission, the other lawsuit he had filed against the undertaking for his dismissal had not yet been completed. Nevertheless, according to information supplied by the Government, the undertaking has objected that the lawsuit is inadmissible in the light of the ruling given concerning the termination of Mr. Sánchez's contract without liability for the employer.
415. In general, with respect to these allegations of dismissal, and also to the allegations of pressure on members to withdraw from the undertaking's trade union as well as the employment of "hired thugs" to repress trade union members, the Committee notes that the information provided by the complainant organisation and by Mr. Sánchez Cruz, on the one hand, and that furnished by the Government, on the other hand, are largely contradictory.
416. The Committee cannot fail to note that relations between the Servipronto S.A. undertaking and its trade union are tense. In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to take conciliatory measures with a view to promoting a climate of reconciliation and understanding between the parties enabling the resolution of current problems concerning the guarantees for the exercise of trade union rights, and an examination of the possibility of reinstating the trade union leader Israel Sánchez Cruz, a measure that would undoubtedly contribute to more harmonious labour relations.
417. Lastly, with respect to the removal of workers who had occupied the undertaking during the work stoppage of 1983, the Committee considers that neither the complainant nor the Government has furnished sufficient information on this matter. Consequently, the Committee points out in general that in the event of a strike the authorities should resort to the use of force only when law and order are seriously threatened (see 211th Report, Case No. 1046 (Chile), para. 324).

The Committee's recommendations

418. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to approve this interim report and, in particular, the following conclusions:
- General recommendations
  - (a) The Committee takes note of the report of the Director-General's representative on the mission carried out in El Salvador from 12 to 16 January 1986. The Committee also notes that the mission enjoyed full freedom of action and movement and that the authorities of the Ministries of Labour and Justice with which it came into contact gave it every facility and co-operated actively in obtaining the information requested by the Committee on Freedom of Association.
  - (b) The Committee notes that, according to the mission report, although there has been a marked drop in the frequency of attempts on lives and physical integrity and in the number of disappearances and arrests of persons connected with the trade union movement since the elections of May 1984, there is continued insecurity.
  - (c) The Committee also notes that the mission ascertained that a wide variety of trade union organisations representing all tendencies exist and operate in the country and that they play an active and militant role in national life and resort to strikes. The organisations having recourse to such action include public-sector workers' organisations, despite the fact that such action is illegal for this category of workers. Nevertheless, according to the mission report, trade union activities are often conducted in an atmosphere of fear which has an unfavourable effect on their exercise, and according to the organisations interviewed, such activities are viewed with hostility in many employers' circles - particularly in the private sector - which oppose the formation of organisations and the exercise of their rights.
  - (d) In general, the Committee concludes from the mission report that there is still a need to make much progress in El Salvador to achieve genuine respect for human rights in general and trade union rights in particular. The Committee notes that according to the authorities of the Ministry of Labour, this is one of the main objectives of Government policy, and concrete measures to this effect have been and are being taken.
  - (e) While the Committee is aware of the serious difficulties El Salvador is facing, it calls on the Government to adopt appropriate measures to guarantee that trade union rights may be exercised in a normal fashion; this will only be possible in conditions in which fundamental human rights are respected and in a climate free of violence, pressures and threats of any kind.
- Cases Nos. 953, 973, 1016 and 1233
  - (a) The Committee regrets that the proceedings relative to the homicide of Manuel Antonio and José Antonio Carrillo Vázquez and of Santiago Hernández have failed to identify those responsible for the crime, and that they have been dropped.
  - (b) The Committee requests the Government to take steps with a view to the opening of an investigation into the alleged homicide of Tomás Rosales, José Santos Tiznado and Pedro González, in respect of whom there is no record of proceedings having been opened. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of developments concerning the disappearance of the trade union leader Rafael Hernández Olivo, as well as of the final outcome of the proceedings concerning the wilful homicide of the trade unionists Rodolfo Viera, Mark Pearlman and Michael Hammer, indicating whether the investigation has been able to establish who instigated the crime committed by the two defendants.
- Case No. 1150
  - (a) The Committee regrets that the trade unionist Marta Imelda Dimas remained in prison for over two months.
  - (b) The Committee draws the Government's attention to the fact that the detention of trade unionists for trade union activities or membership is contrary to the principles of freedom of association.
- Case No. 1168
  - (a) The Committee requests the Government to undertake an investigation to determine the whereabouts of the trade union leaders Elsy Márquez and José Sánchez Gallegos, and to keep it informed thereof.
  - (b) The Committee notes that some of the trade unionists mentioned by the complainants are free, and awaits the information promised by the Government concerning another 18 trade unionists whose arrest has been alleged and whose names are listed in the conclusions (concerning these 18 trade unionists, the Government reported that none of the persons listed is at present imprisoned in any of the detention centres in the country, but that further investigations will be carried out to determine whether they had been imprisoned at some stage in police centres).
- Case No. 1258
  - (a) As regards the murder of trade union leader Juan Pablo Mejía Rodriguez, the Committee notes that proceedings have reached the stage of examination of witnesses, and that no one has yet been arrested. The Committee deeply regrets the murder of this trade union leader and requests the Government to keep it informed of developments in the proceedings.
  - (b) While noting that all of the trade union leaders whose detention had been alleged in connection with this case are now free, the Committee none the less recalls that some of them were detained for trade union activities, and draws the Government's attention to the fact that the detention of trade union leaders or members for reasons connected with their activities in defence of the interests of workers constitutes serious interference with civil liberties in general and with trade union rights in particular.
- Case No. 1269
  - (a) The Committee points to the principle that all workers' organisations have the right to affiliate with international organisations of workers implies the right of national and international trade union organisations to maintain contact with one another, without interference by the public authorities.
  - (b) While noting that the judicial authority dropped the charges against Modesto Rodriguez and Elsy Esperanza Alvarenga, the Committee deplores their detention and draws the Government's attention to the fact that the detention of trade union leaders and members against whom no specific charges are retained restricts the exercise of trade union rights, and that such measures can give rise to a climate of intimidation and fear prejudicial to the normal exercise of trade union activities.
- Case No. 1273
  - (a) The Committee observes that the Government has not sent observations on the alleged murder of the trade union leader Marco Antonio Orantes. Faced with this very serious situation and while deeply regretting the murder of this trade union leader, the Committee requests the Government to send its observations on this matter, indicating in particular whether any proceedings have been instituted and if so, their current status.
  - (b) The Committee concludes that the judicial decision declaring the strike in the Salvadorian Social Security Institute illegal and ordering the removal of those occupying its premises does not constitute a violation of the principles of freedom of association, inasmuch as the Institute is engaged in medical and health-care services. The Committee regrets the death of several members of the public security forces and some insured persons, and notes that, according to the Government and contrary to what the complainants maintain, none of the dead or wounded were members of the trade union organisations involved.
  - (c) The Committee notes that the judicial authority dropped the charges against four of the trade union leaders whose detention had been alleged, but regrets their detention and draws the Government's attention to the fact that the detention of trade union leaders and members against whom no specific charges are retained restricts the exercise of trade union rights and that such measures can give rise to a climate of intimidation and fear prejudicial to the normal exercise of trade union activities.
- Case No. 1281
  - (a) The Committee requests the Government to take conciliatory measures with a view to promoting a climate of reconciliation and understanding between the Servipronto S.A. undertaking and its trade union enabling the resolution of current problems concerning the guarantees for the exercise of trade union rights, and an examination of the possibility of reinstating the trade union leader Israel Sánchez Cruz, a measure that would undoubtedly contribute to more harmonious labour relations.
  - (b) The Committee wishes to point out in general that in the event of a strike the authorities should resort to the use of force only when law and order are seriously threatened.

Z. ANNEX

Report on the mission by Mr. Andrés Aguilar to El Salvador
1. (12-16 January 1986)
I. INTRODUCTION
At its February 1985 meeting the Committee on Freedom of Association was
informed that the Government of El Salvador was ready to accept a direct
contacts mission to examine the various aspects of Cases Nos. 953, 973, 1016,
1. 1150, 1168, 1233, 1258, 1269, 1273 and 1281, noted this information with
interest and expressed the hope that, upon receipt of confirmation from the
Government, arrangements could be made at an early date for such a mission to
take place (See 238th Report of the Committee, para. 21, approved by the
Governing Body at its 229th Session (February-March 1985)).
During the visit of the Director-General of the ILO to El Salvador in May
1. 1985, he proposed a direct contacts mission to His Excellency the President of
the Republic, in conformity with the decision adopted by the Committee on
Freedom of Association at its February 1985 meeting regarding the complaints
pending against El Salvador. 0n this occasion the President stated that,
although he had not requested an ILO mission, he did not reject the direct
contacts mission proposed, and indicated that the country opened its doors to
the ILO mission.
In its 239th Report of May 1985, approved by the Governing Body at its 230th
Session (May-June 1985), the Committee took the following decision in
connection with the cases relating to El Salvador: "As regards the cases
relating to El Salvador (Cases No. 953, 973, 1150, 1168, 1233, 1258, 1269,
1. 1273 and 1281), the Committee notes that following an official visit by the
Director-General to the country the Government is willing to accept a direct
contacts mission with a view to examining the various aspects of these cases.
The Committee hopes that the necessary arrangements will be able to be made
shortly so that this mission can take place as soon as possible."
In a communication received on 8 November 1985 the Salvadorian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs informed the ILO that the direct contacts mission could visit
the country.
The Director-General of the ILO appointed me as his representative to conduct
the mission, which took place in San Salvador from 12 to 16 January 1986.
During the mission I was accompanied by Mr. Alberto Odero, member of the
Freedom of Association Branch of the International Labour Standards
Department, and Mr. Luis Zamudio, Regional Adviser on Standards.
During the mission we were received by the Minister of Labour and Social
Welfare, His Excellency Miguel Alejandro Gallegos, by Dr. Lázaro Tadeo Bernal
Lizama, Vice-Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, and Dr. Antonio Lara
Gavidia, Head of the International Affairs Department of the Ministry, by the
members of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee of the Legislative
Assembly, by senior officials of the Ministry of Justice, and by
representatives of employers' and workers' organisations. The list of all the
persons interviewed will be found at the end of this report.
II. OBSERVATIONS OF A GENERAL NATURE COMMUNICATED BY THE GOVERNMENT TO THE
MISSION
At the end of the mission the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare handed
over a document containing the Government's observations on the cases pending
before the Committee and various items of information which had been requested
by the mission. The Minister of Labour and Social Welfare said that he would
send additional information to the 1L0 as soon as it became available. The
document consists of two parts, the first containing observations of a general
nature, and the second observations and information on each of the cases
pending. The part of the document relating to the different cases will be
reproduced in the present report in the sections corresponding to the relevant
cases. The observations of a general nature are reproduced hereunder:
Since it is the view of the Supreme Government of the Republic, headed by
Constitutional President José Napoléon Duarte, that peace cannot exist without
justice, but that there can be no justice unless we maintain the necessary
climate to permit constructive work in all sectors constituted by the living
forces of the nation, it is with great pleasure that the officers of the
Secretary of State for Labour and Social Welfare, Drs. Miguel Alejandro
Gallegos and Lázaro Tadeo Bernal Lizama, Minister and Vice-Minister
respectively, present very detailed information on the alleged cases of
violation of freedom of association in El Salvador, for the purpose of
collaborating with the direct contacts mission of the International Labour
Office.
