Interim Report - Report No 147, 1975

Case No 679 (Spain) - Complaint date: 14-SEP-71 - Closed

1. 225. The Committee has already examined this case, at its 64th and 67th Sessions (May 1973 and may 1974), and on each occasion submitted an interim report to the Governing Body. These reports appear in paragraphs 97-101, 106-110 and 121(b) of its 137th Report, and paragraphs 76-87 of its 144th Report.
2. 226. Spain has ratified neither the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), nor the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 227. The ICFTU, it will be recalled, alleged in its initial communication that the worker Pedro Patiño had been killed by the police (Civil Guard) while distributing leaflets among other construction workers who were on strike for better wages and recognition of freedom of association. The WCL filed a complaint to the same effect, adding that many workers had been sent to prison for having gone on strike. The WFTU alleged that Pedro Patiño had been shot in the back while distributing leaflets, that another worker had been wounded in the leg, and that several leading members of the workers' Committees had been arrested.
2. 228. In a further communication the ICFTU added that proceedings had been taken against fourteen workers accused of sedition under section 218 et seq, of the Penal Code. A document appended to that communication reported that on 13 September 1971, while Patiño and three other workers were talking to building workers, a police car drew up, whereupon they ran away without heeding an order to stop. The police had then opened fire, killing Patiño. The other three, one of whom was wounded, had been arrested. Another document gave a similar account of the incident, adding that the victim's widow, having recognised the corpse in hospital, drew back the sheet covering it, exposing it completely; she and the doctor at her side had seen for themselves that there was no trace of a wound nor any sign of blood on the front of the body, but that blood had flowed from the back, staining the sheet on which it rested. Questioned, the duty doctor, a captain, had replied: "Yes, he was hit in the back". This same report also mentioned that on the following day a complaint had been lodged with examining magistrate No. 13 on behalf of the widow and her children, demanding that a full inquiry be held, with a view to ascertaining who had been responsible. The report also stated that the family had not been allowed to exercise its right to nominate doctors to attend the post mortem.
3. 229. The Government of Spain said that the Spanish authorities had been the first to deplore the incident which led to the death of Pedro Patiño. The competent judicial authority had immediately carried out an inquiry to ascertain the causes of the incident and to determine liability. The Government concluded by stating that the proceedings had been terminated in the absence of any grounds for laying charges.
4. 230. On examining the case at its session in May 1973 the Committee had recommended the Governing Body to ask the Government to supply details about the findings of the above-mentioned inquiry together with a transcript of the decision to terminate proceedings and of the reasons given for that, decision, and for information concerning the arrests made, the proceedings brought against the arrested persons and their outcome, together with the text of the judgment handed down and the grounds adduced therefor.
5. 231. In a later communication the Government announced that, of the 14 persons implicated, 11 were at liberty, while 3 had been condemned by a competent court to two years' imprisonment, and fines of 10,000 pesetas, for spreading illegal propaganda. Those three persons had appealed to the Supreme Court and had been released on bail, the matter remaining sub judice pending a final judgment.
6. 232. At its 67th Session the Committee took due note of this information, but observed that the Government had not complied with the request for information about the inquiry undertaken into the circumstances surrounding Patiño's death. The Governing Body, in accordance with the Committee's recommendation, therefore once more asked the Government for the information requested and for transcripts of (a) the judgment rendered in the case of the 3 persons sentenced for illegal propaganda, and (b) any final ruling delivered by the Supreme Court.
7. 233. In a letter dated 10 October 1974 the Government announced that the inquiry undertaken by the competent authorities had brought to light the following facts: a motorised patrol of the Civil Guard on patrol duty in the urban area between Villaverde and Getafe, had noticed several persons distributing subversive literature. When the police attempted to arrest them, those persons had fled, except for Pedro Patiño, who, throwing himself on one of the Civil Guards, had seized the weapon the latter was carrying as part of his normal equipment. A scuffle had ensued, a shot had been fired, and Patiño had been mortally wounded.
8. 234. The report on the post mortem, drawn up in full conformity with the law, had revealed that the bullet had entered the left deltoid area, leaving tattoo-like markings, and had emerged at the level of the right acromio-clavicular area. From the position of the wound as described it was quite clear that the latter had been inflicted in the course of the hand-to-hand struggle between the Civil Guard and the victim; there was no other possible explanation for the point of penetration, the trajectory of the bullet and its point of exit. Those facts, the Government reported, as confirmed by the pathologist's report, had led to the decision that no further proceedings were called for.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 235. As regards the circumstances surrounding the death of Pedro Patiño, the Committee observes that, according to the complainants, the victim had been distributing leaflets demanding higher wages and freedom of association to other strikers, and had been shot in the back by a Civil Guard. Again, still according to the complainants, the fact that Patiño had been mortally wounded by a shot in the back was borne out by his widow and doctor, and later confirmed by the duty military doctor. Furthermore, it appears that a complaint was lodged on behalf of the widow and her children, but that the family was not allowed to exercise its right to nominate doctors to attend the post mortem.
2. 236. The Committee likewise observes that, according to the Government, the pathologist's report confirms that the victim had been mortally wounded from in front in the course of a scuffle with one of the Civil Guards attempting to arrest him, on whom the victim had hurled himself. The Government affirms that Patiño, along with others, had been distributing subversive propaganda.
3. 237. There are thus two quite different versions of the circumstances leading to the death of Mr. Patiño, and from the evidence to hand it is impossible for the Committee to reach any precise conclusion on this aspect of the case.
4. 238. As regards the three persons sentenced for illegal propaganda, the Government had been asked to supply further information, which, the Committee observes, has not yet been forthcoming.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 239. In the circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) in connection with the circumstances surrounding the death of Pedro Patiño, to take note of the fact that there are two quite different versions of the incident, and that in this respect the evidence to hand is not such as to enable the Committee to reach any precise conclusions on this aspect of the case;
   • (b) as regards the three persons sentenced for illegal propaganda, once more to request the Government to supply a full transcript of the sentence rendered, with the considerations appended thereto, together with the Supreme Court's ruling on the matter once this has been delivered;
   • (c) to take note of this interim report, it being understood that the Committee will submit a further report to the Governing Body once the information asked for has been received.