Interim Report - Report No 28, 1958

Case No 146 (Colombia) - Complaint date: 03-MAY-56 - Closed

1. 216. When it had considered this case at its 15th Session (Geneva, November 1956) the Committee formulated recommendations to the Governing Body on allegations made with respect to anti-Communist legislation and to the right to strike in public services. In the latter connection, after examining Decree No. 0753 of 5 April 1956 amending section 430 of the Labour Code, the Committee recommended the Governing Body:
   • to draw the attention of the Government to the possibility of abuse present in the application of the provisions empowering the Government to include in the definition of those public services in which strikes are forbidden any others that, in the opinion of the Government, affect the safety, health, education and economic or social life of the population, and to decide in consultation with the Council of State which forms of employment fall within the categories defined, and to request the Government to furnish information as to the extent to which use has been made of the provisions in question and as to the existing jurisprudence of the Council of State relevant to this matter.
   • With respect to further allegations concerning massacres of workers and peasants, the Committee, not having received the Government's observations, presented an interim report to the Governing Body. The 24th Report of the Committee was approved by the Governing Body at its 133rd Session (Geneva, November 1956).
2. 217. Since the adoption of the Committee's 24th Report there has been a complete change of Government in Colombia. On 10 May 1957 the then President resigned and was replaced by a military junta, which declared its intention of ensuring that a liberal policy would be pursued and arrangements made for the holding of free and democratic elections. It is anticipated that an election will be held in 1958, in a few months' time.
3. 218. At its 16th, 17th and 18th Sessions (Geneva, February, May and October 1957 respectively), the Committee adjourned its examination of the outstanding allegations pending the receipt of observations from the Government covering the different matters still in issue. The Committee now has before it four communications received since it examined the case in its 24th Report : one dated 15 March 1957 from the complainant, two, dated 13 December 1956 (together with an annex dated 7 December 1957 received subsequently) and 27 February 1957, emanating from the previous Government, and one, dated 7 January 1958, emanating from the Government now in office. The analysis below is confined to the allegations still outstanding and to the replies of the respective Governments referred to above.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 219. In its communications dated 3 May and 30 July 1956 the complaining organisation describes a series of events constituting " the most appalling crimes in the history of Latin America " ; these involve violations of trade union and democratic rights, large-scale massacres of workers and peasants, and genocide. United Nations intervention is urged to put an end to this situation. It is stated that on 24 April 1956 a wave of murders " without reason or justification " began in a number of places-which the complainant mentions by name-in the department of Tolima. It is alleged that these murders formed part of a plan to "pacify" the country. The massacre was carried out by a military force totalling 1,000 men. The bulk of the victims (some of whom are mentioned by name in the complaint) were in Santo Domingo ; it is alleged that before being put to death a number of peasants were castrated and forced to dig their own graves. In Los Brazuelos, Calarma and Guaipa, 140 peasants were brutally murdered, while women were assaulted and beaten. Many workers were murdered while they were working in the coffee plantations. The prisons in these towns contain a number of prisoners who are minors. Many prisoners disappear mysteriously and are probably put to death. The Government is alleged to consider that "political prisoners are a problem because they may become a focus for agitation whereas once they are dead they can only be used in this way for a few days ". The church authorities have protested without result to the military authorities against these crimes ; thousands of people are stated to have fled for their lives to other areas. In its communication dated 15 March 1957 the complaining organisation declares that the Government ordered the establishment of a court martial to try the trade union leader and patriot, Amado Zapata, although it had been impossible to bring any charge against him other than that of his devoted service to the masses. The complainant alleges that Mr. Zapata was sentenced to three years' imprisonment "for his honest legal work as a trade union officer " and that another trade union official, Mr. Isauro Yosa, was also sentenced to imprisonment. The complainants demand a review of the sentences and the liberation of the persons concerned.
   • ANALYSIS OF THE REPLIES
2. 220. In its communication dated 13 December 1956 the previous Government states that these allegations have no foundation whatsoever, that the reprehensible acts imputed to the Government by persons of extreme left-wing opinions are alleged because the Government has firmly prevented Communist infiltration, and that the complaint makes no mention of harm having been caused directly to any trade union or to members of any union. According to the Government, at a period about four months prior to the date of this reply, acts of banditry occurred in the department of Tolima and the army " took the necessary measures to deal with them, in accordance with its precise duty to protect the peasantry against the extortion which certain terrorist elements, inspired no doubt by a desire for financial gain, were practising in the coffee-producing areas ". The annex to this document, dated 7 December 1956 and signed by the then Minister of Labour, which did not in fact reach the Office until January 1958, contains a statement to the effect that the allegations are untrue and, in any event, have no bearing on the exercise of trade union rights. The rest of the communication is devoted to demonstrating that real freedom of association exists, in the view of the Government, in Colombia, in support of which view it cites purported extracts from a letter received from the Inter-American Regional Organisation of Workers in August 1956, after the return from Colombia of a mission sent by that organisation. In that letter, reference is made to the work of the Colombian Ministry of Labour and the Minister is complimented for advocating a free and independent kind of trade unionism in keeping with the concepts of the I.R.O.W.
3. 221. The Government now in office forwarded, with its communication dated 7 January 1958, a copy of a letter dated 12 December 1957, in which the present Secretary-General of the Ministry of Labour refers to the events complained of as having taken place in the lifetime of the previous Government and points out that the observations before the Committee emanating from the previous Government (analysed in paragraph 220 above) " represent the latter's reply to the complaints ".

