Interim Report - Report No 304, June 1996

Case No 1787 (Colombia) - Complaint date: 28-JUN-94 - Follow-up

Allegations: Deaths, disappearances and other violent acts against trade unionists; anti-union discrimination

1. 159. The Committee examined this case at its March 1995 meeting (see 297th Report, paras. 465-483, approved by the Governing Body at its 262nd Session (March-April 1995)), at which it reached interim conclusions. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) subsequently submitted additional information in a communication dated 20 October 1995.
2. 160. The Government sent partial observations in communications dated 18 March and May 1996.
3. 161. Colombia has ratified both 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. 162. During the previous examination of the case, when it dealt with allegations concerning various acts of violence (murder, attempted murder, physical aggression and death threats) against trade union officials and members, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary steps for judicial investigations to begin immediately, in cases where such proceedings had not already begun, in order to bring the facts to light, establish who was responsible for them and punish the guilty parties, and to keep the Committee informed in this respect. The Committee also asked the Government to take steps to provide protection for all the trade union officials and members who had received threats (see 297th Report, paras. 478 and 483(a)). The allegations referred specifically to: the murders of union leaders Jaime Eliecer Ojeda (President of the Public Works Trade Union - SINTRAMINOBRAS) (the Government reported that judicial proceedings were under way), Alfonso Noguera (President of the Trade Union of Municipal Employees of Ocaña) (the Government reported that judicial proceedings were under way) and Hernando Cuadros (President of the Tibú branch of the Workers' Trade Union - USO), the attempted murder of Edgar Riaño, Darío Lotero, Luis Hernández and Monerge Sánchez; the death threats made against Bertina Calderón (Vice-President of the CUT), Daniel Rico (President of the Federation of Petroleum Workers - FEDEPETROL), Domingo Tovar (a member of the CUT's National Executive) and Victor Ramírez (President of the Transport Workers' Union - SINTRASON); the death threats against and attempts on the life of Francisco Ramírez Cuéllar (President of the Trade Union of Workers of the Mineralco SA enterprise); the temporary detention on various occasions of Luis David Rodríguez Pérez (former leader of the National Trade Union of Workers of Incora - SINTRADIN) by the army and the raiding of his home; and the death threats made against the members of the Executive Committee of the Single Agricultural Trade Union Federation (FENSUAGRO), the raiding of the Federation's headquarters, the tapping of telephones at the union's headquarters and its members' homes and surveillance by armed persons of the Federation's President, Mr. Luis Carlos Acero.
2. 163. The Committee also requested the Government to take the necessary measures to enable the trade union officials and members of the SINTRATEXTILIA trade union who were dismissed from the Textilia Ltda. enterprise for their legitimate trade union activities to secure reinstatement in their posts and to keep it informed in this respect (see 297th Report, para. 483(b)).

