Interim Report - Report No 373, October 2014

Case No 2968 (Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)) - Complaint date: 16-NOV-12 - Closed

Allegations: Detention of and bringing of charges against trade unionists in the construction sector

1. 531. The Committee examined this case at its June 2013 meeting and presented an interim report to the Governing Body [see 368th Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association, paras 986–1023], approved by the Governing Body at its 318th Session (June 2013).
2. 532. The Government sent additional observations in a communication dated 15 May 2014.
3. 533. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 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. 534. In its previous examination of the case, the Committee made the following recommendation on the issues that remained pending [see 368th Report, para. 1023]:
   • …
   • (b) The Committee emphasizes the gravity of the allegations relating to the criminalization of trade union activities through military tribunals, and in particular the detention and referral to military tribunals, and the imposition of the requirement to report periodically every week to the military judicial authorities, of five trade unionists in the construction sector (for having demanded the payment of social benefits by a private enterprise Xocobeo CA, working under contract for the Ministry of Housing and Environment), in addition, according to the allegations, to the hundred or so workers who have faced criminal charges for exercising their trade union rights. The Committee requests the Government to reply to these allegations without delay.
2. 535. The complainant organization had stated that the alleged acts, involving the detention of, and bringing of charges against, trade unionists in the State of Táchira, occurred as from 13 August 2012, noting that the trade unionists in question were Hictler Torres, Luis Arturo González, José Martín Mora, Wilander Operaza and Ramiro Parada. According to the allegations, they were detained for having protested to demand the payment of their social benefits by the private enterprise Xocobeo CA, under contract with the Ministry of Housing and Environment for the construction of housing units in a military zone, Murachí Fort. According to the allegations, the crimes with which they were charged were: failure to respect a sentry and failure to respect the armed forces, sections 502 and 505 of the Basic Code of Military Justice; and violation of the security zone, established by section 56 of the Basic Act on the Security of the Nation [see 368th Report, para. 1000].

