Interim Report - Report No 181, June 1978

Case No 844 (El Salvador) - Complaint date: 21-FEB-76 - Closed

144. The Committee has already examined Case No. 844 at its sessions in November 1976 and February 1977, when it submitted interim conclusions to the Governing Body in paragraphs 445 to 466 of its 160th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 201st Session (November 1976), and in paragraphs 234 to 278 of its 177th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 205th Session (March 1978).

1. 144. The Committee has already examined Case No. 844 at its sessions in November 1976 and February 1977, when it submitted interim conclusions to the Governing Body in paragraphs 445 to 466 of its 160th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 201st Session (November 1976), and in paragraphs 234 to 278 of its 177th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 205th Session (March 1978).
2. 145. The complaints and additional information were presented by 22 trade union organisations of El Salvador and by the Trade Unions International of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Fur Workers, the Trade Unions International of Food, Tobacco, Hotel and Allied Industries Workers, the United Trade Union Federation of El Salvador (FUSS), the Federation of Unions of Workers in the Food, Clothing, Textile and Allied Industries of El Salvador (FESTIAVTSCES) and the Committee for Trade Union Unity of Workers of Central America and Panama (CUSCA). The Government of El Salvador, for its part, sent observations on the various allegations made.
3. 146. More recently, the world Confederation of Labour presented a complaint by communication of 4 April 1978, and sent additional information in a communication of 14 April 1978. This complaint figured as Case No. 904.
4. 147. The Committee has decided to deal in a single report with the questions still outstanding from Case No. 844 and the new complaint contained in Case No. 904.
5. 148. El Salvador 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

• Case No. 844
  149. 149 In this case various allegations remained outstanding on which the Government had not sent its observations.
  150. 150 One of these allegations was made by CUSCA in its communication of 28 October 1977, in which it referred to incidents which had occurred during a strike at the El León factory. Workers of this undertaking who had been preparing to organise a collection in support of the strike had been attacked by the police and two of them had lost their lives.
  151. 151 In the complaint presented on 21 February 1976 by 22 national organisations of workers it was alleged that the following trade union leaders had been tortured during their imprisonment in July 1975: Romeo Soto Crespo, Gilberto Ruiz Ponce, Miguel Rivera Valle, Rufino Gonzalo Avelar, Teresa Francisca Maldonado (who subsequently disappeared) and Ricardo Erazo, arrested in January 1976.
  152. 152 In its complaint of 23 May 1977 the Trade Unions International of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Fur Workers referred to the disappearance of Rafael Antonio Martinez, a member of the executive of the Leather workers' Union, of whom there had been no news since January 1976.
  153. 153 Various complaints referred to persons who had been arrested. In their communication of 21 July 1977 FUSS and FESTIAVTSCES alleged that the firm "Lácteas Foremost" had helped to bring about the arrest of the following persons: José Napoleón Mina, Carlos Humberto González, officials of the employees' union of the company, arrested on 14 March 1977; José Mauricio Gómez, an official of the same union, arrested on 1 April; José Ricardo Martinez Flores, an official of the National Trade Union Federation of Salvadorian Workers (FENASTRAS), arrested on 8 March; and Carlos Ernesto Marin Ayala, arrested on 18 May.
  154. 154 In its communication of 28 October 1977 CUSCA stated that Héctor Antonio Acevedo, an official of the union of the Cosmos undertaking, had been arrested in Santa Ana. In a further communication of 22 November 1977 CUSCA alleged that on 18 November 1977 the national guard had raided the premises of the Puerto El Triunfo Fish Industries Employees' Union and had arrested the following officials and militants: Alejandro Molina Lara, Julio C. Salazar, Oscar L. Chaves, Delia Cristina Hernández and Juan Francisco Alvarenga. According to CUSCA's communication of 23 December 1977 the Government had promulgated an "anti-terrorist Act" designed to legalise the repression of the workers. Thus, on 16 December 1977, 12 workers of the undertaking "Quality Food de Centro América" had been arrested and had been released the next day after being tortured. On 17 December 1977, the arrest had taken place of Rodolfo Hernández Rosales and Miguel Guzmán, officials of the workers' union of the Alianza undertaking, and Daniel Garcia Guevara, an official of the workers' union of the Famosa undertaking.
  155. 155 At its meeting in March 1978 the Governing Body requested the Government to transmit its comments on all these allegations as speedily as possible. These comments have not yet been received.
• Case No. 904
  156. 156 In its communication of 4 April 1978 the World Confederation of Labour alleges that the Government has launched a campaign of bloody persecution against agricultural workers and their organisations, in particular against the Salvadorian Agricultural Workers' Federation, resulting in more than 30 killed and many wounded, in the towns of El Rodeo, La Esperanza, Teculuco and San Pedro Perulupa. According to WCL many agricultural workers' leaders have been arrested.
  157. 157 WCL has supplied additional information in its joint communication with the World Confederation of Agricultural Workers (WCAW) dated 14 April 1978, which states that on 20 March 1978, Tránsito Vásquez, a local leader of FECCAS in the town of La Esperanza, was murdered by members of the Nationalist Democratic Organisation (ORDEN), a para-military government organisation. His body was found the next day, covered with wounds, and there were indications that he had been tortured.
  158. 158 According to the complainants all the available information leads to the assumption that the large-scale demonstrations by agricultural workers in the towns of Tecoluco, La Esperanza, Tenancingo, El Rodeo and San Pedro Perulapan, which were held in the days following the discovery of the corpse, should be considered as a reaction of indignation at the murder and at the fact that a number of helicopters of the armed forces fired on the crowd during the funeral of Tránsito Vásquez.
  159. 159 WCL's communications were transmitted to the Government, which has not yet sent its observations.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 160. In case No. 844 FUSS and FESTIAVTSCES pressed for the appointment of a commission or the dispatch of a representative of the Director-General for an on-the-spot study of the allegations made in the complaint. At its February 1978 meeting the Committee decided to postpone the examination of this request.
2. 161. In Case No. 904 WCL requests that a commission should immediately be sent to examine the allegations, since it is of the opinion that neither fundamental human rights nor trade union rights are respected in El Salvador, where there are persecutions of trade unions in general and agricultural workers' unions in particular.
3. 162. When the Committee examined the complaints in Case No. 844 at its February 1978 session, it noted the gravity of the allegations made by the complainants. Following the recommendation of the Committee the Governing Body expressed its deep concern at the acts committed against trade unions or their leaders which remained unexplained and their harmful implications for the functioning of trade union organisations and the development of industrial relations in the country.
4. 163. The most recent complaint made by WCL in Case No. 904 also contains extremely serious allegations in respect of many workers and trade unionists who are said to have been killed, injured or arrested.
5. 164. In the light of all these circumstances the Committee considers that resort should be had to the direct contacts procedure, under which a representative of the Director-General is sent to the country for discussions with the public authorities and contacts with the workers' and employers' organisations, and to determine the facts and study possible solutions. The representative would then submit his report to the Committee, which would be able to examine the allegations and formulate its own conclusions with better knowledge of the facts.
6. 165. In this respect the Committee wishes to stress that the object of the procedure is to guarantee the respect of freedom of association both in law and in fact; it is convinced that this procedure can protect governments against unfounded accusations, provided that they recognise the importance for their own good name of collaborating fully with the Committee to enable it to undertake a thorough examination of the allegations and seek solutions to the problems.

The Committee's recommendations

• (a) to request the Government to give its consent to a representative of the Director-General visiting El Salvador at an early date to examine the allegations made within the context of the direct-contacts procedure;
• (b) to take note of the present interim report.