Before entering into the substance of the cases, it is to be deplored that our
Government, and with it the people of El Salvador, have been unjustly
denounced for alleged acts which are contrary to humane sentiments. Moreover,
it is with great pain that we witness the unhappy situation of the Salvadorian
people caused by certain elements who commit wanton acts of unbridled violence
in total contempt of moral and human values, who mercilessly destroy sources
of work and slaughter innocent people who are unconnected in the warfare they
have unleashed, without the slightest regard for the pain, suffering and lives
of their fellow men.
III. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE MISSION
In the first place, the mission wishes to state that it enjoyed full freedom
of action and movement and that the authorities of the Ministries of Labour
and Justice with which it came into contact gave it every facility and
- co-operated actively in obtaining the information requested by the Committee
on Freedom of Association. The mission also wishes to express its thanks to
all the persons and organisations interviewed for the information they
supplied.
As is well known, El Salvador continues to face serious difficulties owing to
the armed conflict between the Government and the guerilla forces, which has
given rise to successive prolongations of the state of siege.
In the trade union sector, the various trade union organisations interviewed
were generally very critical and sceptical regarding the possibilities of
exercising genuine freedom of association in the present situation.
Although there has been a marked drop in the frequency of attempts on lives
and physical integrity, and in the number of disappearances and arrests of
persons connected with the trade union movement, since the elections of May
1. 1984, and in this sense it is possible to speak of a certain positive
evolution, incidents of this kind continue to occur.
A number of organisations indicated that these attacks were mostly
attributable to the authorities and employers' circles, and that in some cases
they had been the result of struggles within the trade union organisations
themselves.
The mission noted that, in the context described in the foregoing paragraphs,
a wide variety of trade union organisations representing all tendencies exist
and operate in the country and that they play an active and militant role in
national life and resort to strikes. The organisations having recourse to
direct action include public sector workers' organisations, despite the fact
that such action is illegal for this category of workers. Nevertheless, trade
union activities are often conducted in an atmosphere of fear which has an
unfavourable effect on their exercise, and according to the organisations
interviewed such activities are viewed with hostility in many employers'
circles - particularly in the private sector - which oppose the formation of
organisations and the exercise of their rights.
Employers' circles, for their part, referred to threats and acts of violence
against employers made by trade union or pretended trade union bodies. They
also remarked that the attitude of trade union organisations had not always
favoured dialogue and a proper climate for negotiation.
The mission visited the penal centres of Mariona and Ilopango and spoke to
some of the prisoners. At the Penal Centre of Mariona three trade union
leaders are at present imprisoned - none of whom figure in the complaints
presented to the Committee - with whom the mission was able to talk. Two of
these trade unionists said that they had been beaten or tortured in detention
centres before entering the Mariona Penal Centre, that they had not been
brought to trial despite the fact that they had been imprisoned for months or
years, and that they did not know when they would be released.
The authorities of the Ministry of Labour who were interviewed stated that one
of the main objectives of government policy was the genuine respect of human
rights in general and trade union rights in particular, and that they had
taken and were taking concrete measures to this effect.
IV. CASES PENDING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION
Case No. 953
Previous examination of the case
The Committee examined this case at its meetings in November 1980, November
1. 1981, November 1982, May 1983 and May 1984 (see 204th, 211th, 218th, 226th and
2. 234th Reports of the Committee).
At the last meeting of the Committee the outstanding allegations presented by
the ICFTU were those relating to the death on 24 June 1980 of Tomás Rosales, a
leader of the Workers' Union of the Santa Inés Farm, and the wounding of four
other trade unionists during clashes with the armed forces which occurred in
connection with a peaceful strike called by them in support of a number of
wage claims.
In subsequent communications, the Government stated that there had, in fact,
been a peaceful work stoppage on 24 June 1980 at the undertaking El Granjero
SA, but that the police had had to intervene in order to disperse the strike
pickets threatening to damage the undertaking's property, since a number of
persons known for their terrorist tendencies had infiltrated their ranks,
including Carlos Hernández who, having incited his companions to disturb the
peace, had had to be arrested by the military authorities. However, he had
been released on 29 June 1980. In a communication of January 1984 the
Government denied any knowledge of the alleged facts, according to a report of
the Ministry of Defence and Public Safety contained in note No. 3740 dated 23
June 1983.
In its most recent examination of the case the Committee deeply regretted
that, despite several requests, the Government had not provided specific
information on this case and recalled that a free and independent trade union
movement could develop only where fundamental human rights were respected. The
Committee deplored the existence of situations in which trade unionists were
killed or wounded in the performance of their trade union functions,
particularly during peaceful strikes. The Committee drew the Government's
attention to the urgent need to take active measures to prevent any loss of
human life in similar situations in the future. The Committee accordingly
recalled the importance of holding an independent judicial inquiry into the
allegations and urged the Government to provide detailed information in this
connection (see 234th Report, paras. 391 and 417).
Information obtained during the mission
The documentation handed to the mission by the Minister of Labour repeats the
information contained in its earlier communications to the ILO and indicates
that "it is not possible for the time being to supply any information on the
circumstances surrounding the death of the union leader Tomás Rosales, which
occurred on the Santa Inés Farm, in Ateos, Department of La Libertad, on 24
June 1980, since the Court of First Instance of Armenia has no record of any
proceedings being opened with respect to this case; nevertheless, we shall
endeavour to follow the investigations in due course, and if any facts come to
light the relevant observations will be sent to the ILO as soon as possible".
Case No. 973
Previous examination of the case
The Committee examined this case at its meetings in November 1981, November
1. 1982, May 1983 and May 1984 (see 211th, 218th, 226th and 234th Reports of the
Committee).
The complaint, which was presented by the World Confederation of Labour (WCL),
concerned the murder of trade union leaders. In a communication of 21 April
1. 1981 the WCL reported that José Santos Tiznado and Pedro González, the leaders
of the Salvadorian Peasants' Central, had been murdered by uniformed members
of the National Guard in the Jesús suburb of San Ramón, Department of
Cuscatlán, at midnight on 10 May 1980. In addition, Manuel Antonio Carrillo
and José Antonio Carrillo, former leaders of the Salvadorian Peasants' Central
and members of the El Rosario Agricultural, Stockbreeding and Consumers'
- Co-operative Association, Ltd., had been murdered by agents of the forces of
repression on 3 June 1980; this, said the complainant organisation, was proved
by the calibre of the bullets found near their bodies. In addition, Rafael
Hernández Olivo, General Secretary of the Irrigation and Drainage Section of
the National Association of Workers in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal
Husbandry (ANTMAG), had been taken to Metapán hospital after being injured in
an accident, had subsequently been arrested by the police of the Ministry of
Finance and had since disappeared.
Successive items of information transmitted by the Government showed that
investigations were being made into the murder of these four peasants and the
disappearance of the General Secretary of ANTMAG. The Government had never
denied the facts but had not supplied specific information on the
circumstances surrounding the deaths of José Santos Tiznado, Pedro González,
Manuel Antonio Carrillo and José Antonio Carrillo or the disappearance of
Rafael Hernández Olivo. In May 1983 the Committee urged the Government to
supply such information without delay. In addition, it drew attention to the
importance it attached to the holding of an independent judicial inquiry when
there was loss of human life.
The Committee noted that the Government, in its communication of 20 January
1. 1984, declared that the Ministry of Defence and Public Safety knew nothing
whatsoever about the deaths of these persons and that Rafael Hernández was
not, according to its information, detained by any unit of the public security
forces, according to note No. 1061 of 25 February 1983, which contained a
report from the Ministry in question.
The Committee drew attention to the contradiction between the earlier
information and this last communication, inasmuch as it had been stated
previously that investigations into these murders were under way. The
Committee again emphasised the need to ensure that justice punished the guilty
parties and for the Government to keep it informed of the results of the
investigation and any penalties imposed. In addition it urged the Government
to supply precise information on these events and, in particular, on the fate
of Rafael Hernández Olivo (see 234th Report, paras. 392-395).
Information obtained during the mission
The mission met representatives of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT),
of which the Salvadorian Peasants' Central is a member. Referring to the
alleged murders in this case they expressed their concern at the fact that the
various trials had been paralysed and remarked that in affairs of this kind it
was regrettable that the instigators of the acts almost always remained
anonymous.
The documentation handed to the mission by the Government contains the
following observations and information:
Essentially express reference was made to the deaths of the Peasant leaders
José Santos, Pedro González, Manuel and Antonio Camillo or Carrillo, and the
disappearance of Rafael Hernández, in June 1980; however, in view of the fact
that the information given in the complaint was highly ambiguous, the ILO was
requested through our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide further
information. The reply received did not produce the further information
requested, but contained new denunciations completely different from the case
of the Latin American Central, dealing with the disappearance of workers and
peasants, the responsibility for which was laid on the armed forces. This was
incorrect, since these events were the outcome of the climate of violence
prevailing in the country, stirred up by armed insurgents, who have obliged
the public authorities to safeguard order and protect the lives and safety of
honest citizens and maintain peace, tranquillity and the sovereignty of the
State in fulfilment of the constitutional mandate set forth in article 211 of
our Magna Carta.
It is important to note that the fact that persons have died or disappeared is
not, as is alleged, the consequence of repression for the performance of trade
union duties and activities, but, as mentioned at the beginning, is the result
of the violence caused by guerilla warfare, which is draining the country of
its life-blood and is rejected with scorn by the Salvadorian people, and which
has involved the armed forces in the defence of constitutional principles;
notwithstanding this tragic climate prevailing in the nation, it is stoically
and confidently working in the cause of the grandeur, progress and peace we
all desire.
The observations on the present case are supplemented by the attached report
from Legal Adviser Alex Aguirre Castro, which contains an extract of the trial
before the Sixth Criminal Court of this judicial district relating to the
deaths of Manuel Antonio and José Antonio Carrillo Vásquez, which occurred in
Rosario de Mora on 3 June 1980.
Regarding the deaths of José Santos Tiznado and Pedro González, which occurred
in San Ramón, Department of Cuscatlán, on 10 May 1980, it is not yet possible
to provide any information, since the Second Court of First Instance of
Cojutepeque has no record of proceedings having been opened; nevertheless, a
search will be made in due course, and if any facts come to light the
information will duly be transmitted to the ILO.
