Interim Report - Report No 279, November 1991

Case No 1441 (El Salvador) - Complaint date: 07-MAR-88 - Closed

1. 519. The Committee of Freedom of Association examined these cases at its November 1988, November 1989 and November 1990 meetings, and presented interim reports to the Governing Body (see 259th, 268th and 275th Reports of the Committee, approved by the Governing Body at its 241st, 244th and 248th Sessions (November 1988, November 1989 and November 1990)).
2. 520. After these cases were last examined, communications were received from the United Trade Union Federation of El Salvador (FUSS) dated 18 March and 15 and 22 May 1991 (Case No. 1441) and the World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP) dated 30 October 1990 (Case No. 1494). The Government sent its observations on some of the pending allegations in communications dated 5 April and 6 and 13 August 1991.
3. 521. 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).

A. Previous examination of the cases

1. 522. At its meeting of November 1990, the Governing Body approved the following recommendations of the Committee:
   • (a) the Committee can only reiterate its earlier recommendations and again express its deep preoccupation with the gravity and persistence of the allegations presented concerning the disappearance, murder and arrest of trade unionists, as well as the assault of trade union premises and the censorship of radio broadcasts on behalf of workers;
   • (b) the Committee is conscious of the difficulties facing the Government at the present time but it must again appeal to the Government to take all practicable measures to guarantee the normal exercise of trade union rights having respect for human rights;
   • (c) the Committee requests the Government to institute judicial inquiries and to keep it informed of the outcome of these inquiries concerning the death and disappearance of the trade unionists mentioned by the complainants, as well as the assaults of trade union premises; the Committee asks the Government to ensure that the arrested trade unionists whose names are supplied by the complainants are either charged or - in the absence of charges - released. It also asks the Government to furnish the information on the fate of trade union leaders and activists who have been arrested or who have disappeared, including any judgements which may have been handed down concerning these individuals;
   • (d) lastly, the Committee requests the Government to furnish its comments and observations concerning the allegation of censorship regarding a radio broadcast of the Confederation of Cooperative Associations of El Salvador on behalf of workers.

B. The complainants' new allegations

1. 523. In its communication dated 30 October 1990, the WCOTP points out that leaders of ANDES-21 de junio reported that on 22 October 1990 the teacher Vilma Chavez was strangled at her residence. The assassination was perpetrated, according to ANDES, by members of the security forces dressed in civilian clothes as a reprisal following the end of the national teachers movement against the coming into force of the new education Act which violated teachers' rights and opened the way to the privatisation of schools. This movement managed to obtain the repeal of the Act.
2. 524. In a communication dated 18 March 1991, the FUSS denounces the detention on 14 March, by members of the police force, of 15 employees, members of the General Association of Employees of the Ministry of Finance (AGEMHA) who had gone on strike. They included Inmar Rolando Reyes, Melvin Ovidio Portillo and Oscar Bonilla Segovia.
3. 525. The FUSS communication also points out that on 15 March the police forces detained Messrs. Ernesto Beltrán, Carlos Salvador Viscarra, Mario Alberto Aviles, Jorge Alberto Quijano, Jesús Alvarado, Edgardo Orellano, Jorge Alberto Araujo, Tomás Montenegro, Nelson Pineda, Ambrosia N. and another person whose name is not known. The persons were captured during a strike by more than 4,500 workers of AGEMHA in pursuance of wage and labour claims. The FUSS points out that the Government responded by taking the matter to the labour court which declared the strike unconstitutional and illegal and demanded the immediate return of workers to their workplaces. The Government, through the mass media, organised a campaign to discredit and intimidate the AGEMHA which served as a reason for justifying the arrests. The communication also denounces the capture of Mrs. Vilma Guzmán of the Seamstresses Union.
4. 526. In a communication dated 15 May 1991, the FUSS states that at 2 p.m. on 14 May, in the canton of Río Frío of the Department of Ahuachapán, Messrs. Pedro Matozo, Juan Lico and Adalberto Gonzales were captured, along with three other persons whose names are not known, all of whom were grass-roots members of the National Association of Agricultural Workers (ANTA). The members of ANTA were captured by members of the National Guard and Military Unit No. 7 of the Army, both of which have denied the abduction, giving rise to fears for the physical safety and psychological state of mind of the above-mentioned trade unionists.
5. 527. In the same way, in a communication dated 22 May 1991, the FUSS denounces the capture, on the same date, of 23 members of ANTA in the same canton of Río Frío (Ahuachapán) on the San Francisco de Asís hacienda, by members of the National Guard and Military Unit No. 7. Prior to the abduction of the ANTA members, the Government launched a fierce campaign of defamation against all the member organisations of the Democratic Farmers Alliance (ADC) and its officials in an attempt to legitimise the repression which had been initiated. Furthermore, the magistrates of the various legal authorities, in coordination with the military and the landowners, have circulated rumours of possible "legal" action being taken against officials of the peasant organisations.

