Definitive Report - Report No 222, March 1983

Case No 1149 (Honduras) - Complaint date: 20-JUL-82 - Closed

1. 32. The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) presented its complaint in communications dated 20 and 29 July 1982. The Government replied in a communication dated 13 December 1982.
2. 33. Honduras has ratified both 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. The complainant's allegations

1. 34. The WFTU claims that on 6 July 1982 the police surrounded and broke into the home of Mrs. Rosario Roiz, leader of the Workers' Trade Union of the National Electrical Energy Enterprise (STENEE), who nevertheless managed to escape. The complainant adds that the police removed the belongings of Mrs. Roiz and are still looking for her and continue surveillance of her empty house.
2. 35. On the day referred to, according to the complainant, Mr. Calixto Garrido was in the same house; he was attacked and brutally beaten to death. His body was left in a ditch.
3. 36. The WFTU concludes with the assertion that repressive action against political and trade union leaders has been on the increase since a recent terrorist attack on two electrical power stations in Tegucigalpa. The authorities are now trying to link these events to the trade union led by Mrs. Roiz, continues the complainant, and she is therefore in serious danger.

B. The Government's reply

1. 37. The Government states that the suggestion that the police attacked Mrs. Roiz's residence on 6 July 1982 in order to arrest her, as the complainant alleges, is absurd as it would have been easier for them to do so at her place of work. To support its declarations the Government has sent documentation from the National Electrical Energy Enterprise, where Mrs. Roiz worked showing that' after being granted leave on several occasions for trade union reasons, Mrs. Roiz returned to work on 16 June 1982 where she remained until 9 July 1982 when she requested, and was granted, leave without pay for a period of two months.
2. 38. The Government also encloses a note from- the Director-General of National investigations stating that no charge has been brought against Mrs. Roiz and that it is untrue that the police are looking for her or that they intend to arrest her.
3. 39. With regard to the death of Mr. Calixto Garrido, the Government states that, according to its information, the incident was perpetuated by criminals with personal grievances against Mr. Garrido who intended to rob him and is therefore quite unconnected with the foregoing.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 40. The committee notes that on 6 July 1982, according to the complainant, the police surrounded and broke into the home of Mrs. Rosario Roiz, leader of the STENEE, removed her belongings and are still looking for her and continue surveillance of her house, where a certain Mr. Calixto Garrido had been on the same day before being murdered. On the latter point the Government has stated that Mr. Calixto Garrido's murder is quite unconnected with the complaint but was perpetrated by delinquents with personal grievances against Mr, Garrido who intended to rob him.
2. 41. With regard to the allegation that Mrs. Roiz, union leader of the STENEE, is being looked for by the police, the Committee notes that the Government has submitted a document from the Director-General of National Investigations stating that no charge has been brought against her and that it is untrue that the police are looking for her or that they intend to arrest her. The Government has also pointed out that, if the police had intended to arrest Mrs. Roiz on 6 July 1982, they could easily have done so at her place of work where, according to information from the enterprise concerned, the trade union leader was working on the day of the incident and thereafter. In these circumstances, the Committee considers that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.
3. 42. With regard to the remaining allegations (violation of domicile and appropriation of Mrs. Roiz's belongings in her home by the police), the Committee, while observing that the Government has not provided any specific information on the subject, notes that the complainant has not demonstrated that a link exists between the alleged events and an infringement of trade union rights but merely asserts in general terms that the authorities wish to link a recent terrorist attack on two power stations in Tegucigalpa with the trade union led by Mrs. Roiz. In these circumstances, and considering that the complainant has not supplied further details concerning its allegations in spite of being given the opportunity to send additional information, the Committee considers that the allegations do not call for further examination.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 43. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that this case does not call for further examination.