Interim Report - Report No 116, 1970

Case No 586 (Panama) - Complaint date: 13-JAN-69 - Closed

316. The original complaints and the additional information supplied in these five cases are dealt with together because they involve the same type of allegation. The complaints are contained in the following communications: two from the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), dated 13 and 23 January 1969, one from the Latin American Federation of Christian Trade Unions (CLASC), dated 10 January 1969, one from the International Federation of Secondary Teachers (FIPESO), dated 22 February 1969, one from the Permanent Congress of Trade Union Unity of the Workers of Latin America dated 15 March 1969, one from the Trade Unions International of Workers of the Building, Wood and Building Materials Industry, dated 9 June 1969 and one from the National Federation of Christian Peasants dated 30 September 1969.

1. 316. The original complaints and the additional information supplied in these five cases are dealt with together because they involve the same type of allegation. The complaints are contained in the following communications: two from the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), dated 13 and 23 January 1969, one from the Latin American Federation of Christian Trade Unions (CLASC), dated 10 January 1969, one from the International Federation of Secondary Teachers (FIPESO), dated 22 February 1969, one from the Permanent Congress of Trade Union Unity of the Workers of Latin America dated 15 March 1969, one from the Trade Unions International of Workers of the Building, Wood and Building Materials Industry, dated 9 June 1969 and one from the National Federation of Christian Peasants dated 30 September 1969.
2. 317. As these communications were received they were transmitted to the Government for its observations. These were presented in two communications dated 21 and 28 January 1970.
3. 318. Panama 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. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 319. In its communication dated 13 January 1969 the WCL alleged that the following leaders of the Isthmian Federation of Christian Workers and the Peasant Federation were detained in prison: Jorge Emilio Chapote, Pedro Félix Montañez, Teodoro Martinez, Maximino Rodriguez, Domingo Castrellón, Pedro Sánchez, Apolinario Sánchez, Juan Sáenz, Rufino Sánchez, Carlos Solis, Andrés Sánchez, Victor Soto and Raimundo Sánchez. In its communication dated 23 January 1969 the WCL added that the Government was intercepting correspondence, censoring all communications and searching the trade union headquarters of the two organisations mentioned above. For its part, the CLASC confirmed the detention of some of the persons mentioned and added to the list the names of José Fiel Sáenz and Domingo Sánchez. The CLASC stated that the Military Junta in power since October 1968 had the headquarters of the Isthmian Federation of Christian Workers and the National Christian Peasant Federation searched and that applications for writs of habeas corpus made on behalf of the prisoners were rejected, some of the prisoners being given the alternative of being deported or remaining in prison.
2. 320. The International Federation of Secondary Teachers alleged in its communication of 23 February 1969 that Mr. Clarence Beecher, Secretary for International Affairs of the Panama Teachers' Association, had been imprisoned, together with other teachers, since 15 December 1968. The FIPESO added that teachers' public meetings and the publication of their professional journal had been banned.
3. 321. The Permanent Congress on Trade Union Unity of the Workers of Latin America stated in its communication dated 14 March 1969 that since taking power the Military Junta had created a permanent state of repression directed against the trade union movement, behind the shield of the suspension of Constitutional guarantees. The complainants went on to say that the Federation of Workers' Unions of Panama had been the subject of a search by the National Guard, as well as other trade union premises, including those of the tailors', building workers' and bus drivers' unions, etc. On the occasion of these searches, members of the National Guard destroyed and seized trade union property and kept the trade union premises closed, thus obstructing all union activity. The complainants further alleged that the trade union leaders Angel Gómez, José del Carmen Tuñón, Florencio de Gracia, Sixto Valarezo, Ramón Diaz, Efigenio Arauz and Pedro González, had already been in prison for more than three months.
4. 322. The Trade Unions International of Workers of the Building, Wood and Building Materials Industries alleged in its communication of 9 June 1969 that the Military Government had closed down the headquarters of the Trade Union Federation of the Workers of Panama and a number of affiliated organisations, including the premises of the Federation of Building Workers. The complainants added that several trade union leaders were being kept in prison and referred to the names of some of the persons mentioned in the preceding paragraph, in particular Mr. Angel Gómez, who was said to be critically ill with pneumonia and had been taken as a matter of urgency to a hospital but had since been taken back to prison.
5. 323. Lastly, the National Federation of Christian Peasants of Panama stated in its complaint dated 30 September 1969 that on 11 October 1968 individual guarantees had been suspended by the Government with the result that rural and urban trade union leaders were being persecuted and imprisoned. The persons arrested were: Natividad Martinez, arrested on 4 September 1969 in the district of Palmar in Coclé province, charged with possessing arms, after his house had been searched by the army; Bernabé Reyes, Secretary General of the El Palmar Agrarian League, arrested on 13 September, the reason for his arrest not having been made known; Leonardo Montero, Secretary General of the Caño El Rey Agrarian League, accused by the judge and the mayor of the district of Donoso, Colón Province, as an act of reprisal. The complaining organisation added that pressure had been brought to bear on the peasants' organisations to give up any trade union activity not controlled by the Government and that every day more trade union leaders were being arrested.