C. The Government's reply

1. 528. The Government, in its communication dated 5 April 1991, reaffirms its determination to continue the search for peace based on dialogue and mutual understanding. As regards the dynamite attack against the trade union premises of FENASTRAS, the Government states that a proposal has been made to set up a special commission comprising officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), representatives of the public prosecutor's office, the Ministry of Justice, the Commission on Criminal Acts, and delegates of the Commission for Human Rights (a government agency). The objective of this Commission would be to establish with some degree of reliability the source of the attack; it was also proposed to set up a committee which would act as guarantor, with representatives of the United Nations Organisation (UNO), the Organisation of American States (OAS), CEDES, political parties, trade union organisations, including one from FENASTRAS. Furthermore, the Government reaffirmed its intention to seek clarification of this event and to ensure that the authors are punished according to the law.
2. 529. The Government also refers to the allegations made by the WCOTP concerning the assassinations on 23 February 1989 of Miguel Angel Lazo Quintanilla, member of the Executive Committee of the National Association of Educators (ANDES 21 de junio) and Carlos Rodríguez Domínguez, member of the FUSS, and points out that these trade unionists were killed as a result of an armed conflict with units of the Air Force, while they were carrying out acts of sabotage along with other armed terrorists, creating panic amongst the population and whose arms were confiscated after they died in combat. The Government adds that it is completely false that their bodies showed signs of torture, as alleged by the complainants.
3. 530. The communication from the Government also refers to the arrest on 16 March 1989 of the leader of FENASTRAS, Juan José Huezo, and points out that members of the National Police arrested him on charges of having committed acts of physical assault against the previous Minister of Labour and acts of serious damage and terrorism against the Ministry of Labour. He was subsequently remanded in the custody of the Fourth Criminal Court of San Salvador, under Order No. 3950 dated 17 March 1989.
4. 531. In another communication dated 6 August 1991, the Government also refers to the detention of 23 members of ANTA on 22 May 1991 and points out that on that day a group of peasants who were members of ANTA were dislodged and captured by members of the National Guard and Unit No. 7 in the San Francisco de Asís hacienda in the Canton of Río Frío (Ahuachapán). The Government points out that delegates of the Santa Ana Regional Office of the El Salvador Commission for Human Rights confirmed that the First Magistrates Court of Ahuachapán ordered the detention of 23 persons on a charge of usurpation of patrimonial rights of Mrs. Elba Magaña de Romero; after being remanded in the custody of the above-mentioned Court, these persons were released at the end of the inquiry. The Government encloses the list of these persons: Adalberto Salazar González, Santos Bonito, Guillermo Matozo, Ismael Moises Matozo, Cristobal Zarceño Pineda, Douglas Adonay Fabián Solis, Alfredo Ernesto Pineda Zarceño, Rodrigo Antonio Zeceña Vargas, Santos Mauricio Hernández Bonito, Miguel Antonio Cortez Ramos, Adán Matozo, Rodrigo Vargas Girón, Victor Manuel Pineda García, Juan Antonio Calzadilla Mendoza, José Antonio Lico Aguirre, Santos Aguilar Hernández, Higinio Sandoval Zuñiga, Roberto Amilcar Arriaza López, Juan Antonio Ramírez Hernández, David Antonio Galicia Hernández, Cruz Bojorquez Luna, Carlos Roberto Sánchez Ramirez and José Alberto Lico Hernández.
5. 532. In another communication dated 13 August 1991, the Government provides further information on the detention of the 23 ANTA members and points out that a group of approximately 17 peasants, under the influence of members of the ANTA front organisation, led by Pedro Matozo, Máximiliano Matozo and Antonio López, illegally took over the San Francisco de Asís hacienda. The owner initiated proceedings in the Magistrates Court of the jurisdiction. The investigating magistrate carried out an inspection of the hacienda accompanied by members of the National Guard who provided protection. The magistrate met with the officials and members of ANTA who had taken over the building in an attempt to reach a legal solution. The meeting was attended by a lawyer who represented ANTA and one of its officials who were backed up by approximately 50 persons (men, women and children); the men armed with machetes surrounded the magistrate in a threatening manner. The magistrate talked with the lawyer representing ANTA and pointed out that the illegal taking over of the hacienda was an offence and that those who had seized the property had to negotiate its acquisition in a legal form. The magistrate returned three days later to inform the peasants that they had five days to vacate the property. The lawyer representing ANTA undertook to provide counsel to the usurpers and to appear on 15 May 1991 in the First Magistrates Court to try to reach a satisfactory solution.
6. 533. The Government continues by pointing out that since the hacienda was not vacated by the end of the time limit established by the magistrate, the latter ordered the security forces to remove the usurpers and arrest the 23 persons mentioned in the previous communication from the Government, all of whom were charged with the usurpation of assets belonging to the owner of the hacienda. The persons arrested were taken to the municipal prison of the city and remanded in the custody of the competent penal court. On 25 May 1991, 150 peasants who were members of ANTA gathered in front of the municipal town hall demanding the release of the 23 persons arrested during the eviction of the peasants from the San Francisco de Asís hacienda; the persons detained were released by order of the criminal magistrate following pressure exerted by ANTA members during this demonstration.
7. 534. The Government concludes by pointing out that the eviction occurred without any incident and with the collaboration of the peasants who argued that they had been deceived and that their leaders had told them that they had purchased the property.

