Interim Report - Report No 139, 1974

Case No 712 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 11-JUL-72 - Closed

1. 490. The complaint by the Latin American Central of Workers is contained in a communication dated 11 July 1972, addressed direct to the ILO. This complaint has been supported by the world Confederation of Labour, in a communication dated 17 July 1972, and by the International Federation of Trade Unions of Transport Workers, in a communication dated 6 September 1972. The complainants furnished further information in a communication dated 8 August 1972. The Government transmitted its observations in communications dated 2 July and 14 August 1973.
2. 491. Guatemala 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. 492. The complainants allege that Mr. Jose Vicente Mérida Mendoza, General Secretary of the Transport Workers' Union "Alianza Capitalina", disappeared about 26 June 1972. Representatives of the Workers' National Confederation of Guatemala (CNT) are reported to have made inquiries, to no avail; however, according to information obtained by them, the person in question was allegedly kidnapped by employers in the transport industry for reasons connected with the discussion of a new collective agreement which is apparently very advantageous to the transport workers. The Government and the public authorities, despite repeated requests, have allegedly made no attempt to clear up this situation and to discover the victims' whereabouts, thus becoming accomplices in the commission of an act infringing both human and trade union rights.
2. 493. In its observations, the Government transmits information received from the Ministry of the Interior dated 31 August 1972, from which it appears that the national police and especially the detective corps began the necessary investigations to find the person concerned as soon as his disappearance became known through the press. This information also indicates that, as the CNT and other bodies have stated in the press, bulletins and leaflets that the employers of a transport company were responsible for this kidnapping, the employers in question have been summoned and questioned; furthermore, searches were made of premises where it was supposed that Mr. Mérida Mendoza might have been.
3. 494. According to the same note from the Ministry of the Interior, representatives of the CNT were informed that they should make a formal accusation if they had evidence or indications of the guilt of the accused, and were also requested to co-operate with the police in providing information or data which might assist investigations. This note concludes that it has not so far been possible to discover the whereabouts of Mr. Mérida Mendoza, despite these inquiries; efforts to find him are therefore continuing, as are attempts to establish whether, as the above-mentioned organisations claim, the persons suspected are in fact guilty. In its communication dated 14 August 1973 the Government states that the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has also given orders for an investigation of the facts.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 495. From the preceding information communicated by the Government it would appear that, contrary to the complainants' allegations, the public authorities did in fact undertake investigations but that these have not been successful. It would also seem, from this information, that the authorities have found no proof that the transport employers are responsible in this respect.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 496. In these circumstances, the Committee wishes to express its concern at the disappearance of the trade union leader Mérida Mendoza and recommends the Governing Body to request the Government to keep it informed on the situation and as to any results in its inquiries.