Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 327, March 2002

Case No 1970 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 16-JUN-98 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

• Murders
  61. 61 At its November 2001 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations on the issues still pending [see 326th Report, paras. 86 and 90]:
• – The Committee notes that investigations have begun into the murders of Baldomero de Jesús Ramírez, José Feliciano Vivas and Carlos Solórzano. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed with regard to these matters and to provide new information on the murders of José Alfredo Chacón Ramírez and Ismael Mérida. The Committee also requests the complainant to provide further information on the murder of Cesáreo Chanchavac.
• – The Committee notes that the Government did not reply specifically to the allegation of the stabbing of the General-Secretary of the trade union of the Hotel Camino Real and reiterates its request to the Government to indicate whether an investigation has begun into this allegation.
  62. 62 In a communication dated 7 January 2002, the Government sent a detailed statement of the action taken by the police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office since June 1999, with regard to the murder of Baldomero de Jesús Ramírez. The Government states that, regarding the murders of José Feliciano Vivas, Carlos Solórzano, José Alfredo Chacón Ramírez and Ismael Mérida, the state of the investigation remains essentially the same as that communicated to the Committee for its November 2001 meeting.
  63. 63 The Committee notes that the Government’s statements on the investigations into these murders do not reveal if those responsible have been identified. At its previous meeting, the Committee noted with grave concern that, according to the report of the direct contacts mission, the Human Rights Procurator stated that violations of freedom of association were very commonplace and that there was a high level of impunity in many labour relations and criminal cases. The Committee reminds the Government 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. The Committee hopes that the investigations and proceedings currently under way will allow those responsible for the murders to be identified and punished and asks to be kept informed. Finally, the Committee once again requests the complainant to send further information with regard to the murder of Cesáreo Chanchavac.
• Dismissals
  64. 64 At its November 2001 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations [see 326th Report, para. 95]:
• The Committee notes that the judicial proceedings relating to dismissals at the Ofelia and La Patria farms (dismissed in August 1995) and the Santa Fe and La Palmera farms are still pending. The Committee requests the Government to provide specific information in this respect, and also to provide information on the dismissals at the El Arco farm (1997) and the alleged impossibility of negotiating a collective agreement at the San Carlos Miramar farm.
  65. 65 In a communication dated 7 January 2002, the Government states that the information provided to the Committee for its November 2001 meeting has not changed and that it will keep the Committee informed of developments.
  66. 66 The Committee notes this information and emphasizes that as the allegations refer to acts that took place in 1995 and 1997, it is important that the proceedings relating to acts of discrimination should progress rapidly as an excessive delay amounts to a denial of justice. The Committee hopes that the rulings relating to the dismissals are handed down and that the negotiation of a collective agreement at the San Carlos Miramar farm make progress in the near future and requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.