D. The Committee's conclusions

1. 535. The Government notes that most of the allegations in these cases refer to acts of violence and arrests which directly affect the trade union movement in El Salvador and are to be set in the context of the armed conflict which has been affecting the country for several years.
2. 536. As regards the serious allegations pending from the previous examination of the cases in November 1990, the Committee reiterates to the Government the need to initiate judicial inquiries and to continue to keep the Committee informed of the results of such inquiries into the death, disappearance and arrest of the numerous officials mentioned by the complainant, and of the inquiries made into the attacks on trade union premises.
3. 537. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government, in particular its determination to continue the search for peace based on dialogue and mutual understanding. It also notes that the Government expressed its intention to establish a special commission to shed light on the terrible attack against the headquarters of FENASTRAS on 2 November 1989 which left nine persons dead and many injured. The Committee hopes that when the commission has finished its work, the Government will be able to inform the Committee of progress made in shedding light on to this attack.
4. 538. As regards the assassination on 23 February 1989 of Miguel Angel Lazo Quintanilla, a member of the Executive Committee of ANDES, and Carlos Rodríguez Domínguez, member of the FUSS, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, these trade unionists died in an armed conflict with units of the Air Force when they were engaged in acts of sabotage, and the allegation that these trade unionists were tortured is false. In this respect, the Committee recalls that, in a previous communication dated 10 July 1990, the Government had stated that the deaths of these two trade unionists were being examined by the Justice of the Peace in Soyapango. It also notes that the complainants alleged that one of the trade unionists had been arrested on 22 February 1989 by members of the Air Force. Given the apparent contradiction between these statements, the Committee urges the Government to send as soon as possible the complete text of the judgement issued by the tribunal of Soyapango, concerning all the persons involved in these events, in which several trade unionists lost their lives.
5. 539. As regards the arrest on 16 March 1989 of the leader of FENASTRAS, Juan José Huezo, the Committee notes the information from the Government that this official was arrested by members of the National Police on charges of having committed acts of physical assault against the previous Minister of Labour and acts of serious damage and terrorism against the Ministry of Justice and that he was remanded in the custody of the Fourth Criminal Court of San Salvador. Given the time which has elapsed since his detention, the Committee requests the Government to inform it without delay of the results of the proceedings initiated against the leader Juan José Huezo on 17 March 1989.
6. 540. As regards the allegation concerning the detention of 23 peasants including the ANTA members Pedro Matozo, Juan Lico and Adalberto Gonzales on 23 May 1991 in the San Francisco de Asís hacienda in the canton of Río Frío (Ahuachapán), the Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government on this allegation, in particular that these persons were detained on the instructions of the local magistrate on a charge of having seized the hacienda and that at the end of the inquiries they were released by order of the criminal court. In this respect the Committee notes that questions related to land ownership and tenure governed by specific national legislation have nothing to do with the problems of the exercise of trade union rights. (See, for example, Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 3rd edition, 1985, para. 28.)
