Interim Report - Report No 284, November 1992

Case No 1598 (Peru) - Complaint date: 20-AUG-91 - Closed

1. 962. The Committee examined this case at its February 1992 meeting when it presented an interim report to the Governing Body (see 281st Report of the Committee, paras. 463-479, approved by the Governing Body at its 252nd Session (March 1992)). The Government later submitted new observations in communications dated 4 March and 18 June 1992.
2. 963. Peru has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 964. The allegations pending in this case refer to a series of murders, disappearances and attacks on the physical safety of members of the Single Peruvian Educational Workers' Trade Union (SUTEP), during a strike which lasted several months in 1991. More specifically, the World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP) had alleged that on 17 May 1991, seven teachers were arrested by the army in the province of Ayacucho, and the bodies of five of these persons were discovered later in a common grave. In the Province of Ucayali-Pucallpa the following teachers disappeared: Marcelino Navarro Pezo, Leopoldo Navarro Díaz and Luis Torres Camilo; in the Province of Huancavelica, teacher Ardon Pariona also disappeared. Teachers Betty Panaifo, Nicolás Lavajo and Moisés Teneiro were shoved out of a helicopter in flight (one of the survivors, who was found hanging from a tree, reported these facts). In the Province of Pucará Puno the following were murdered: Porfinio Suni (13 May 1991), Pablo Mamani Marchena and Germán Macedo (24 May 1991). On 30 May the leaders of the SUTEP, accompanied by three members of parliament and eight other members of the trade union, were crossing the Plaza de Armas in Lima, on their way to the Presidential Palace, where they hoped to request a meeting with the wife of President Fujimori, to request that she plead the case of the teachers. The police intervened and without reason or explanation savagely assaulted this peaceful group of teachers' delegates, mistreating and arresting José Ramos Bosmediano, General Secretary of the SUTEP, Soledad Lozano Costa, Deputy Secretary-General, and Olmedo Auris Melgar, officer for international relations (Mr. Auris Melgar lost consciousness as a result of blows suffered at the hands of the police, and the use of tear-gas) (see 281st Report of the Committee, para. 467).
2. 965. In its conclusions and recommendations, the Committee deplored that the Government had merely made a general statement to the effect that the Ministry of Education did not have a policy of ordering the repression or detention of any striking teacher, and that if any teacher had been arrested for disturbing the peace, he or she could file for relief in court. The Committee expressed its deep concern at the seriousness of the allegations, and urged the Government to respond to these allegations in detail, stating whether there had been a judicial investigation for the purpose of clarifying the facts, identifying those responsible, and punishing the guilty, particularly in respect of the five teachers who died following their arrests (see 281st Report, paras. 478 and 479(a)).

B. The Government's reply

1. 966. In its communications of 4 March and 18 June 1992, the Government states that the Investigations Unit of the General Inspectorate of National Police (Ministry of the Interior) carried out a report in connection with the violation of human rights involving members of the Single Peruvian Education Workers' Trade Union (SUTEP). One of the conclusions in the report was that the teacher Marcela Valdez de la Cruz (whose name is not on the list contained in the complaint submitted by the complainant) was not held by members of the national police, and that her whereabouts were unknown. According to the Ministry of Defence, this teacher was not being held by the armed forces either.
2. 967. The Government adds that article 233, paragraph 2 of the Political Constitution of Peru endorses the absolute independence of the Judicial Power, and states that any citizen has the specific right to demand and obtain the individual guarantees that should be provided by the political authorities whenever their rights as individuals are threatened.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 968. The Committee deeply deplores the fact that, in spite of the request it made, the Government did not reply in detail to the allegations pending and merely referred to the existence of a report on these allegations - which, furthermore, it did not enclose - by the Investigations Unit of the General Inspectorate of the National Police (Ministry of the Interior). The Committee is deeply concerned at the seriousness of the allegations pending concerning the murder, disappearance and physical attacks on teacher trade unionists, in particular observing that, according to the information from the Government, judicial investigations rarely lead to the identification of the alleged culprits. In the Committee's opinion, this situation means that, in practice, the guilty parties enjoy impunity, which reinforces the climate of violence and insecurity and thus has an extremely damaging effect on the exercise of trade union rights.
2. 969. The Committee reiterates the conclusions and recommendations it made at its February 1992 meeting, and urges the Government to carry out a judicial investigation to identify the responsible parties and to punish the guilty and to reply to each of the allegations pending.
3. 970. The Committee strongly urges the Government to do its utmost to determine the whereabouts of the four missing trade unionists (Navarro Pezo, Leopoldo Navarro Días, Luis Torres Camilo and Ardon Pariona) and to inform the Committee in sufficient detail of the measures taken in this respect; it also asks that the Government take the necessary measures to ensure that the exercise of trade union rights takes place in a climate of full security.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 971. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee deeply deplores the fact that the Government did not reply in detail to the allegations pending, and urges it once again to reply to each one of them urgently.
   • (b) The Committee is deeply concerned at the seriousness of these allegations, which refer to a significant number of murders, disappearances and attacks on the the physical safety of teacher trade unionists during a strike; it urges the Government to carry out a judicial investigation to identify the responsible parties and to punish the guilty, and to keep it informed in this respect.
   • (c) The Committee strongly urges the Government to do its utmost to determine the whereabouts of the four missing trade unionists (Navarro Pezo, Leopoldo Navarro Diaz, Luis Torres Camilo and Ardon Pariona) and to inform it in sufficient detail of the measures taken in this respect; it also asks that the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the exercise of trade union rights is carried in a climate of full security.
   • (d) In the Committee's opinion, a situation such as prevails in this case means that, in practice, the guilty parties enjoy impunity, which reinforces the climate of violence and insecurity and thus has an extremely damaging effect on the exercise of trade union rights.