B. Additional information from the complainant

1. 164. In its communication dated 20 October 1995, ICFTU alleges that various acts of violence have been committed against trade union officials and members. The complainant organization specifically states that:
   • - Rodrigo Rodríguez Sierra, President of the Trade Union of Oil Producing Workers (SINTRAPROACEITES), Copey section, was arrested on 16 February 1995 in Barranquilla by a member of the UNASE police unit. Since then, his whereabouts have been unknown;
   • - Ernesto Fernández Pezter, trade union leader of the Association of Teachers of César, was murdered on 20 February 1995 on his way home to Pailitas;
   • - Manuel Francisco Giraldo, member of the Executive Committee of the National Trade Union of Workers in the Agricultural Industry (SINTRAINAGRO) was murdered on 22 March 1995 in the municipality of Apartadó;
   • - Pedro Barmúdez, member of the workers' committee of the La Playa banana plantation, in the municipality of Carepa, department of Urabá, was murdered on 6 June 1995 on the plantation by several persons in uniform. At the same time as the murder took place, Jairo Navarro, a trade union member, was arrested. Since then his whereabouts have been unknown;
   • - Artur Moreno, member of the workers' committee of the Doña Francia plantation in the municipality of Apartadó was murdered there on 7 June 1995 by the same persons who took part in the events at the La Playa plantation;
   • - several workers among the 413 who were laid off from the Public Enterprises of Cartagena took part in a peaceful demonstration that was brutally repressed by the police on 29 June 1995;
   • - Pedro Barón, president of the Tolima section of the Single Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CUT) has been threatened and intimidated by some members of the security forces after taking part in a protest strike in Ibagué in the Department of Tolima on 19 July 1995;
   • - the police took brutal action against workers from the Water and Telephone Enterprises (Empresas de Acueductos y Teléfonos) and organized peasants from Tolima who were holding a peaceful demonstration against the policy of privatizing public enterprises and out of solidarity with coffee growers from the Department of Tolima on 14 August 1995. The repression left one person dead, Fernando Lombana, a member of the Association of Farmers of Small and Medium-sized Holdings in Tolima (ASOPEMA), three persons seriously injured and led to several arrests (trade union members belonging to the organizations that took part in the protest);
   • - on 12 February 1994 Domingo Tovar, a member of the Association of Teachers in Sucre was arrested by members of the army. The courts later ordered his release. He subsequently received a death threat on 8 August 1995 and, after an attempt on his life, was forced to leave the country for several months;
   • - on 12 February 1994, trade union member Jorge Ortega García was arrested by members of the army and accused of being a subversive. The judicial authorities subsequently ordered his release. He later received a death threat and is being followed by the security forces who are keeping watch on his office;
   • - Antonio Moreno, treasurer of the Trade Union of Workers in the agricultural industry (SINTRAINAGRO) and Manuel Ballesta, the trade union's negotiator, were murdered in the municipality of Ghigorodó, in the Department of Antioquia, on 12 August 1995;
2. - 23 workers belonging to the National Trade Union of Workers in the Agricultural Industry (SINTRAINAGRO) were murdered in Carepa on 29 August 1995;
   • - William Gustavo Jaimes Torres, president of the National Farmworkers' Association (ANUC), was murdered on 28 August 1995; and
3. - 24 workers from the Rancho Amelia banana farm, who were members of the National Trade Union of Workers in the Agricultural Industry (SINTRAINAGRO) were murdered on their way to work on 20 September 1995.
4. 165. The ICFTU also alleges the following acts of anti-union discrimination:
   • - ALFAGRES SA enterprise: the enterprise dismissed the 12 members of the executive committee, who had set up the trade union, one day after it was established (6 February 1995). Workers who joined the union were later subjected to all kinds of threats and blackmail to force them to leave the trade union. The complainant organization adds that on 23 February the enterprise also cut the remuneration of workers who had joined a trade union by between 18.5 and 30 per cent; and
   • - Ministry of Finance: the ICFTU states that the workers' trade union in this Ministry (SINTRHA) is in grave danger of breaking up because it is not being allowed to operate for the purposes for which it was established. The complainant organization alleges that the posts of trade union members and officials are being abolished and the registration of amendments to the union's statutes have been refused; furthermore, the Ministry is encouraging an anti-union campaign to intimidate workers who want to join the union and members of the executive committee have been dismissed.