It is not possible for the time being to include information on the present
state of the proceedings regarding the injuries sustained by Rafael Hernández
Olivo, since it is impossible, even by telephone, to contact the Court of
First Instance of Metapán, Department of Santa Ana, where the proceedings were
presumably initiated, because this town is at a considerable distance from the
city of San Salvador; nevertheless, this information will be sent to the ILO
as soon as possible.
The report containing the extract from the trial before the Sixth Criminal
Court relating to the death of Manuel Antonio and José Antonio Carrillo
Vásquez, which occurred on 3 June 1980, indicates that Manuel Antonio Carrillo
Vásquez, Mayor of the locality of Rosario de Mora, Department of San Salvador,
and his brother José Antonio, were murdered at their homes by three armed men
dressed in white, according to an eyewitness. Since it was not possible to
identify these persons and no charges had therefore been made, the proceedings
were closed and the papers relating to the proceedings were filed away in the
archives.
Case No. 1016
Previous examination of the case
The Committee examined this case at its meetings in November 1981, November
1. 1982, May 1983 and May 1984 (see 211th, 218th, 226th and 234th Reports of the
Committee).
In this case the ICFTU denounced the assassination on 7 January 1981 of
Rofolfo Viera, General Secretary of the Salvadorian Communal Union, and on 3
January 1981 of two United States trade unionists, Mark Pearlman and Michael
Hammer, representatives of the AFL-CIO in El Salvador, while staying at the
Hotel Sheraton in San Salvador where they were working on an agrarian reform
programme to improve the living conditions of workers in rural areas. In June
1. 1982 the Government stated that a trial was being held in the Fifth Criminal
Court of San Salvador and that one of the accused, Ernesto Someza, had been
released by order of the Supreme Court after submitting an appeal for release,
the other, Hans Krist, having been acquitted. The Committee therefore urged
the Government to pursue actively its investigations into the case and to send
it the text of any judgement handed down. In its communication of 14 March
1. 1983, the Government repeated the same information but added that in early
December 1982 judgement had been delivered in the proceedings against other
accused persons who were deemed to have been the material perpetrators of the
crime, but that the parties had lodged appeals. In its communication of 20
January 1984 the Government stated that an appeal had been made for the stay
of proceedings to the plenary session of the Second Criminal Chamber of the
First Division of the Central Court, which had delivered a ruling dated 29
April 1983, of which the Government supplies an extract, pursuant to sections
1. 547 and 548 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This ruling upholds the
dismissal, by order of the Supreme Court dated 16 December 1981, of the
charges against Ernesto Someza and Hans Krist following their application
therefor; it confirms the judgement delivered against the accused, José Dimas
Valle Acevedo and Santiago Gómez González, from which they had appealed, and
stays execution with reservations in favour of Lieutenant López Sibrián; it
vacates the order for the detention of the accused Krist Hoppe and López
Sibrián for lack of grounds; and orders that the statement made during a
meeting of all the accused by the Prosecutor of the Chamber in his reply to
the accusations concerning the accused López Sibrián should be reported to the
Supreme Court. In its most recent report the Committee took note of this
information, in particular that a sentence had been handed down against the
persons deemed to have been material perpetrators of the crime, namely José
Dimas Valle Acevedo and Santiago Gómez González. It requested the Government
to continue to send it information on the final outcome of this case and to
inform it in particular whether the investigation had managed to identify the
instigator or instigators of the crime.
Information obtained during the mission
The documentation handed to the mission by the Government includes the
original report by the Legal Adviser, Alex Aguirre Castro, which contains an
extract from the proceedings in the Fifth Criminal Court of the judicial
district of San Salvador on the wilful homicide committed on the person of
Rodolfo Viera Lizama, President of the Salvadorian Agricultural Processing
Institute, and on the persons of the North American advisers, Michael Peter
Hammer and Mark David Pearlman, which occurred in the Hotel Sheraton in San
Salvador early in 1981. The report notes in particular that former National
Guards José Dimas Valle and Santiago Gómez González (who admitted before the
magistrates to having taken part in these acts) were to be publicly tried on
charges of wilful homicide. The report also states that the evidence against
Captain Avila and Lieutenant Isidro López Sibrián was insufficient for the
judge in the case to order their provisional detention.
Case No. 1150
Previous examination of the case
The Committee examined this case at its meetings in November 1982, May 1983
and May 1984 (see 218th, 226th and 234th Reports of the Committee).
In the most recent examination of the case by the Committee the allegation
presented by the Trade Unions International of Transport Workers on 14 April
1. 1983 concerning the arrest of Marta Imelda Dimas, Secretary of the Transport
Workers' Trade Union, who had been imprisoned since 9 October 1982, remained
pending. Since the Government had not supplied any information concerning this
allegation, the Committee urged it to supply precise information concerning
the detention of this trade unionist for many months and to state the specific
acts with which she was charged. The Committee requested that this person be
released or tried as soon as possible by an impartial and independent judicial
authority, and asked the Government to keep it informed of developments in the
situation (see 234th Report, paras. 406 and 407).
Information obtained during the mission
The documentation handed to the mission by the Minister of Labour reproduces
the report made on 13 January 1986 by the national police, which reads as
follows: "Marta Imelda Dimas Grande. On 30 January 1981 she was arrested at 5
p.m. by officers of this service during a search of the premises occupied by
the Transport Workers' Union, located at 10a, Av. Sur, Barrio San Jacinto, in
this city, when it had come to their knowledge that subversive elements were
meeting there. José Rolando Escobar Ruíz and José Alirio Martínez Martínez
were also arrested on the same occasion, and Marxist literature and an M-l
rifle were confiscated on the said premises. During the investigations none of
the persons concerned admitted to having links with terrorist groups or
knowledge of the origin of the confiscated property, and said that the
meetings in which they participated were purely concerned with labour matters.
For this reason they were released by order on 10 February 1981." (A photocopy
of the order for their release is attached.)
Case No. 1168
Previous examination of the case
The Committee examined this case at its meetings in May 1983 and May 1984 (see
1. 226th and 234th Reports of the Committee).
In this case, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) reported on 26
October 1982 that the following trade union leaders had been arrested or had
disappeared during October 1982: Sylvestre Ortiz, treasurer of a sugar
refinery trade union, arrested on 9 October; Daniel Avalos, leader of the
trade union of a dairy products undertaking, and Pablo Ramirez Cornejo, leader
of the Industrial Workers' Trade Union, both arrested on 10 October; Raúl
Antonio Castro Palomares, Secretary of the Federation of Unions of Workers in
the Food, Clothing, Textile and Allied Industries, arrested at his home on 15
October; Héctor Hernández, Second Secretary of SETRAS, imprisoned by the rural
police; and Berta Alicia Cosme of the National Trade Union Federation of
Salvadorian Workers, who had disappeared on 14 October. In a supplementary
letter dated 10 May 1983, the WFTU also referred to many other arrests and
disappearances of persons, a list of whom is annexed.
With its letter of 4 March 1983 the Government transmitted a photocopy of a
note from the Ministry of Defence and Public Safety (note No. 974 of 22
February 1983 signed by Colonel René E. Auerbach) in which this officer
admitted that Daniel de Jesús Avalos de Paz, Pablo Cornejo Ramirez and Raúl
Antonio Castro Palomares had been arrested by the police, the first two on 10
October and the third on 15 October. These three persons were being detained
by order of the competent court, Raúl Antonio Castro Palomares being at the
Mariona Penal Centre.
In a communication of 14 March 1983 the Government stated further that Berta
Alicia Cosme, known as Berta, had been arrested in October 1982 with other
persons who, like her, were accused of being members or leaders of
organisations engaged in terrorist activities, and that they were being held
by order of the judge because the proceedings against them were at the
preliminary investigation stage.
The Committee, while expressing its concern at the length of time for which
these trade unionists had been kept in custody pending trial, considered at
its May 1983 meeting that the Government ought to take the measures necessary
to ensure that the persons mentioned in the complainant's communications of 26
October 1982 and 10 May 1983 be released or, if charges were being preferred
against them, brought before the courts. The Committee further requested the
Government to supply detailed information concerning the fate of those
persons.
By a telegram of 13 June 1983 the Government reported that Raúl Antonio Castro
Palomares, Pablo Cornejo Ramírez, Alicia Cosme, known as Berta, and Pedro
Ramírez Esquivel had been released under the amnesty Legislative Decree of 16
1. May 1983. This information was enlarged upon in the communication of 20
January 1984, in which the Government stated that, according to the report of
the Ministry of Defence and Public Safety, Raúl Antonio Castro Palomares had
indeed been amnestied on 26 May 1983, Pablo Cornejo Ramírez on 31 May 1983,
Berta Alicia Cosme on 24 May 1983 and Antonio Campos Mendoza on 2 August 1983,
and that Daniel de Jesús Avalos de Paz had been released under a ruling of the
Supreme Court of Justice on 15 May 1983.
In its 234th Report, the Committee, while taking note of this information,
observed with deep concern that in this case most of the persons mentioned by
the complainants had remained in custody since October 1982, or were still
missing, and that no explanation of their fate had been provided by the
Government. The Government indicated in its telegram of 13 June 1983 that,
generally speaking, the annexed list was made up of trade unionists in custody
for criminal offences and awaiting trial for acts carrying penalties of more
than four years' imprisonment. The Government stated that it fully respected
all human rights, but that persons involved in activities running counter to
the rights and freedoms of the people of El Salvador as recognised in the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights could not be
exonerated under the domestic legislation.
In these circumstances the Committee urged the Government to keep it informed
in detail of the situation of all these trade unionists; to communicate to the
Committee its observations on the specific acts with which these persons were
charged and the texts of the judgements concerning them; and to provide
details on the whereabouts of those who were missing.
The Committee keenly deplored the fact that, in all the cases examined above,
a very violent situation had resulted in the death, wounding or arrest of
trade unionists in circumstances which, in the absence of specific and
detailed information, were difficult for it to assess. The Committee
emphasised that such a climate of violence was unpropitious to the development
not only of industrial relations but also of a free and independent trade
union movement inasmuch as, for such a movement to develop, fundamental human
rights must be respected.
The Committee pointed out that, when cases of this nature namely, of detention
under emergency regulations - had been referred to it, it had always stressed
the importance which it attached to all detained persons receiving a fair
trial at the earliest possible moment. The Committee considered that measures
of preventive detention should be limited to very short periods intended
solely to facilitate the course of a judicial enquiry.