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 222. The Committee has borne in mind the fact that, on 10 May 1957, the previous Government, which had been in power throughout the period during which the events referred to by the complainant took place, was replaced by a new Government, which has since then been preparing the way for the holding of an election which is expected to take place in a few months' time.
2. 223. In certain earlier cases the Committee has taken the view that, where a change of régime has taken place in a country, the new Government should take all necessary steps to remedy any continuing effects which events complained of as having taken place under its predecessor may have had since its accession to power.
3. 224. The Committee notes that the Government now in power has not endorsed the reply given by the previous Government to the effect that the allegations are untrue and, in any event, have no bearing on the exercise of trade union rights. The present Government has, however, given no information which makes it possible to judge how far the events complained of may have had any continuing consequences which have not yet been remedied. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to request the Government to furnish information concerning the action which it is taking to remedy any consequences which may continue, having regard to the importance which the Governing Body has always attached, as was emphasised in paragraph 284 (c) of the Committee's 24th Report, to the fundamental civil liberties proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to due process in the examination of charges of violations of the law of the land which may have a bearing on the exercise of trade union rights.
4. 225. Finally, the Committee notes that the Government has not yet furnished the information requested by the Governing Body in paragraph 284 (b) of the Committee's 24th Report (see paragraph 216 above) in connection with the application of the provisions of Colombian legislation concerning strikes in public services. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw the attention of the present Government to the views which it expressed previously with regard to this matter and to ask the Government to be good enough to furnish the information requested.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 226. In all the circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to note that on 10 May 1957 a complete change of Government took place in Colombia, the previous Government having been replaced by a new Government which is making preparations for the holding of elections in a few months' time ;
   • (b) to note that, while the events complained of took place during the lifetime of the previous Government, the present Government has given no information which makes it possible to judge how far the events complained of may have had any continuing consequences which have not yet been remedied, and, in these circumstances, to decide, having regard to the importance which the Governing Body has always attached to the fundamental civil liberties proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to due process in the examination of charges of violations of the law of the land which may have a bearing on the exercise of trade union rights, to request the Government to be good enough to furnish information concerning the action which it is taking to remedy any consequences of the events complained of which may have continued ;
   • (c) to draw the attention of the Government to the possibility of abuse present in the application of the provisions of Decree No. 0753 of 5 April 1956, and to request the Government to furnish information as to the extent to which use as been made of the provisions in question and as to the existing jurisprudence of the Council of State relevant to this matter ;
   • (d) to suggest to the Government that it might care to examine its law and practice in the light of the provisions contained in 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), with a view to applying and ratifying those Conventions.