C. The Government's reply

1. 166. In its communication dated 18 May 1996, the Government states that as far as the allegations of anti-union discrimination in the Alfagres SA enterprise are concerned, the Ministry of Labour has sent its observations to the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers. However, the Government has not sent its observations on the matter to the Committee.
2. 167. The Government also refers to an agreement allegedly reached between the District of Cartagena de Indias, the Cartagena District Public Services Enterprise and the trade union of former workers at that enterprise, following a dispute during which many workers were allegedly dismissed. (It should be pointed out that the complainant organization does not refer to the dismissals in its allegations but alleges that several workers who had been dismissed held a demonstration during which they were brutally assaulted by the police.)
3. 168. Finally, the Government states with regard to the alleged refusal to register a reform of the statutes requested by the Trade Union of Ministry and Finance employees that the Regulation and Trade Union Registration Department of the Ministry of Labour decided not to accept the registration of the proposed reform of the statutes since during the proceedings for their approval by the trade union organization the latter failed to respect its own statutes which state that they can be amended only by the general assembly. The Government adds that before refusing registration it had asked for corrections that the trade union had failed to provide in due form, thus preventing the administrative authorities from authorizing the procedure that had been requested.
4. 169. In its May 1996 communication, the Government reiterated that judicial investigations are under way in respect of the murders of trade unionists Jaime Eliecer Ojeda and Alfonso Noguera. Furthermore, the Government states that it has requested the Public Prosecutor to ensure that the penal investigations are carried out quickly and efficiently so that the responsible persons are identified, responsibilities defined and the corresponding sanctions imposed in the cases pending before the Committee on Freedom of Association.

D. The Committee's conclusions

1. 170. The Committee notes that the allegations about which the Committee had asked to be kept informed and the new allegations presented concern murders and other acts of violence against trade union officials and members, dismissals and other anti-union acts.
2. 171. First, the Committee expresses once again its grave concern and indignation at the large number of murders, disappearances and other acts of violence against trade union officials and members referred to in the allegations, and deeply regrets that the Government has made no concrete observations with regard to these allegations. The Committee also expresses its deep concern at the growing and general climate of violence in the country, in particular against trade union officials and members. The Committee draws the Government's attention to the fact that "freedom of association can only be exercised in conditions in which fundamental human rights, and in particular those relating to human life and personal safety, are fully respected and guaranteed" (see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 4th (revised) edition, 1996, para. 46).
3. 172. Furthermore, since the Government has not provided information with regard to the Committee's request that judicial investigations be opened into the murders and other acts of violence alleged in this case, except as concerns two trade union leaders (Jaime Eliecer Ojeda and Alfonso Noguera), the Committee once again reminds the Government that "the absence of judgements against the guilty parties creates, in practice, a situation of impunity, which reinforces the climate of violence and insecurity, and which is extremely damaging to the exercise of trade union rights" (see Digest, op. cit., para. 55).
4. 173. In these circumstances, while noting the Government's statement that it has requested the Public Prosecutor to ensure that the penal investigations are carried out quickly and efficiently, the Committee urges the Government, if it has not already done so, to take immediately the necessary steps for judicial investigations to begin, both with regard to the allegations that have remained pending and the new allegations presented by the complainant organization, in order to elucidate all the alleged murders, disappearances, death threats and other acts of violence, establish who was responsible for them and punish the guilty parties (see the complete list of alleged acts of violence contained in the annex). The Committee urges the Government to keep it informed in this respect. With regard to the alleged death threats, the Committee urges the Government to intensify its efforts to provide effective protection for all the trade union officials and members who have been threatened. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all the cases referred to in the annex.