List of trade unionists arrested or missing
Raúl Baires: Propaganda Secretary of BPR
Francisco Gómez Calles: Worker in the Izalco textile factory
José Vidal Cortez: Propaganda Secretary of the Intesa Textile Trade Union
Luis Adalberto Diaz: General Secretary of the People's Liberation Movement
(MLP)
Héctor Fernández: Trade union activist
José Sánchez Gallegos: General Secretary of FSR, abducted in Guatemala City
Héctor Hernández: Second Secretary of SETRAS
Jorge Hernández: Member of the Trade Union of Workers of the Salvadorian
Social Security Institute (STISS)
Julián Alberto Lizama: Industrial Disputes Secretary for the Trade Union of
Workers of the Goods Supervision Institute (IRA)
Elsy Márquez: Leader of the National Federation of Trade Unions of Salvadorian
Workers (FENASTRAS)
Arcadio Rauda Mejía: Member of STECEL
Carlos Bonilla Ortiz: Member of STISS
Silvestre Ortiz: Industrial Disputes Secretary of SETRAS
Maximiliano Montoya Pineda: SETRAS
Raúl Alfaro Pleitez: General Secretary of the Trade Union of Workers of
"Constancia" SA (Brewery)
Roberto Portillo: Leader of the Trade Union of Workers in the Electrical
Industries of El Salvador (SIES)
Antonio Quintanilla: Former General Secretary for Administration of the
Constancia Trade Union, arrested with his wife
Alfredo Represa: A leader of STECEL
Santos Serrano: General Secretary of the Trade Union of the firm "Rayones SA"
Auricio Alejandro Valenzuela: Finance Secretary of the Trade Union of Workers
in the Electrical Industries of El Salvador (SIES)
René Pompillo Vásquez: Member of STISS
Manuel de la Paz Villalta: General Secretary of STISS
José Alfredo Cruz Vivas: Member of STISS
Francisco Zamora: Member of STISS.
Information obtained during the mission
Representatives of the National Federation of Trade Unions of Salvadorian
Workers (FENASTRAS) told the mission that Elsy Márquez was abducted by heavily
armed individuals in the centre of San Salvador in 1980 and has since been
missing. They added that persons connected with the trade union movement had
said that they had seen her in July 1981 on the premises of the rural police
in a very poor physical condition. According to FENASTRAS no judicial inquiry
was made into her disappearance.
Representatives of the Revolutionary Trade Union Federation (FSR) confirmed
allegations that José Sánchez Gallegos (former General Secretary of the FSR)
had been abducted in Guatemala City and that his whereabouts were still
unknown.
The mission was informed that the Union of Workers of the River Lempa
Hydro-electric Executive Commission (STECEL) had ceased to exist. The Trade
Union of Workers of the Salvadorian Social Security Institute (STISS) did not
appear at the appointment which it had made with the mission. Some of the
persons alleged to have been arrested or to have disappeared in connection
with the present case belonged to these organisations.
The documentation handed to the mission by the Ministry of Labour contains
information on a number of persons in respect of whom allegations were made in
the present case and in respect of whom the Committee had reached definitive
conclusions. Attached to the documentation is a copy of the judicial order of
1. 8 October 1984 for the release of Alfredo Hernández Represa, Arcadio Rauda
Mejía, Jorge Alberto Hernández and Francisco Zamora, who were tried for
political offences and finally acquitted.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Justice said that, apart from the persons
mentioned and Julio Alberto Lizama (who was released on 23 July 1985 for lack
of sufficient evidence as to his guilt) the persons mentioned in the list were
not imprisoned in the Mariona Penal Centre or the Ilopango Penal Centre (the
only centres in the country where persons are sent for offences other than
common-law offences), nor had they ever been imprisoned there.
In a letter to the mission, the Deputy Director-General of Penal Centres and
Rehabilitation states that a meticulous search had been made of the records of
the Directorate-General, and that, apart from the persons mentioned in the
foregoing paragraphs, none of the persons listed was, or had been, imprisoned
in any of the penal centres in the Republic.
The Minister of Labour stated that he was awaiting information from the
Ministry of Public Safety on all the persons mentioned by the complainants,
with a view to determining whether any of them had ever been imprisoned by the
security forces and for what reasons. The Minister of Labour stated that this
information would be transmitted to the ILO.
Case No. 1233
The Committee examined this case at its February 1984 meeting (see 233rd
Report of the Committee, paras. 672-68) when it presented an interim report to
the Governing Body.
In communications of 27 September 1983 the World Federation of Trade Unions
(WFTU) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
alleged that on 25 September at 9.00 a.m., the trade union leader, Santiago
Hernández Jiménez, was arrested in the Morazán Square in San Salvador by three
armed persons, presumably members of the state security forces. According to
the complainants, Mr. Hernández, who held the office of General Secretary of
the United Trade Union Federation of El Salvador (FUSS) and was a
representative of the Committee of Trade Union Unity of El Salvador (CUS), was
one of the leaders of the recent strikes which had taken place in the banking
sector.
In their communications of 11 and 12 October 1983, respectively, the WFTU and
the ICFTU stated that this trade union leader had been murdered. According to
the WFTU, the security forces had tortured him to death and his corpse was
found on 8 October 1983, together with those of four other persons, in a
central district of San Salvador. The ICFTU stated that Mr. Hernández was
strangled in the San Miguelito suburb of San Salvador and that an extreme
right-wing commando had claimed responsibility for his abduction and
subsequent murder.
In its communication of 31 October 1983, the Government stated that the trade
union leader of the United Trade Union Federation of El Salvador (FUSS), Mr.
Santiago Hernández Jiménez, was not abducted by persons belonging to any
security body of the armed forces but by members of the right-wing death squad
"Maximiliano Hernández Martinez", who had murdered him, together with three
other persons, on 7 October 1983; the squad had publicly claimed that it was
the author of these crimes.
The Committee made the following recommendations:
- (a) The Committee deeply deplores the murder of the trade union leader,
Santiago Hernández Jiménez, especially in view of the circumstances under
which this occurred.
- (b) The Committee asks the Government to inform it as soon as possible of
developments in the judicial investigations into the murder of Santiago
Hernández and to let it know the outcome of the trial.
- (c) The Committee draws the Government's attention to the fact that freedom of
association can only be exercised in conditions in which fundamental human
rights, and in particular those relating to human life and personal safety,
are fully respected and guaranteed.
Information obtained during the mission
Representatives of the United Trade Union Federation of El Salvador (FUSS)
told the mission that Santiago Hernández had been abducted on 25 September
1. 1983, only moments before the holding of a FUSS Congress. They stated that no
trial had been held in this case, nor had there been any kind of judicial
inquiry into the murder.
The documentation handed to the mission by the Minister of Labour indicates
the following:
"In connection with the complaint by the International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions and the World Federation of Trade Unions of the abduction and
murder of Santiago Hernández Jiménez, this was the work of the right wing
death squad "General Maximiliano Hernández Martinez", which publicly announced
the deed through the press; a cutting of a newspaper announcement to this
effect was sent to the ILO.
Proceedings were initiated in the Third Criminal Court of the Judicial
District of San Salvador with a view to determining the circumstances in which
the act was committed, but it was not possible to establish by whom it was
committed.
For further details the original of the report of Legal Adviser Alex Aguirre
Castro is attached; this is an extract from the judgement given by the Third
Criminal Court of this Judicial District concerning the death of Santiago
Hernández Jiménez."
The above-mentioned report indicates that Santiago Hernández died of asphyxia
by strangulation on 7 October 1983, and that he had been abducted during the
morning of 25 September by heavily armed individuals opposite the park of the
Bank of El Salvador. The judicial authority ordered the case to be closed on
1. 21 January 1985 since it was unable to determine who had committed the crime.
Case No. 1258
The Committee examined this case (in which the complainants are the World
Federation of Trade Unions and the International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions) at its November 1984 meeting (see 236th Report, paras. 513-523), when
it presented an interim report to the Governing Body.
In its communication of January 1984 the WFTU alleges that the Government
handed over to the military courts a group of 11 union members and leaders of
the Electrical Energy Workers' Trade Union who had been arrested on 23 August
1. 1980 for having declared strikes at their workplaces in order to obtain an
increase in wages. The Government stated that ten of these trade unionists
were released on 10 October 1984, but supplied no information on the remaining
unionist (Jorge Artigas).
The WFTU added that coffee plantation leaders Isabel Flores, José Rico Amayas
Checa, Julio César González López, Santos Valentín Velásquez and Rafael Martin
Mendoza, who were arrested in December 1983 in the Western Department of
Sonsonate, were in a similar situation.
The ICFTU alleged the arrest of Carlos Someta, General Secretary of the Union
of Workers of the National Water and Sewerage Administration, and requested
the ILO to intercede with the Government to guarantee the personal safety of
Salvador Carazo, General Secretary of the Federation of Construction Industry
Trade Unions (FESINCONSTRANS), whose life had repeatedly been threatened.
Specifically, Mr. Carazo had been obliged to abandon his home with his family
because a group of armed civilians went to his house to take him prisoner,
although they had failed to do so because he was absent at the time.
The Committee made the following recommendations:
- (a) Regarding the arrest and trial of 11 union leaders and members of the
Electrical Energy Workers' Trade Union, the Committee notes that ten have been
released; it requests the Government to indicate the specific facts with which
the unionist who remains in detention (Jorge Artigas) is charged and to inform
it of developments in his trial so that it can come to a decision on the
matter in full knowledge of the facts. The Committee nevertheless wishes to
express concern at the fact that this trade unionist is apparently being tried
by the military court and requests the Government to explain why this matter
is apparently before the military rather than the civil courts.
- (b) In view of the lack of details supplied by the Government on the specific
facts which led to the arrest and trial of these trade unionists, the
Committee draws the Government's attention to the fact that the detention or
sentencing of union leaders or members for reasons connected with their
activities in defence of the interests of workers constitutes a serious
interference with civil liberties in general and with trade union rights in
particular.
- (c) Furthermore, the Committee regrets that the Government has not replied to
the remaining allegations (arrest and trial of the coffee plantation leaders,
Isabel Flores, José Rico Amayas Checa, Julio César González López, Santos
Valentín Velásquez and Rafael Martin Mendoza; arrest of Carlos Someta, General
Secretary of the Union of Workers of the National Water and Sewerage
Administration; and threats on the life of FESINCONSTRANS union leader
Salvador Carazo by a group of armed civilians and their attempts to take him
Prisoner). The Committee insists upon the Government replying to these
allegations as a matter of urgency.
The Government's reply
In a communication of 30 May 1985, the Government states that José Rico
Amayas, Santos Valentín Velásquez, Rafael Martin Mendoza and Carlos Someta are
not in custody, nor have they ever been in custody, on the premises of the
National Police. The Government adds that Julio César González López was
arrested by the police in December 1983 since it had come to their knowledge
that he had belonged to the People's Liberation Forces from September 1979 to
January 1980, a fact confirmed by his own statements. He was at present being
held at the disposal of the Third Military Examining Magistrate. Lastly, the
Government states that Isabel Flores was arrested by the police in January
1. 1984 at the request of the Judge of the Second Criminal Court of San Salvador.