B. The Government’s reply

1. 536. With regard to the allegations concerning the so-called criminalization through military tribunals of the trade union activities of five trade unionists in the construction sector, the Government reports that there are three federations of trade unions for construction sector workers in the country: the National Federation of Professional Workers, Technical Workers and Labourers in the Construction, Timber, Heavy Machinery and Roads Industry and Allied Workers of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (FENACTS), which is affiliated to the Bolivarian Socialist Workers’ Confederation of Venezuela (CBST); the Single National Federation of Bolivarian Construction Workers and Allied and Similar Workers (FUNTBCAC), previously affiliated to the National Union of Workers of Venezuela (UNETE) and currently to the CBST; and the Federation of Workers in the Construction and Timber Industries and Allied and Similar Workers of Venezuela (FETRACONSTRUCCION), affiliated to the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (CTV).
2. 537. The Government notes that it is extremely odd that none of the three trade union federations mentioned above have approached any of the country’s labour inspectorates or the Office of the Ombudsperson to report the detention by civilian or military authorities of union officials from the construction sector, as referred to in the communication.
3. 538. The Government adds that it is clear from the trade union registries that none of the 187 trade union organizations of construction workers that exist in the country have trade union officials or representatives registered by the names of Hictler Torres, Luis Arturo González, José Martín Mora, Wilander Operaza and Ramiro Parada. The Government indicates that it finds it odd that a civil association of university teachers, whose activity is far removed from the world of housing construction, and not an organization of construction workers, should be presenting this complaint, which in principle means that it does not meet the receivability requirements. Nevertheless, the Government indicates that it has asked the Office of the Attorney-General to report on the alleged referral to military tribunals of any workers, whether trade union officials or not, from the enterprise Xocobeo CA, in 2012. The Government states that it will inform the Committee on Freedom of Association as soon as it receives a reply.
4. 539. With regard to the reference by the Committee to the complainant’s allegations that more than one hundred workers have reportedly faced criminal charges for having exercised their trade union rights, the Government, with due respect, asks the members of the Committee to request the complainant to provide a list of the one hundred workers who have allegedly faced criminal charges with an indication of the trade union organization to which they belong and the trade union activity for which they are facing charges. Until this information is provided, the Government requests the Committee to refrain from announcing, as if there were some truth in the statement, that in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela “more than a hundred workers are facing criminal charges for having exercised their trade union rights”.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 540. The Committee observes that the pending issue in this case relates to the detention of, and bringing of charges, in August 2012, against five trade unionists in the construction sector for having protested to demand the payment of their social benefits by the private enterprise Xocobeo CA, under contract with the Ministry of Housing and Environment for the construction of housing units in a military zone (Murachí Fort). According to the allegations, these trade unionists, charged with the crimes of failure to respect a sentry and failure to respect the armed forces (sections 502 and 505 of the Basic Code of Military Justice), and violation of the security zone (section 56 of the Basic Act on the Security of the Nation), were referred to military tribunals and required to report to the military judicial authorities every week, which, in the opinion of the complainant, amounts to the criminalization of trade union activities.
2. 541. According to the complainant organization, one hundred or so people have allegedly faced criminal charges for having exercised their trade union rights. The Committee notes that the Government contests the receivability of the complaint, pointing out that the complainant organization is a civil association of teachers, and not for the cement sector, and is not a registered trade union organization. The Committee wishes to note that, in its initial reply in the context of the previous examination of the case, in June 2013, the Government did not present this objection with regard to receivability, and highlights that the allegations presented concern serious issues relating to the freedom of trade unionists.
3. 542. The Committee takes note of the Government’s statements that: (i) it is odd that none of the three construction federations that exist have reported the alleged detentions to the labour inspectorate or to the Office of the Ombudsperson; (ii) the five trade unionists mentioned by the complainant organization are not registered as being union officials or representatives of any of the 187 trade union organizations that exist in the construction sector; and (iii) the complainant organization should be invited to provide the names and union positions of the one hundred or so workers who are allegedly facing criminal charges for having exercised their trade union rights.
4. 543. The Committee notes that, notwithstanding the above, the Government has requested information from the Office of the Attorney-General concerning the alleged detention of five trade unionists and will send this information to the Committee when it is received. The Committee emphasizes once again the seriousness of the allegations, which relate to the detention of five trade unionists who, according to the allegations, were brought before the military judicial authorities for having demanded the payment of their social benefits and were required, as an interim measure, to report every week to the judicial authorities. The Committee also highlights that these interim measures imposed by the military judicial authorities can only have an intimidating effect with regard to the exercise of trade union rights and that, depending on the location of the tribunal, may be extremely burdensome.
5. 544. The Committee is awaiting receipt of the information that the Government has requested from the Office of the Attorney-General and regrets that it is not yet able to benefit from this information, given that the allegations date back to August 2012. The Committee, in order to be able to examine the allegations in full knowledge of the facts, firmly expects that the Government will send, without delay, the information that it has received from the Office of the Attorney-General on the situation concerning these five trade unionists.
6. 545. Furthermore, taking into account the other statements made by the Government, the Committee invites the complainant organization to supply the names and union positions of the one hundred or so trade unionists who, according to the allegations, have faced criminal charges for having carried out union activities and, in the case that this is not possible, to indicate any eventual impediments to providing such information.

The Committee’s recommendations

1. 546. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) Underlining that the allegations refer to serious issues related to the freedom of trade unionists, the Committee firmly expects that the Government will send without delay the information that it has received from the Office of the Attorney-General on the situation concerning the five trade unionists in the construction sector mentioned in the allegations who were first detained and then brought before the military judicial authorities and required as an interim measure to report every week to the tribunal.
   • (b) The Committee also invites the complainant organization to supply the names and union positions of the one hundred or so trade unionists who have reportedly faced criminal charges for having carried out union activities and, in the case that this is not possible, to indicate any eventual impediments to providing such information.