5. 174. With regard to the alleged dismissals of the 12 members of the executive committee and founding members of the trade union at the Alfagres SA enterprise one day after it was established, the threats made against members of the trade union to force them to relinquish their membership and the cut in wages of trade union members of between 18.5 and 30 per cent, the Committee regrets once again that the Government has failed to provide observations in this respect. In this regard, the Committee draws the Government's attention to the fact that "protection against anti-union discrimination should apply more particularly in respect of acts calculated to cause the dismissal of or otherwise prejudice a worker by reason of union membership or because of participation in union activities", and that "the necessary measures should be taken so that trade unionists who have been dismissed for activities related to the establishment of a union are reinstated in their functions, if they so wish" (see Digest, op. cit, paras. 694 and 757). In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps for an investigation to be held immediately in the Alfagres SA enterprise and, in the event that the alleged acts of anti-union discrimination are proven, for the dismissed trade union officials to be reinstated in their jobs, and to take measures to halt the threats or any other kind of harassment against workers who are members of the trade union. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this regard.
6. 175. With regard to the allegation that the trade union of Ministry of Finance employees (SINTRHA) is in serious danger of breaking up, since the posts of trade union members and officials are being abolished, the registration of amendments to its statutes has been denied, the Ministry is encouraging a permanent anti-union campaign and intimidating workers who wish to join the union and members of the executive committee have been dismissed, the Committee notes the Government's statement that the Regulation and Trade Union Registration Division of the Ministry of Labour decided to refuse registration of the amendments requested since the trade union organization had allegedly failed to respect the provisions of its own statutes and that even though the trade union was given the chance to make corrections, it did not do so. The Committee requests the complainant organization to send its comments on this statement of the Government.
7. 176. In this regard, noting that the Government has replied to only some of the allegations made, the Committee, so that it can analyse the allegations on the basis of all the facts, requests the Government without delay to send its observations on the pending allegations (the abolition of posts of trade union members and officials; encouragement by the Ministry of Finance of an anti-union campaign to intimidate workers who want to join the trade union; and the dismissal of members of the executive committee of the SINTRHA trade union).
8. 177. Finally, recalling that at its March 1995 meeting it had requested the Government to take the necessary steps to enable trade union officials and members of the SINTRATEXTILIA trade union dismissed for their legitimate trade union activities to secure reinstatement in their posts, the Committee urges the Government to take measures to this end and to keep it informed in this respect.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 178. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) Expressing its deep concern at the increasing climate of violence in the country and the large number of murders and acts of violence against trade union officials and members, the Committee urges the Government to take immediately the necessary steps for the initiation of judicial investigations to elucidate all the alleged murders, threats and other acts of violence, establish who was responsible for them and punish the guilty parties. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect. Furthermore, the Committee urges the Government to intensify its efforts to provide effective protection for all the trade union officials and members who have received threats. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all the cases referred to in the annex.
   • (b) Recalling that protection against anti-union discrimination must be provided, in particular, against all acts to dismiss workers or prejudice them in any other way by reason of their trade union membership or activities, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to carry out an immediate investigation into the ALFAGRES SA enterprise and in the event that the alleged acts of discrimination are proven to reinstate the trade union officials who were dismissed, and to take steps to put an end to the threats or any other form of prejudice against workers belonging to the trade union. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.
   • (c) With regard to the Trade Union of Government and Public Administration Workers (SINTRAJ), the Committee requests the Government to send without delay its observations on the allegations concerning the suppression of the posts of trade union officials and members, encouragement by the Government and public administration of an anti-union campaign to intimidate workers who wish to join the union, and the dismissal of members of the Executive Committee of the SINTRAJ enterprise. The Committee requests the complainant organization to send its comments on the statement made by the Government concerning the refusal to register the amendments to the SINTRHA statutes.
   • (d) Recalling that the Government was previously requested to take the necessary measures to enable trade union leaders and members of the SINTRATEXTILIA trade union dismissed for their legitimate trade union activities to secure reinstatement in their posts, the Committee urges the Government to take measures to this end and to keep it informed in this respect.