New allegations
In a communication of 7 November 1985, the ICFTU alleges the arrest on 30
October 1985 of Victor Manuel Martinez, President of the Union Association of
Postmen and Post Office Employees of El Salvador (SUCEPES). The arrest was
made by the Security and Police Force of the Ministry of Finance.
In communications of 30 October and 5 November 1985, the Committee of Trade
Union Unity of El Salvador states that Victor Manuel Martinez was arrested
with Pacificacion Chicas, a SUCEPES committee member, as they were leaving a
trade union meeting. This organisation adds that on 1 November 1985, the
police arrested Eleuterio Iraheta and Américo Fuentes, officials of the
National Association of Water and Sewerage Workers (ANDA) as they were leaving
their workplace.
The Committee of Trade Union Unity of El Salvador also alleges that Decree No.
1. 162 of 28 October 1985 authorises the peremptory transfer of workers to other
workplaces, the dismissal of workers for taking part in strikes and reductions
in workers' income.
Lastly, in a communication of 6 December 1985, the ICFTU alleges the abduction
by heavily armed individuals and murder of Juan Pablo Mejía Rodriguez, a
leader of ACOPAI (a member organisation of CTD, which is itself a member of
the ICFTU). The act took place on 21 November 1985 on the road to Usulatán,
about 98 kilometres from San Salvador.
The Government's further reply
Regarding the arrest of Victor Manuel Martinez, President of the Union
Association of Postmen and Post Office Employees of El Salvador (SUCEPES), the
Government reproduces in its communication of 6 December 1985 a note from the
Human Rights Commission of El Salvador indicating that Mr. Martinez was
arrested on 30 October 1985 by the Police of the Ministry of Finance, and
remained on police premises until 9 November, when he was released and handed
over to the Director General of Posts. According to the police records, the
ground for the arrest of Victor Manuel Martinez was that he was known to
belong to the Salvadorian Communist Party.
The Government points out that the Salvadorian Communist Party (PCS) is a
group of armed insurrectionists forming part of the FMLN, whose strategy for
attaining power by violent means is part of a struggle characterised by a
protracted people's war conducted at the behest of international communism;
this group, in an endeavour to destabilise the lawfully constituted
Government, freely elected by the Salvadorian people, is committing acts of
terrorism aimed at imposing a totalitarian system in defiance of the
democratic process in El Salvador.
Information obtained during the mission
As regards the threats against the life of Salvador Carazo and the attempt to
arrest him, representatives of the Federation of Unions in the Construction
and Allied Industries, Transport and Other Activities (FESINCONSTRANS) told
the mission that, before leaving the organisation, Mr. Carazo had removed
property of the Federation and had appropriated a large sum of money, for
which reason the Federation had brought an action against him. In the light of
Mr. Carazo's behaviour, says the Federation, it was hardly surprising that
there had been confrontations.
The mission also had the opportunity to interview José Rico Amayas in the
Mariona Penal Centre, who stated that he had been arrested on a charge of
belonging to a subversive movement, that he had not been brought to trial,
that he had been under arrest for just over two years, and that he was neither
a trade unionist nor a trade union leader. He also stated that Isabel Flores,
Julio César González López and Rafael Martin Mendoza had been released.
The mission interviewed representatives of the Union Association of Postmen
and Post Office Employees of El Salvador (SUCEPES). The President of this
organisation, Victor Manuel Martinez, stated that he was arrested on 30
October 1985, the day following a work stoppage organised by SUCEPES in
support of certain labour demands. Pacificación Chicas (fourth committee
member of SUCEPES), was arrested on the same day but released the next day.
Mr. Martinez said that his detention, which lasted until 9 November 1985, was
also related to certain slanderous accusations of involvement with the extreme
left and membership of the Communist Party, proffered by a rival leader who
had lost the trade union elections of August 1984, and as a result had formed
a parallel association of postmen. Mr. Martinez had been charged with
attempting to destabilise the Government by instigating a politically
motivated strike. Mr. Martinez concluded by stating that he had been
interrogated uninterruptedly for 72 hours and that he had been beaten to
induce him to confess to the acts with which he was charged.
The Central of Democratic Workers (CTD) made an appointment with the mission,
but none of its representatives appeared.
The documentation handed to the mission by the Government contains the
following observations and information:
In connection with the complaint by the World Federation of Trade Unions and
the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions respecting the arrest of
Héctor Bernabé Recinos, Santos Rivera, Jorge A. Valencia and others, members
of the Union of Workers of the River Lempa Hydro-electric Executive
Commission, (STECEL), these persons were arrested for instigating a
nation-wide electric power-cut and occupying public installations, with
regrettable consequences in the form of the loss of human lives and property.
They were tried by the Military Court of Fi-rst Instance and were duly
released by a Court Martial.
Further information on the present case is contained in the recent reports by
the Directorate-General of the National Police, reproduced below, which read
as follows:
Jorge Artiga is not recorded as having been detained by this service.
There is no record of Isabel Flores, but of Isabel Flores Ponce (a man).
Brought in from the Zacatecoluca Divisional Command of the National Police on
1. 6 January 1984, arrested by members of the DMIFA at 3.00 p.m. on 1 January
2. 1984 in the vicinity of El Crío, by the land plots of El Jobo, in an area
which is known to be held by subversive groups.
It was established that the transferred detainee had belonged to the People's
Liberation Forces since January 1981, that he was a member of a terrorist camp
in the San Vicente district, and that his activities consisted in erecting
- road-blocks, armed robbery, attacks and harassment against the armed forces,
the most important of which were the planting of four bombs and 18 sticks of
dynamite at the Quebrada Seca bridge, San Vicente, killing two soldiers and
stealing three M-16 rifles. Because of this he was placed at the disposal of
the First Military Examining Magistrate and imprisoned in the Mariona Penal
Centre by order No. 0109 of 11 January 1984. (The Deputy Director General of
Penal Centres and Rehabilitation informed the mission that Mr. Flores was
released on 3 May 1984 and handed it a photocopy of the order for his
release.)
There is no record of José Rico Amaya, but of José Rito Amaya Chicas.
Brought in from the Police Station of C-II of the EMCFA on 6 January 1984;
arrested by a patrol of Military Detachment No. 3 on 15 December 1983 in the
vicinity of the village of Yucuayquín, for belonging to terrorist groups.
It was established that the transferred detainee had belonged to the People's
Revolutionary Army since August 1979, that he was a member of a terrorist camp
located in the vicinity of the village of El Rosario, Morazán, and that his
activities consisted in washing clothes and preparing food for his companions
and an attack on the above-mentioned village. Because of these acts he was
placed at the disposal of the Third Military Examining Magistrate and
imprisoned in the Mariona Penal Centre by order No. 0107 of 11 January 1984.
Julio César González López.
Brought in on 31 December 1983 from the Third National Police Command of Santa
Ana; arrested in that town by members of the same unit on 29 December 1983
because he was known to belong to the People's Liberation Force.
During the preliminary investigation it was established that the transferred
detainee had in fact belonged to the People's Liberation Force since September
1. 1979, that he was staying in a terrorist camp located in the San Jerónimo
district, and that his activities consisted in waylaying buses, armed robbery
and a clash with members of the FAES when he and others were preparing to
dynamite the bridge at the entrance to Chalchuapa. In light of the above, the
criminal was placed at the disposal of the Third Military Examining Magistrate
and imprisoned in the Mariona Penal Centre by order No. 0088 of 9 January
1. 1984 (The Deputy Director General of Penal Centres and Rehabilitation
provided the mission with a copy of the order for the release of Mr. González
López, dated 22 May 1984.0
There is no record of Santos Valentín Velásquez, but of Santos Valentín Garcia
Vásquez.
Brought in on 24 December 1983 from the Zacatecoluca Divisional Command of the
National Police; arrested by members of that Command at 6.00 p.m. on 19
December 1983 in front of the José Simeón Cañas Park in Zacatecoluca on
suspicion of belonging to terrorist groups.
It was established that this individual had belonged to the Armed Liberation
Force (FAL) since May 1980, that he was a combatant in a terrorist camp
located on the slopes of the Chinchontepec volcano, and that his activities
consisted in distributing subversive propaganda, erecting road-blocks, armed
robbery and clashes with members of the armed forces. Because of the above, he
was placed at the disposal of the Second Military Examining Magistrate and
imprisoned in the Mariona Penal Centre by order No. 0086 of 9 January 1984.
There is no record of Rafael Martin Mendoza, but of Rafael Martir Méndez.
Brought in on 28 December 1983 from the Divisional Command of the National
Police of Sonsonate; arrested by personnel of Military Detachment No. 6 for
having links with terrorist groups.
It was established that the transferred detainee had belonged to the People's
Revolutionary Army (ERP) since September 1981 and that he had been recruited
by a leader of the organisation, known as Pedro, who entrusted him with the
mission of recruiting further forces, taking advantage of the fact that he was
an official of the Union of Workers of the Buenavista de Juayúa Farm. Because
of the above, he was placed at the disposal of the First Military Examining
Magistrate and imprisoned in the Mariona Penal Centre by order No. 0096 of 10
January 1984. (The Deputy Director-General of Penal Centres and Rehabilitation
told the mission that Mr. Martin Mendoza was no longer in prison.)
Carlos Ernesto Vásquez Zometa.
Arrested by members of this force on 27 March 1984, in Juan Pablo II Avenue of
this city, since it was known that he was a member of the Armed Forces of the
National Revolution (FARN) having political responsibilities.
The investigation established that the transferred detainee was in fact a
member of the FARN, using the pseudonym Jeremías, that he was employed as
general secretary of the SETA and organisations secretary of FENESTRAS, for
which reason he held the post of officer for trade union affairs within the
FARN; his activities consisted in conducting propaganda among workers to
persuade them to join this terrorist organisation; he himself added that he
had travelled to Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Costa Rica and Mexico as a trade union
delegate.
In connection with this case, in light of the fact that the person concerned
was a trade union official, and as proof of the Government's good faith, the
prisoner was released on 9 April 1984 and delivered to his mother, Felicita
Zometa de Vásquez.
The following information is supplied as regards the abduction and murder of
Juan Pablo Mejía Rodriguez:
Proceedings were opened on 22 November 1985 in the Court of First Instance of
Berlin, Department of Usulután; following the customary initial proceedings,
Ana Lucía Fuentes de Paz and Carlos Solórzano Trejo appeared before the Court
as representatives of the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Republic; the
father of the murdered man, Pedro Rodriguez, appeared as the injured party;
since no one has been arrested for the crime, the proceedings are still at the
stage of hearing of the witnesses cited by the injured party.
As regards the arrests of Eleuterio Iraheta and Américo Fuentes, the
information supplied by the Directorate-General of the National Police is
reproduced below:
Eleuterio Hernández Iraheta and José Américo Fuentes Guido.
Arrested by members of this force at 11.30 p.m. on 1 November 1985, at 13 ave.
