Interim Report - Report No 254, March 1988

Case No 1341 (Paraguay) - Complaint date: 24-JUN-85 - Closed

1. 351. The Committee has already examined this case on two occasions, most recently at its May 1987 meeting, when it submitted interim conclusions. (See 251st Report, paras. 399-416.) Due to the lack of a reply from the Government to its repeated requests, the Committee at its November 1987 meeting addressed an urgent appeal to it for its observations. The Committee also recalled that, in accordance with the procedural rule set out in paragraph 17 of its 127th Report, in accordance with the procedural rule set out in , it would present a report on the substance of the case at its next meeting even if the Government's observations had not been received in time. (See para. 17 of the 253rd Report.) Subsequently, in a communication dated 23 October 1987, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has presented new allegations. The Government has supplied neither observations nor comments.
2. 352. Paraguay 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. Previous examination of the case

1. 353. The outstanding allegations in this case relate to the detention of trade union activists and leaders who are named by the complainants, to the violent repression of peaceful trade union demonstrations and to various acts of interference with and pressure exerted against trade union organisations and their leaders.
2. 354. In particular the complainants referred to the climate of violence and repression affecting the trade union movement during 1986 and 1987 in the hospitals, press, teaching and agricultural sectors.
3. 355. They referred to the questioning of doctors during a strike which took place on 25 April 1986 at the José Bellasaó Hospital, to the ban on May Day celebrations in 1986, to the subsequent violent repression and to the fact that a large number of persons were injured by the forces of order and taken to hospital, to the attacks perpetrated on 3 May by some 150 militants of the Colorado party who were authorised to enter the hospital premises and who are said to have struck doctors and nurses who were attending the injured, to the destruction of the anduti radio station by the same group on the grounds that this radio supported the workers and their organisations during the trade union demonstrations. The complainants subsequently stated that the doctors who had been arrested during the strike were released for lack of evidence of their having committed an offence.
4. 356. Furthermore the complainants described the attack by the police on the headquarters of the Federation of Bank Employees (FETRABAN) in April 1986 and again in March 1987, and the detention for a number of days in March 1987 of the General Secretary of the Workers' Inter-Trade Union Movement (MIT), Mr. Victor Baez, during a meeting of his organisation. Mr. Baez was subsequently released.
5. 357. The complainants also alleged that in March 1987 Raquel Aquino, leader of secondary-school students, was arrested for having expressed her solidarity with the trade union movement. In addition, a leader of the MIT was obliged to give up her job as philosophy teacher at the National Ladies' College and was not allowed to protest this.
6. 358. Lastly, the complainants denounced the arrest in 1987 at Ononnondivepa of the rural trade union leaders Marcelino Corazón, Medina and Bernardo Tonales and the General Secretary of the Paraguay Cotton Company Workers' Trade Union (CAPSA) the day before the union's general assembly.
7. 359. In view of the seriousness of the allegations to which the Government had not replied, the Committee, at its May 1987 meeting, expressed its serious concern at the large number of arrests of trade union leaders and members. It deplored the fact that the Government had replied in respect of only a few of the allegations made against it and urged the Government to reply concerning all of the serious allegations presented by the complainant organisations.
8. 360. Since then the Government has supplied no reply to the Committee's requests.

B. New allegations

1. 361. In a communication dated 23 October 1987, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions stated that on 20 October 1987 the police used violence to prevent the holding of a union meeting of the National Union of Construction Workers, violently charging and injuring a large number of them who were transported urgently to assistance centres.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 362. Before examining the substance of this case, the Committee regrets having to draw the Government's attention to the considerations it set out in its First Report (para. 31), namely that the purpose of the whole procedure that has been instituted is to ensure respect for trade union rights in law and in fact and that the Committee is convinced that while the procedure protects governments against unreasonable accusations, governments on their side should recognise the importance of formulating, so as to allow objective examination, detailed replies to the allegations brought against them.
2. 363. In these circumstances, the Committee once again deplores the fact that the Government has not replied to the serious allegations made by the complainants, some presented as far back as two years ago, and that because of the time which has elapsed, the Committee is obliged to examine the case without being able to take the Government's observations or comments into account.
3. 364. The Committee notes that the allegations in this case relate essentially to the arrest of trade unionists, the ban on May Day celebrations and the occupation of trade union premises to prevent the holding of union meetings.
4. 365. Since the Government has not denied these allegations, the Committee can only conclude that the principles of freedom of association have been seriously infringed in these various incidents.
5. 366. As regards the arrest of trade unionists whose names were supplied by the complainants, the Committee recalls that measures of preventive detention imply serious interference by the Government in trade union activities which can give rise to criticism unless accompanied by adequate judicial safeguards applied within a reasonable period of time. Furthermore the Committee recalls that the arrest by the authorities of trade unionists against whom no charge is made involves restrictions on freedom of association. Consequently the Committee urges the Government to take steps to ensure that the authorities concerned are given appropriate instructions to eliminate the danger which arrest for trade union activities implies. (See 147th Report, Case No. 777 (India), para. 214, and Case No. 753 (Japan), para. 345.)
6. 367. As regards the ban on the celebration of May Day and the acts of violence perpetrated by political groups against workers, including doctors on hospital premises where injured people were being treated, the Committee expresses its very deep concern with regard to such allegations. Since the Government has not refuted them, the Committee must insist on the importance of the principle according to which the right to organise public meetings and processions on the occasion of May Day constitutes an important aspect of trade union rights. (See in particular 204th Report, Case No. 962 (Turkey), para. 253). Furthermore the Committee strongly condemns the acts of violence said to have been perpetrated on hospital premises against doctors who were treating the injured persons taken there after the confrontations on May Day.
7. 368. As regards the attacks on trade union premises and the arrest of trade union leaders before the holding of union meetings, the Committee notes once again that the Government has not denied these allegations. It recalls that the arrest of trade union leaders with the aim of preventing the holding of a union meeting constitutes a serious violation of the exercise of trade union rights. (See 160th Report, Case No. 849 (Nicaragua), para. 480).

The Committee's recommendations

1. 369. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • a) The Committee strongly regrets that the Government has not replied to the repeated requests for information made to it. It expresses its serious concern at the allegations concerning repression of the trade union movement in 1986 and 1987 and, in particular, the arrest of trade union activists and leaders, whose names have been supplied by the complainants, the ban on peaceful trade union demonstrations on May Day which were violently put down, and the interference in the affairs of trade union organisations and pressure brought to bear on them and on union members.
   • b) The Committee recalls that a free and independent trade union movement cannot develop in an atmosphere of insecurity and fear.
   • c) The Committee urges the Government to take measures to ensure that the authorities concerned are given appropriate instructions to eliminate the danger for trade union activities represented by such measures as the arrest of trade unionists, the banning of trade union demonstrations on May Day and of the holding of trade union meetings.
   • d) The Committee requests the Government to take measures to guarantee respect for freedom of association in law and in fact, in accordance with the obligations arising from Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, ratified by Paraguay, and to keep it informed of these measures in particular to state whether judicial inquiries have been undertaken following the repression which took place on hospital premises on 3 May 1986, in order to determine who is responsible and to punish the guilty parties.