6. 324. In its communications dated 21 and 28 January 1970 the Government stated that after careful examination of the various complaints presented, it had reached the conclusion that the allegations were unfounded and that the trade union organisations of the country had without interruption been functioning in accordance with the provisions of the law in force. The labour authorities had always been motivated by concern that the trade union movement should be vigorous and managed by the workers themselves. For its part, the Government had on no occasion arrested any citizen on account of his being a trade union leader, but only for participation in political activities entirely unrelated to trade union matters. The persons arrested on various occasions after 11 October 1968 had been set at liberty, and the complaint relating to the present detention of trade union leaders was therefore inadmissible. The allegations relating to the persecution and imprisonment of leaders and pressure that had been exercised against the peasant organisations were also rejected, since the Government had placed at the disposal of the inhabitants of the interior of the country adequate facilities for them to organise and carry on proper trade union activities.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 325. The Committee observes that the various complaints allege the detention of trade union leaders since the Military Government came into power and suspended Constitutional guarantees in October 1968. Some of the allegations also refer to searches of the premises of various trade union organisations, in particular the Isthmian Federation of Christian Workers, the National Christian Peasants' Federation, the National Trade Union Federation of the Workers of Panama and the Building Workers' Federation, and in certain cases the closing of the premises affected. The complaints also refer to the persecution of trade union leaders and pressure exercised against the peasants' organisations. The Government, for its part, denies, in a general way, any persecution directed against trade unionists and states that no person has been arrested on account of his being a trade unionist, but only for participation in political activities. The Government points out that the persons arrested have been set at liberty and states that at the present moment there are no Panamanian trade union leaders in prison.
2. 326. The Committee has always refrained from expressing an opinion on the political aspects of a state of emergency but from its earliest cases it has emphasised that in such circumstances, measures of detention which may involve serious interference with the exercise of trade union rights should be accompanied by adequate judicial safeguards applied within a reasonable period. The Committee has always emphasised the importance of due process of law in cases in which trade unionists are charged with offences of a political character or with offences under the ordinary law and has taken the view, for example, that the requirement of due process would not appear to be fulfilled if under the national law the effect of a state of siege is that the court to which application is made for habeas corpus cannot examine the merits of the case a
3. 327. In all cases involving the arrest, detention or sentencing of a trade union official the Committee, taking the view that individuals have the right to be presumed innocent until found guilty, has considered that it was incumbent upon the Government to show that the measures it had taken were in no way occasioned by the trade union activities of the individual concerned. That is why in all such cases, if the Committee has concluded that allegations related to the arrest, detention, or sentencing of trade unionists did not call for further examination, it has done so only after receiving observations from the governments concerned indicating sufficiently precisely and with sufficient detail that the measures taken against the person in question had no connection with the exercise of trade union rights but were occasioned by activities outside the trade union sphere which were either prejudicial to public order or of a political nature. The Committee has also on other occasions pointed out that the detention by the authorities of trade unionists concerning whom no grounds for conviction are subsequently found is liable to involve restriction of trade union rights.
4. 328. From the information submitted to the Committee it would appear that the trade union leaders arrested were set free after a longer or shorter period without at any time being brought before a regular court to determine whether or not they were guilty in the course of regular judicial proceedings. With regard to the reasons for the arrests, the Committee regrets that the Government has not sent more precise information which would have enabled it to examine the various allegations in full knowledge of the facts.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 329. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government to the considerations set forth above in paragraphs 326 and 327, while taking note of the statement by the Government that the detained persons have been set at liberty and that at the present time there are no Panamanian trade union leaders in prison.
2. 330. As regards the allegations relating to searches and closing of trade union premises, to which the Government has not referred in its reply, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to invite the Government to be good enough to send its observations and to indicate the present position of the trade union organisations concerned, it being understood that the Committee will submit a further report once it has received this information.