Z. Annex

• Allegations pending in March 1995
• Murders:
  1. (1) Jaime Elicier Ojeda (President of the Public Works Trade Union -
• SINTRAMINOBRAS) (the Government reported that judicial investigations had
• begun);
  2. (2) Alfonso Noguera (President of the Trade Union of Municipal Employees of
• the municipality of Ocaña) (the Government reported that judicial
• investigations had begun);
  3. (3) Hernando Cuadros (President of the Tibú Branch of the Workers' Trade Union
     • - USO).
  4. Attempted murder:
  1. (1) Trade union members Edgar Riaño, Darío Lotero, Luis Hernández and Monerge
• Sánchez.
• Death threats:
  1. (1) Bertina Calderón (Vice-President of CUT);
  2. (2) Daniel Rico (President of the Federation of Petroleum Workers -
• FETEPETROL);
  3. (3) Domingo Tovar (member of the CUT National Executive);
  4. (4) Víctor Ramírez (President of the Transport Workers' Union - SINTRASON);
  5. (5) members of the Executive Committee of the Single Agricultural Trade Union
• Federation - FENSUAGRO).
• Death threats and attempted murder:
  1. (1) Francisco Ramírez Cuéllar (President of the Trade Union of Workers of the
• Mineralco SA enterprise).
• Detention and raids on homes:
  1. (1) Luis David Rodríguez Pérez (former leader of the National Trade Union of
• Workers of Incora - SINTRADIN).
• Raids on union headquarters, telephone tapping, surveillance of trade union
• members:
  1. (1) A raid on the headquarters of the Single Agricultural Trade Union
• Federation (FENSUAGRO), the tapping of telephones in the union headquarters
• and of members' telephones and surveillance of the President of the
• Federation, Luis Carlos Acero by armed persons.
• Additional information presented by the complainant organization in a
• communication dated 20 October 1995
• Murders:
  1. (1) Ernesto Fernández Pezter, trade union leader of the Association of
• Teachers of César on 20 February 1995;
  2. (2) Manuel Francisco Giraldo, member of the Executive Committee of the
• National Trade Union of Workers in the Agricultural Industry (SINTRAINAGRO) on
  22. 22 March 1995;
  3. (3) Pedro Bermúdez, member of the workers' committee of the La Playa banana
• plantation, municipality of Carepa, department of Urabá on 6 June 1995;
  4. (4) Artur Moreno, member of the workers' committee of the Doña Francia
• plantation, municipality of Apartadó on 7 June 1995;
  5. (5) Antonio Moreno, treasurer of the Trade Union of Workers in the
• Agricultural Industry (SINTRAINAGRO) on 12 August 1995;
  6. (6) Manuel Ballesta, negotiator for the Trade Union of Workers of the
• Agricultural Industry (SINTRAINAGRO) on 12 August 1995;
  7. (7) 23 workers who were members of the National Trade Union of Workers in the
• Agricultural Industry (SINTRAINAGRO) on 29 August 1995;
  8. (8) William Gustavo Jaime Torres, President of the National Farmworkers'
• Association (ANUC) on 12 August 1995;
  9. (9) 24 workers from the Rancho Amelia banana farm who were members of the
• National Trade Union of Workers in the Agricultural Industry on 20 September
  1995. 1995
• Disappearances:(1) Rodrigo Rodríguez Sierra, President of the Trade Union of
  • Oil-producing Workers (SINTRAPROACEITES), Copey branch on 16 February 1995;
    2. (2) Jairo Navarro, trade union member, on 6 June 1995.
  • Physical aggression and police repression:
    1. (1) Police repression against workers from the Empresas Públicas de Cartagena
  • during a peaceful demonstration on 29 June 1995;
    2. (2) police repression against workers from the Empresas de Acueductos y
  • Teléfonos and organized peasants from Tolima who were holding a protest
• meeting on 14 August 1995. The repression resulted in the death of Fernando
• Lombana who was a member of the Association of Farmers of Small and
• Medium-sized Holdings in Tolima (ASOPEMA), the serious injury of three other
• persons and several arrests (trade union members belonging to the
• organizations that took part in the protest).
• Threats against:
  1. (1) Pedro Barón, President of the Tolima branch of the Single Confederation of
• Workers of Colombia (CUT) by members of the armed forces following his
• participation in a protest strike on 19 July 1995;
  2. (2) Domingo Tovar, member of the Association of Teachers of Sucre, who was
• arrested by members of the army and accused of being a subversive on 12
• February 1994. The judicial authorities later ordered his release. He received
• a death threat on 8 August 1995 and following an attempt on his life had to
• leave the country for several months;
  3. (3) Jorge Ortega García, trade union member, who was arrested by members of
• the army and accused of being a subversive on 12 February 1994. The judicial
• authorities later ordered his release. He subsequently received a death threat
• and is being followed by members of the security forces who are keeping his
• office under surveillance.