Sur, No. 348 of this city for buying and selling foodstuffs donated by foreign
governments to displaced persons; a certain quantity of these goods were
confiscated.
It was established that the said individuals were guilty of the acts with
which they were charged, for which reason they were placed at the disposal of
the Second Criminal Judge of this city on 4 November 1985 by order No. 6766
(see also paragraph 77 of the mission report).
With reference to Decree No. 162 of 28 October 1985 on the transfer of public
employees, the said Legislative Decree was returned by the Constitutional
President of the Republic, José Napoleón Duarte, with some observations and
recommendations, to the National Legislative Assembly, where it is still
awaiting enactment; consequently, this Decree has not entered into force as a
law of the Republic.
A photocopy of the order for the release of Alfredo Hernández Represa and
others is also attached.
Also attached is the original of a report by Legal Adviser Alex Aguirre
Castro, referring to the release of Eleuterio Hernández Iraheta, Américo
Fuentes and others, by the Second Criminal Judge of this Judicial District.
Pacificación Chicas, a member of the executive of the Association of Postal
Employees of El Salvador, was released a few hours after his arrest.
A report from an official of the Ministry of Labour which was handed to the
mission reads as follows:
I have the honour to report that I presented myself today at the Second
Criminal Court of this city for the purpose of ascertaining the actual stage
of the criminal proceedings against Eleuterio Hernández Iraheta, Viviano Tobar
Luna, Miguel Angel Alas Rodriguez and José Américo Fuentes Guido for the
offence provisionally designated as "prohibited economic dealings".
In accordance with document 51 of the file constituted by the Second Criminal
Court, at 12.30 p.m. on 7 November 1985, the accused Eleutario Hernández
Iraheta and José Américo Fuentes Guido were released without bail - and the
corresponding orders for their release issued - because the legal period of
the investigation had expired and there were no grounds for their provisional
detention for the offence terms "prohibited economic dealings".
The provisional arrest of Miguel Angel Alas Rodriguez and Viviano Tobar Luna
was also confirmed and an order was issued for seizure of their property to
the value of 2,000 colones.
Document 53 is a photocopy of the order for release issued on 7 November 1985,
addressed to the Director of the "La Esperanza" Penitentiary at San Luis
Mariona.
It should also be mentioned that, according to information from the Deputy
Director-General of Penal Centres and Rehabilitation, following consultation
of the relevant files, Jorge Artigas, A. Santos and Valentín Velásquez are not
in any prison centre.
The Minister of Labour handed the mission a copy of Decree No. 162, which was
returned to the National Legislative Assembly by the President of the Republic
with certain recommendations and has consequently not entered into force. The
text of the Decree is as follows:
Decree No. 162
The Legislative Assembly of the Republic of El Salvador:
Whereas:
I. There exist in the Public Administration underutilised administrative and
technical personnel who can render valuable service where there is a scarcity
of human resources and a heavy workload;
II. Subsection 2 of section 111 of the General Budgetary Regulations permits
the transfer of personnel for a period not exceeding six months, a period
which is insufficient to achieve the purpose indicated above, since the
accounting period is one year;
III. In order to achieve the aims mentioned in the foregoing preambular
paragraphs, it is desirable to extend the duration of such transfers subject
to the observance of the relevant provisions of the Civil Service Act;
Therefore,
In the exercise of its constitutional powers and on the initiative of the
President of the Republic, acting through the Ministry of Finance,
Decrees as follows:
Section 1. Subsection 2 of Section 111 of the General Budgetary Regulations
shall be amended as follows:
1. "2 Provided that, whenever exigencies of the service so require, personnel
may be detached from one office to another, in any place in the territory of
the Republic or abroad, for a period not exceeding 12 months, which may be
extended."
The provisions of the previous paragraph shall apply subject to the observance
of the relevant provisions of the Civil Service Act.
Section 2. The present Decree shall enter into force eight days after its
publication in the Official Gazette.
Given this 17th day of the month of October 1985 in the Blue Room of the
Legislative Palace, San Salvador.
The provisions of the Civil Service Act to which the Decree refers are as
follows:
Section 37. Officials or employees may be transferred to another equivalent
post, even without their consent, when this is in the interest of the public
or municipal administration, provided that the transfer takes place in the
same locality.
Transfer to a similar post in another locality may take place with the consent
of the person concerned and, where this is not forthcoming, only with the
authorisation of the relevant Civil Service Commission, which shall previously
hear the person concerned, taking into account the exigencies of the service.
Case No. 1269
The Committee examined this case at its November 1984 meeting (see 236th
Report, paras. 524-539), when it presented an interim report to the Governing
Body.
After the examination of the case by the Committee, one allegation remained
pending, namely that presented by the World Confederation of Organisations of
the Teaching Profession (WCOTP) regarding interference in the postal services
manifestly designed to hamper communication and co-operation between the
National Association of Educators of El Salvador "ANDES 21 de Junio" and the
WCOTP, with which this organisation is affiliated. According to the WCOTP,
although ANDES has not changed its address, correspondence addressed to it by
the WCOTP does not arrive or is returned marked "the addressee has moved
without leaving a new address". Since the Government did not reply to this
allegation the Committee pointed out that the principle that all workers'
organisations have the right to affiliate with international organisations of
workers implies the right of national and international trade union
organisations to maintain contact with one another, and requested the
Government to conduct an investigation into the alleged interception of
correspondence.
The Committee also noted the Government's statement that "ANDES 21 de Junio"
was not a trade union but a general association of teachers governed by a
special law. In this respect the Committee observed that "ANDES 21 de Junio"
was an organisation affiliated with an international trade union organisation
(the World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profession) and that
it was composed of teachers. In these circumstances, the Committee concluded
that everything appeared to indicate that the organisation "ANDES 21 de Junio"
was a workers' organisation whose purpose was to further and defend the
interests of workers; however, the Committee requested the Government to
indicate to what extent the national legislation guaranteed to the
organisation "ANDES 21 de Junio" the rights contained in Convention No. 87.
The Government's reply
In its communication of 30 May 1985 the Government states that "ANDES 21 de
Junio" is not a body legally registered as a trade union and that it is
accordingly unable to understand how such a body can be affiliated to an
international trade union organisation. According to the Government, the
national legislation does not entitle "ANDES 21 de Junio" to any of the
guarantees provided for under Convention No. 87. None the less, this
organisation is not persecuted, but enjoys protection to the extent that its
activities follow standard procedures and do not result in disturbances of the
peace. The Government concludes that correspondence is not intercepted in El
Salvador, that the complainant's allegation is false, and that in consequence
it cannot order investigations into non-existent cases.
New allegations
In its communication of 11 July 1985 the World Federation of Trade Unions
(WFTU) alleges that the Government is intensifying its repression against, and
persecution of, trade unionists as a consequence of the growing socio-economic
demands of the workers in the light of the situation in the country. On 4 July
1. 1985, the WFTU continues, an official of the National Association of Educators
of El Salvador "ANDES 21 de Junio", Mr. Modesto Rodriguez, was arrested. The
government forces also arrested the teacher Elsy Esperanza Alvarenga and her
husband Joaquín Menjívar, who are members of this trade union organisation.
Information obtained during the mission
Representatives of the National Association of Educators of El Salvador "ANDES
1. 21 de Junio" stated that Mr. Modesto Rodriguez did not belong to ANDES but to
the Federation of the Clothing and Allied Industries, and that they knew that
he was at liberty at the moment. As regards the arrest of Elsy Esperanza
Alvarenga and her husband, they pointed out that they were at present free.
Their arrest had been due to their membership of "ANDES 21 de Junio" and was
part of the repression to which the organisation had been subjected for many
years on the pretext of its links with the guerrilla movement and which in
1. 1985 had given rise to the murder of nine schoolteachers and the arrest of
another nine, two of whom remain in prison. They concluded by stating that
their organisation was of a trade union nature and was governed by its own
rules, and that the allegations of interference of correspondence with WCOTP
were true.
The Minister of Labour transmitted the following observations and information
to the mission:
The case began with a complaint from the World Confederation of Organisations
of the Teaching Profession as a result of a search made by the public security
authorities on the premises of "ANDES 21 de Junio".
In this connection it was considered that the said National Association of
Salvadorian Educators was not a trade union but a teachers' association
governed by special legislation, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
consequently has nothing whatsoever to do with it,
The search of the said premises was made under Article 30, paragraph 2
(exceptional measures), of our current Political Constitution, which restricts
certain constitutional guarantees by permitting authorities to search premises
strictly for security reasons.
For further information on the present case, referring to the arrests of Elsy
Esperanza Alvarenga and her husband Joaquín Menjívar, the information given by
the Directorate General of the National Police is reproduced below:
José Joaquín Menjívar and Elsy Esperanza Alvarenga.
Arrested by members of this force on 2 July 1985 in the Main Street of
Auyutuxtepeque, for being known to belong to the People's Liberation Force
(FPL).
It was established that the first of the persons mentioned had belonged to the
FPL since June 1978, that he had stayed in terrorist camps in the Chalatenango
district, and that he had been a combatant, chief of squadron and political
chief, and was granted the rank of lieutenant, participating in various
terrorist activities, including attacks on the El Paraíso Barracks and the
Cerrón Grande newspaper. The prisoner added that in 1981 he had travelled to
Nicaragua on his own account and had stayed in a refugee camp, where he had
contacted another Salvadorian terrorist staying in the same place; the latter
had told him that he was returning to the same camps in El Salvador.
In respect of Elsy Esperanza Alvarenga, it was only established that between
1. 1977 and 1978, when she was a student at the National Institute of
Chalatenango, she was a militant in the Secondary School Students'
Revolutionary Movement (MERS-FPL) and that she helped to distribute subversive
propaganda in this educational establishment.
José Joaquín Menjívar was placed at the di-sposal of the Military Examining
Magistrate and imprisoned in the Mariona Penal Centre by order No. 02317 of 16
July 1985, and Elsy Esperanza Alvarenga was released on 22 July 1985 since the
period for criminal proceedings had lapsed, and was delivered to Mr. Kurt
Zeller, delegate of the Red Cross.
As for the situation of Modesto Rodriguez Escobar, according to a report from
the Vice-Minister of Public Safety, contained in note No. 543 dated 12
September 1985, he was sentenced by the Military Examining Magistrate to
imprisonment in the Central Penitentiary of the Cantón of Mariona for
belonging to the Communist Party.
A photocopy of the Order for the release of Modesto Rodriguez Escobar, dated 9
September 1985, is attached, in which it is indicated that the Order for his
provisional arrest is revoked since there are insufficient grounds for his
continued detention.
Lastly, it should be mentioned that according to information provided by the
Deputy Director-General of Penal Centres and Rehabilitation, after consulting
the relevant files, Joaquín Menjívar is not detained in any prison centre.