7. 541. The Committee regrets that the Government has not replied to the serious allegations made following the last examination of these cases, namely: the assassination of the leader of ANDES-21 de junio, Vilma Chavez on 22 October 1990, following the end of a national movement by teachers; the detention on 14 March 1991 of 26 members of the General Association of Employees of the Ministry of Finance (AGEMHA) who had gone on strike in support of wage and labour claims; and the arrest of Mrs. Vilma Guzmán of the Seamstresses Union. The Committee urges the Government to send its observations on these and other serious allegations still pending in these cases and reiterates that trade union rights can only be exercised in a climate that is free from violence, pressure or threats of any kind against trade unionists, and that it is for governments to ensure that this principle is respected. (See 234th Report, Case No. 1237 (Brazil), para. 213.)
8. 542. Finally, having noted the Government's desire for dialogue and mutual understanding, as well as the situation of extreme violence which is affecting society in general and the trade union movement in particular, the Committee reiterates the request made to the Government in its examination of Case No. 1524 that it accept a direct contacts mission as soon as possible to examine the serious allegations made in the cases still pending before the Committee.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 543. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) As regards the serious allegations pending since the last examination of these cases, the Committee reiterates its request that the Government undertake judicial investigations and that it continue to inform the Committee of the results of the proceedings regarding the death, disappearance and arrest of the many trade unionists mentioned by the complainants and of the investigations carried out into the attacks against trade union premises.
   • (b) As regards the attack against the FENASTRAS headquarters on 2 November 1989, which left nine persons dead and many injured, the Committee strongly hopes that the Government will be in a position to inform the Committee of progress in the investigations carried out by the special commission set up to shed light on the circumstances of this attack.
   • (c) As regards the assassination, on 23 February 1989, of Miguel Angel Lazo Quintanilla of ANDES and Carlos Rodríguez Domínguez of the FUSS, the Committee, in the light of the apparently contradictory information, urges the Government to transmit as soon as possible the complete text of the judgement issued by the tribunal of Soyapango, concerning all the persons involved in these events, in which several trade unionists lost their lives.
   • (d) As regards the arrest on 16 March 1989 of the leader of FENASTRAS, Juan José Huezo, although the Committee notes the information from the Government on the circumstances of his arrest, given the time which has since elapsed, it asks the Government to inform it without delay of the results of the proceedings initiated on 17 March 1989 against this official.
   • (e) The Committee regrets that the Government has not replied to the serious allegations made following the last examination of these cases, namely: the assassination of the official of ANDES-21 de junio, Vilma Chavez on 22 October 1990, following the end of a national movement by teachers; the detention on 14 March 1991 of 26 members of the General Association of Employees of the Ministry of Finance (AGEMHA) who had gone on strike in support of wage and labour claims; and the detention of Mrs. Vilma Guzmán, of the Seamstresses Union. It urges the Government to send its observations on these and other serious allegations still pending in these cases.
   • (f) Finally, having noted the desire for dialogue and mutual understanding expressed by the Government and the situation of extreme violence which is affecting society in general and the trade union movement in particular, the Committee reiterates the request made to the Government in its examination of Case No. 1524 to accept a direct contacts mission as soon as possible to examine the serious allegations presented in the cases pending before the Committee.