Case No. 1273
The complaints were presented in communications from the Revolutionary Trade
Union Federation (FSR) and the Permanent Congress of Trade Union Unity of
Latin America (CPUSTAL), dated 5 and 9 April 1984 respectively. The FSR sent
additional information in a communication dated 27 April 1984. The Government
replied in a communication dated 16 July 1984.
The Committee examined the case at its November 1984 meeting (see 236th Report
of the Committee, paras. 540-552), when it presented an interim report to the
Governing Body.
Subsequently, new allegations were presented by the World Federation of Trade
Unions (on 5 February, 10 June and 6 and 8 August 1985) and the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (on 10 June 1985).
The Government sent certain observations in communications of 4 March, 17 and
1. 30 May, 6 September and 24 October 1985.
Previous examination of the case
When the Committee examined the case at its November 1984 meeting, the
allegation relating to the arrest and trial of nine members and officials of
the Revolutionary Trade Union Federation (FSR), arrested in January 1984 when
they were holding the Fifth Ordinary Federal Congress, remained pending. These
were José Jeremías Pereira (General Secretary of the FSR), Juan José Vargas
Lemus, Juan Salvador Ramos, Cruz Alfaro Escalante (Minutes Secretary of the
FSR), Salvador Escalante Chávez (Relations Secretary of the FSR), Oscar
Armando Benavides, Esteban González (General Secretary of SETIVU), Dinora
Ramírez de Pereira (Organisation Secretary of the FSR) and Amanda Ramos de
Villegas.
The Government replied that the arrests by the national police were made in
order to investigate reports that a meeting of the FSR was being held on the
same premises as a trade union congress, with the participation of members of
the clandestine terrorist group known as the People's Liberation Forces (FPL),
which has set up a Revolutionary Workers' Movement.
The Government stated that the nine persons referred to by the complainants
were sent by the First Military Examining Magistrate to the Mariona Penal
Centre to be held provisionally pending preparation of the proceedings against
them. Finally, the Government states that according to the investigations,
Oscar Armando Benavides, Juan José Vargas Lemus, Dinora Ramírez de Pereira,
Esteban González Pérez and Amanda Ramos de Villegas were arrested for being
members of a mass mobilisation organisation of the FMLN in the course of a
meeting with José Jeremías Pereira Amaya, Cruz Alfaro Escalante and Salvador
Escalante Chávez, to study a plan of action entitled "A Decisive Battle".
The Committee regretted that the Government had not provided detailed
information on the plan of action of the terrorist group People's Liberation
Forces, entitled "A Decisive Battle" which it claimed the nine trade union
members or officials currently under arrest and awaiting trial were studying
when they were arrested, and, in particular, on the objectives of the plan and
the means envisaged to achieve them. The Committee requested the Government to
send this information along with details of developments in their current
trial and the text of any judgement handed down, to enable it to have
sufficient information at its disposal on which to base its conclusions on the
allegations.
New allegations
The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) alleges in its communication of 5
February 1985 that members of the armed forces of El Salvador murdered Mr.
Marcos Antonio Orantes, Secretary of the National Union of Workers of the
Transport Industry, on 29 January 1985.
The WFTU also alleges that the El Salvador police arrested a trade union
official, Mr. Santos Ríos Lazo, and the General Secretary of the Revolutionary
Trade Union Federation, Mr. Salvador Escalante, during the Sixth Congress of
that organisation, held during the second half of January 1985.
In its communication of 10 June 1985 the WFTU alleges that on 2 June, at 2.50
a.m., members of the Salvadorian armed forces broke into the premises of the
Salvadorian Social Security Institute for the purpose of breaking up and
repressing a month-long strike of the workers of the Institute in support of
labour and wage claims. The government forces killed five strikers and
patients and abducted the General Secretary of the Union of Workers of the
Salvadorian Social Security Institute, Guillermo Rojas, and the first disputes
secretary, Jorge Alberto Jara.
In its communication of 6 August 1985, the WFTU alleges that, on 4 July,
police forces abducted Mr. Modesto Rodriguez Escobar, General Secretary of the
Trade Union Organisation of Sugar Refinery Workers (FESTIAVCES). (This
allegation and the information communicated by the Government will be found in
the part of the report relating to case No. 1269.)
Lastly, the WFTU alleges, in its communication of 8 August 1985, that on 3
August police forces arrested Vilma Angélica Méndez, General Secretary of the
Union of Workers in the Bread and Allied Industries, at her workplace; she was
tortured and sent to the women's prison. The same day, continues the WFTU,
police forces abducted Natividad Bernal Hernández (Secretary of the FUSS),
Rufino Hernández, Daniel Heriberto Morales and Pedro Nerio Blanco, leaders of
the Furniture Workers' Trade Union (SIMA) from their homes.
The Government's reply
The Government states that it did not consider the headquarters of the
Revolutionary Trade Union Federation to be trade union premises, since the
Federation was affiliated with the Democratic Revolutionary Front (FDR) and
the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and was being
investigated for its subversive and other activities. Moreover, the meeting
held at that time (19 January 1984) was in no way related to trade union
activities, since it was found to have been of a subversive nature, and given
the state of emergency, judicial warrant was required for intervention; as
mentioned in the earlier replies, the prisoners were referred to the competent
military courts and those against whom no evidence was found were released.
The case came before the military and not the civil court solely because a
state of siege or emergency, provision for which is made in the country's
Magna Carta, had been in force since 16 October 1979. Article 30 of the Magna
Carta reads as follows: "Once the suspension of constitutional guarantees has
been decreed, it will be for the special military courts to examine offences
against the existence of the State and its organisations, against the
international or domestic personality of the same and against the public
peace, as well as international crimes".
The Government also states that Salvador Escalante Chávez was arrested by
members of the national police at 9.00 p.m. on 10 January 1985 in the main
street of Soyapango, having been denounced by the criminal Dolores Yanes
Alvarez as a member of the People's Liberation Forces (FPL), where he was
responsible for the organisation's political schools. During his
investigation, continues the Government, it was established that he joined the
FPL in May 1982; that on 19 January 1984 he was arrested by members of the
police for taking part in a clandestine meeting of the Revolutionary Trade
Union Movement (FSR), held in the Loyola home for spiritual retreats, where
information was being given on the adoption of an ideological line for the
Revolutionary Workers' Movement (MOR). On instructions from higher authorities
and as a gesture of good will by the Government, since he was a leader of the
said trade union organisation, Salvador Escalante Chávez was released on 24
January 1985.
The Government adds that Messrs. Marcos Antonio Orantes and Santos Ríos Lazo
are not, and never have been, imprisoned.
The Government also states that on 2 June 1985, at 2.50 a.m., the public
security forces evicted persons who had occupied the premises of the
Salvadorian Social Security Institute (ISSS) in compliance with a judicial
order, since a court had declared illegal the strike called by members of the
workers' union of that Institute who denied entry to workers and insured
persons who came to receive medical care, despite the fact that the labour
court judge had ordered both the strikers and the rest of the staff to return
to work. In addition to defying the judicial order, the persons who were
preventing access to the various premises of the ISSS had incurred criminal
liability, since the occupation of public buildings is an offence under the
Civil Code and is deemed to be an act of terrorism when a state of emergency
has been constitutionally declared in the country. In other words, the
eviction was not only warranted but fully in conformity with the law and
judicial orders. It is true that Guillermo Rojas and Jorge Alberto Lara were
arrested, but it is also true that they were released a few hours after their
arrest. Nor did the eviction cause any injuries, let alone deaths, among the
members of the trade union organisations involved, as claimed by the spokesmen
of groups who are attempting to destabilise the Government and impede the
march towards democratisation. What is true is that members of the public
security forces were killed during the incident and that the members of the
ISS union who had occupied the hospital premises, in total disregard of the
sufferings caused to others, denied entry to sick insured persons or beat
them, causing serious injury to some of them, in some cases even resulting in
their deaths.
Lastly, the Government states that Modesto Rodriguez Escobar was arrested by
members of the Police of the Ministry of Finance at 5.30 p.m., on 4 July 1985
in the town of Apopa, for belonging to the Salvadorian Communist Party (PCS).
He was placed at the disposal of the Military Magistrate's Court on 19 July
1. 1985 and a court order was issued for his transfer to the Central Penitentiary
of the Canton of San Luis Mariona. (The allegation relating to Mr. Rodriguez
and the additional information communicated by the Government will be found in
the part of the report relating to Case No. 1269.)
Information obtained during the mission
The representatives of the Revolutionary Trade Union Federation told the
mission that no proceedings had been initiated against their leaders arrested
on the occasion of the Fifth Congress in January 1984. They said that at the
time of their arrest the Congress was still in its opening stages, relating to
the line to be followed by the FSR, which consisted of an analysis of the
general situation. They also stated that they could give no news of Santos
Ríos Lazo, whom they did not know, and that Salvador Escalante had been
arrested two days before the Sixth Congress of the FSR for reasons unknown. He
was released after being held for 14 days. They added that three former FSR
leaders were missing: Rosendo Mejía Carpio, Carlos Obdulio Díaz Cárdenas and
Alfonso Reina Meléndez. Lastly, they said that, in addition to the Decree
declaring a state of siege, certain Decrees (Nos. 44, 50, 160 and 296) which
were in force were incompatible with the exercise of freedom of association.
The representative of the United Trade Union Federation of El Salvador (FUSS)
stated that Natividad Bernal had been released, but on condition that he
abandoned his organisation and supplied information on it.
The Minister of Labour transmitted the following observations and information
to the mission:
The complaint by the Revolutionary Trade Union Federation and the Permanent
Congress of Trade Union Unity of Latin America concerns the arrest of José
Jeremías Pereira, Juan José Vargas Lemus, Juan Salvador Ramos and others on
the premises of the Revolutionary Trade Union Federation.
The arrests were made because the meeting that was being held on the said
premises was in no way connected with trade union activities, but was of a
subversive nature, intended to undermine the security of the State; in
conformity with the state of emergency declared under our Political
Constitution, the Military Court of First Instance, from which information on
the present stage of the proceedings and the most recent rulings given was
requested by note No. 6343 of 16 December 1985, is examining the case.
The present observation is supplemented by the report made by the Legal
Adviser to this Secretariat of State, Alex Aguirre Castro, which is attached.
Also attached is a photocopy of the order for the release of Vilma Angélica
Méndez.
In connection with the arrest of Vilma Angélica Méndez, Natividad Bernal
Hernández, Rufino Hernández, Daniel Heriberto Morales and Pedro Nerio Blanco,
a photocopy of note No. 682 dated 11 November 1985 from the Vice-Minister of
Public Security is attached.
From these reports and photocopies it may be deduced: (1) that the judicial
authority had ordered the release of the FSR unionists since there were no
grounds for their detention and the proceedings instituted against them were
dropped; (2) that Vilma Angélica Méndez was released by judicial order on 24
September 1985 since there were no grounds for her detention (she had been
arrested on 17 July 1985 for belonging to the Communist Party); (3) that trade
unionists Pedro Antonio Blanco Nerio, Rufino Antonio Hernández Tesorero and
Natividad Bernal Hernández were arrested on 3 August of the same year on
charges of collaboration with terrorist organisations and were released on 8
August and handed over to a delegate of the Human Rights Commission when no
evidence of such collaboration could be found. Daniel Heriberto Morales had
not been arrested by any public security force.
Case No. 1281
The World Confederation of Labour (WCL) alleged in a communication of 15 May
1. 1984 that for several months the undertaking Servipronto, a subsidiary of the
multinational McDonald's, had been constantly persecuting the workers who were
members of the Union of Commercial Workers (STC) and the General Confederation
of Workers (CGT).
The WCL attached a communication from the STC in which, after referring to a
number of violations of labour legislation, the union drew attention to the
following attacks on trade union rights:
- - the General Secretary, Israel Sánchez Cruz, the Minutes Secretary, Manuel
Antonio Guardado, and another group of trade unionists were dismissed in the
last months of 1983;
- - the company hired thugs in the Persons of Lieutenant Galo César Ramírez,
José Benavides, Inspector of the National Police, Oscar Antonio Bonilla,
Miguel Angel Artiga and others to spy on the trade unionists and repress them;
- - the dismissed workers were offered only 30 per cent of the total to which
they were entitled by law. The hired thugs went to the extreme of locking up
under guard those who did not accept and exerting powerful psychological
pressure on them to sign the relevant documents (21 persons are mentioned by
- name);
  - - on 16 May 1983 a work stoppage was called as a means of exerting pressure;
- this provoked the dispatch of a lorry-load of national police, who at the
request and on the orders of the management of the undertaking removed all the
workers who were guarding the undertaking's premises in a peaceful and orderly
fashion and who had no weapons of any kind, threatening them with
imprisonment;
- - constant pressure was exerted to induce the workers to leave the union, and
the managers themselves drafted the letters of resignation so that the workers
would sign them without protesting.
The Government's reply
In its communication of 21 February 1985, the Government supplies the
following information, obtained from the management of the undertaking
Servipronto El Salvador S.A.:
- - Israel Sánchez Cruz was dismissed because of irregularities in his
attendance at work; he was not present during regular working hours, and
another person marked his clocking-in card. These facts were communicated to
the Ministry of Labour. Since formalities at this level take a long time to
complete, the undertaking dismissed him, but continues to pay his wages
through the Ministry of Labour and will do so until his dismissal is
confirmed.
- - According to the complainant, Lieutenant Galo Ramírez was appointed Chief of
security in 1982 to replace one Munguia, who had been arrested by the Ministry
of Finance police on charges of maintaining subversive contacts, 14 cases of
munitions being confiscated from him. The company points out that this version
contradicts the complaint itself, because from this it is clear that this
military officer was hired to fill a vacancy, before labour-management
problems arose. The fact that he is referred to as a "hired thug" is merely
designed to attract attention; nevertheless, it is clear that the troubles
began after his arrival, possibly not because a new employee had been hired
but because the subversive employee had been arrested. The complainant
organisation also says that it does not know how Inspector Benavides was
hired, since he does not work in the undertaking, but that there exist very
close links between Inspector Benavides and Mr. Bukele (manager of the
undertaking). Here again, the complainant produces no proof, but if Benavides
does not work in the undertaking, how can he be called a hired thug?
- - As regards the work stoppage, the undertaking states that the eviction of
the workers was ordered by Inspector Roberto Rodriguez Chávez Sosa on orders
from his superiors.
As regards the collective resignations, the company points out that a witness,
Maria Elvira López de Vásquez, testifies that the union was formed in the
undertaking because of the many problems faced by the workers, and that they
obtained many benefits from unionisation. The problem became more acute when
the organised workers realised that the action of their leaders was not
conducted with a view to the workers' welfare. For this reason many members
resigned; in other words the leaders themselves caused the rank and file to
lose confidence in them to the extent that out of 155 persons working in the
undertaking only 16 are unionised; they cause no problem in the undertaking.
Information obtained during the mission
Mr. Israel Sánchez stated to the mission that the McDonald's undertaking was
resolutely opposed to any union within the firm and that it used all kinds of
threats to oblige its employees to sign letters of resignation. He himself had
been prevented from entering the undertaking since 1983 and had been
dismissed. He stressed that the security staff of the undertaking included
persons who at the same time held police or military functions. Lastly, he
stated that the court proceedings in respect of his dismissal had still not
been concluded, despite the fact that they had been initiated in 1983 and that
the judicial authorities had already given a ruling in a case which had
subsequently been brought against him by the undertaking with a view to
terminating his contract without liability for the employer.
Documentation handed to the mission by the Minister of Labour contains a
report from the Director-General of Labour on the cases of Israel Sánchez Cruz
and Manuel Antonio Guardado. The report refers in essence to the ordinary
individual labour action brought by Israel Sánchez Cruz before the Fourth
Labour Court of the San Salvador Judicial District against the Company
Servipronto de El Salvador S.A., and states as follows:
The Fourth Labour Court of this Judicial District is at present examining the
ordinary individual labour action brought by Israel Sánchez Cruz against the
Company Servipronto de El Salvador, S.A., owner of the commercial
establishments known as McDonald's, for payment of unrecovered wages for which
the employer is liable from 1 March 1985 until 28 February 1987. Mr. Sánchez
Cruz is General Secretary of the National Union of Commerce Workers
(SINATRAC), formerly known as the Union of Commercial Workers (STC).
The petition was made on 21 March 1985; the file is numbered 45/85.
Dr. Oscar Santamaría, who appeared as a party in the suit on behalf of the
defendant company, claimed that the petition was irreceivable on the ground
that his client, acting through Dr. Franklin Augusto Guardado Ramos, had
brought an ordinary individual labour action against Israel Sánchez Cruz for
the termination of an individual contract of employment without liability for
the employer pursuant to section 50, clause 12, of the Labour Code; the Third
Labour Court, in a final ruling given at 9.00 a.m. on 29 January 1985,
declared the individual labour contract terminated without liability for the
employer because Israel Sánchez Cruz had been absent without justification on
1. 21, 22, 23 and 24 April 1983. The judgement was confirmed by the Second Labour
Chamber; Dr. Santamaría presented the registration of the above-mentioned
judgements to be added to the file.
The case is awaiting judgement; the proceedings will close on 29 August 1985.
Manuel Antonio Guardado also petitioned the Fourth Labour Court (case no.
1. 18/85). He arrived at an economic settlement with the undertaking and withdrew
his petition, and the case was dropped.
(Signed) Andrés Aguilar.
List of persons interviewed
Ministry of labour and social welfare
- - His Excellency Miguel Alejandro Gallegos, Minister of Labour and Social
Welfare.
- - Dr. Lázaro Tadeo Bernal Lizama, Vice-Minister of Labour and Social Welfare.
- - Dr. Antonio Lara Gavidia, Head of the International Affairs Department.
Ministry of Justice
- - José Roberto Baraona Nolasco, Deputy Director-General of Penal Centres and
Rehabilitation.
- - Francisco Olmedo, Director of the "La Esperanza" Central Penitentiary
(Mariona).
- - Rafael Antonio Cornejo, Deputy Director of the same Penitentiary.
- - Sandra Elisabeth López, of the guidance staff of the Women's Rehabilitation
Centre of Ilopango.
Labour and Social Welfare Committee of the Legislative Assembly
- - Luis Roberto Hidalgo (Chairman of the Committee).
- - José Roberto Ortiz Molina.
- - Manuel de Jésus Torres.
- - Evelio Sorto Ramos.
- - Ricardo Edmundo Burgos.
- - Agustín Arturo Orellana.
- - José Ahel Laguardia Pineda.
- - Alejandro Arturo Solana G.
- - Ricardo Ever García Barillas.
National Private Enterprise Association (ANEP)
- - Juan Vicente Maldonado, Executive Director.
- - Antolín Jesús Castillo, Assistant.
- - Oscar Alfredo Santamaría, Legal Adviser, Governing Council.
Federation of Unions of Workers in the Food, Drink and Allied Industries
(FESINTRAB)
- - Alfredo García Tejada, Organisation Secretary.
- - José Israel Huiza Cisneros.
- - Carlos Hernández Benítez, First Disputes Secretary.
- - Rafael Antonio Coto, Organisation Secretary.
Union Association of Postmen and Post Office Employees of El Salvador
(SUCEPES)
- - Victor Manuel Martínez, President.
- - Jorge Alberto Grande Guentes, Sixth Member.
- - Alvaro Martín Angel Cortes, Treasurer.
- - José Antonio García, Deputy Secretary.
- - José Luis Ruíz Morán, General Secretary.
General Confederation of Labour (CGT)
- - Alberto Alvarenga Sigüenza, Deputy General Secretary.
- - Ricardo Valdés Ríos, Trustee of ANTECRA.
- - Julio César Hernández García, Minutes and Correspondence Secretary.
- - Elena Escobar Chávez, Secretary for Women's Affairs.
- - Teresa de Jesús Herrera, Social Welfare Secretary of the Salvadorian
Peasants'Federation.
- - Israel Sánchez Cruz, Second Disputes Secretary.
National Federation of Trade Unions of Salvadorian Workers (FENASTRAS)
- - Cirilo Huezo Calderón, First Disputes Secretary.
- - Ricardo Antonio Jovel, Second Disputes Secretary.
- - Febe Elisabeth Velázquez, Relations Secretary.
Popular Democratic Unity
- - Jesús Amado Pérez Marroquín, Culture and Propaganda Secretary.
- - Ramón Aristedes Mendoza, General Secretary.
- - Fidel Angel Coya, member of the executive committee.
Federation of Unions in the Construction and Allied Industries, Transport and
Other Activities (FESINCONSTRANS)
- - José María Fonseca, Organisation Secretary.
- - Salvador Yámez, First Disputes Secretry.
- - Juan Pedro Vázquez, Social Assistance Secretary.
- - Ricardo Antonio Soriano, General Secretary.
Revolutionary Trade Union Federation (FSR)
- - José Jeremías Pereira, General Secretary.
- - Ricardo Villegas, international representative of the FSR in Mexico.
National Association of Educators of El Salvador ("ANDES 21 de junio")
- - Jorge Villegas, Disputes Secretary.
- - Nazario Hernández, Propaganda Secretary.
Unitary Trade Union Federation of El Salvador (FUSS)
- - Hugo Antonio Martínez González, Organisation Secretary.
- - David Bautista Raimundo, Education Secretary.
- - Dulían Hernán Macal, Finance Secretary.
Organisations which did not appear at the appointments made with the mission
- - Confederation of Democratic Workers.
- - Union of Workers of the Salvadorian Social Security Institute.