Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 346, June 2007

Case No 2482 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 19-APR-06 - Closed

Allegations: The complainant organization alleges that unknown persons burglarized the headquarters of the Trade Union Confederation of Guatemala (CUSG) on 6 April 2006 stealing computer equipment, books and other documents of importance to trade union politics

1081. The complaint is contained in a communication from the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers (ORIT) dated 19 April 2006.

1. 1082. The Government sent its observations in communications dated 23 January and 19 March 2007.
2. 1083. 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. The complainant’s allegations

1. 1084. In its communication dated 19 April 2006, the ORIT alleges the severe persecution and harassment suffered by Guatemalan trade union officials, especially members of the Trade Union Confederation of Guatemala (CUSG), whose headquarters were burgled on 6 April 2006 by unknown persons who stole computer equipment, books and other documents of importance to trade union politics.
2. 1085. The ORIT states that this practice – which constitutes a violation of Convention No. 87 – has taken place at other Guatemalan trade union organizations and is becoming a systematic practice in the country. The ORIT supported by trade union organizations in Central America and the Dominican Republic, which are active in the Union Coordinating Committee for Central America and the Caribbean (CSACC), international trade union federations, the ICFTU/ORIT, the cooperating international trade unions, the FES (gathered in Guatemala on 19 April 2006, for a meeting on cooperation to strengthen trade unions), requests that the: (1) repression and all acts of harassment against Guatemalan trade union officials cease immediately; (2) competent authorities investigate thoroughly the events and establish who is responsible in the matter; and (3) Government of Guatemala guarantee respect for freedom of association in the country.
3. B. The Government’s reply
4. 1086. In its communication dated 23 January 2007, the Government summarizes the complaint as follows: the headquarters of the CUSG were burgled on 6 April 2006 by unknown persons who stole computer equipment, books and other documents of importance to trade union politics.
5. 1087. The Government states that it was informed by the Prosecutor for Offences against Journalists and Trade Unionists of the Public Prosecutor’s Office that crime scene experts from the National Civil Police (PNC) and the Public Prosecutor’s Office visited the scene of the crime and stated in their reports that: “fragments of latent prints were observed, but they lacked the necessary general and specific characteristics for identification through a comparative study”. The Prosecutor received the complaint, and subsequently the report from the PNC investigators stating that no one had been found at the premises where the offence was committed. None of those affected (from the CUSG) has so far come to the Prosecutor’s office, even though the investigation is proceeding.
6. 1088. The Government attaches a communication from the aforementioned prosecutor dated 26 October 2006 which is cited below:
7. – On 7 April this year crime scene experts from the National Civil Police (PNC) and the Public Prosecutor’s Office attended (street 12 “A” 0-37 zone 1) in this city, where the events took place, and stated in their reports that fragments of latent prints were observed, but they lacked the necessary general and specific characteristics for identification through a comparative study; they concluded in the reports that there were no lophoscopic prints that could be used for a comparative study which could not therefore be carried out as requested.
8. – The Public Prosecutor received the complaint on 17 May 2006 [...].
9. – In the report sent to the Prosecutor by the PNC investigators, it was stated that no one was found at the premises where the offence was committed. Neighbours in the area informed them that the trade unionists who worked at the headquarters had left some days earlier and that they did not know where they had moved to.
10. – None of the persons affected has so far come to the Prosecutor’s office, but the investigation is proceeding.
11. 1089. In its communication dated 19 March 2007, the Government adds some further observations to those sent previously. The Prosecutor for Offences against Journalists and Trade Unionists of the Public Prosecutor’s Office reported on the follow-up to this case, stating that on 9 November 2006 the trade unionist Mr Carlos Humberto Carballo Cabrera came to make a statement and to report intimidating telephone calls that he had received on his mobile telephone and on the office telephone, urging him to abandon the investigation into the burglary of the CUSG headquarters. On 1 February, the Prosecutor applied for authorization to demand the details of the reported telephone calls.
12. 1090. The Government sent a new report from the Prosecutor cited below:
13. (1) On 7 April 2006 at around 1 p.m., the Prosecutor received a telephone call reporting that a robbery had been carried out at the Trade Union Confederation of Guatemala (CUSG) headquarters (street 12 “A” 0-37 zone 1) of this city in the early hours of that morning.
14. (2) The Prosecutor attended the crime scene in person, with two assistants and crime scene experts. Before the arrival of the personnel from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, personnel from the Criminal Investigation Division, Theft and Robbery Section of the National Civil Police were present at the scene.
15. (3) Police Station No. 11 of the National Civil Police registered the case as No. 202, reference JLT.gem, with the Public Prosecutor’s Office on 7 April 2006.
16. (4) Mr Carlos Humberto Carballo Cabrera was summoned to Agency 07 for Economic Offences to make a statement and report everything that had been stolen, which included computer equipment, a 20-inch television set, a microwave, a scanner, a telephone with fax, minutes and account books belonging to the Confederation and an activity planner.
17. (5) On 1 May 2006, the Crime Scene Specialists Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (DICRI), sent a set of photographs and the report on the evidence found at the scene of the crime.
18. (6) On 8 May 2006, the Criminal Investigation Division, Theft and Robbery Section of the National Civil Police reported on the investigation into the burglary of the office of the Trade Union Confederation of Guatemala (CONFEDE). The reference number of the communication is 418-2006, ref. Salvador.
19. (7) On 25 May 2006, the Lophoscopy Section, Technical and Scientific Department of the Office of the Director for Criminal Investigations of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, gave the result of the lophoscopic report, which concluded that, among the prints found at the scene, there were no fragments of lophoscopic prints that could be used for a comparative study. It was therefore not possible to carry out the requested comparison.
20. (8) In its communication dated 25 May 2006, under reference No. 261 2006, ref. LFMM vinsa, the Criminal Investigation Division, Visual Inspections Section of the National Civil Police gave the names of the technicians involved in the investigation.
21. (9) On 6 June 2006, the Prosecutor received the report from the Laboratory for Processing “Smudged and Latent” Finger Prints of the Criminal Section of the National Civil Police, under case reference No. 060407-06/LPHDELGC/316-06/Ref.sdmg. According to its conclusions, the search determined that there were no matches with fingerprint records. The aforementioned fragments were also entered into the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) database, where they were not already recorded.
22. (10) On 26 October, Mr Carlos Humberto Carballo Cabrera was summoned to make a statement and to be informed of the results of the investigation, but did not attend.
23. (11) On 9 November 2006, Mr Carlos Humberto Carballo Cabrera came forward to make a statement and to report intimidating telephone calls that he had received on his mobile telephone and on the office telephone, urging him to abandon the investigation into the burglary of the Trade Union Confederation of Guatemala headquarters.
24. (12) On 1 February 2007, the Prosecutor applied for authorization to demand details of the reported telephone calls.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 1091. The Committee observes that in this case the complainant organization alleges that unknown persons burgled the CUSG headquarters on 6 April 2006, stealing computer equipment, books and other documents of importance to trade union politics.
2. 1092. The Committee notes the Government’s statements that the PNC investigators found no one at the address where the offence was committed (neighbours in the area informed them that the CUSG trade unionists who worked at the headquarters had left some days earlier and they did not know where they had moved to) and that on 26 October and 9 November 2006 one of the CUSG officials concerned was summoned to the office of the Prosecutor for Offences against Journalists and Trade Unionists of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The Committee notes that the crime scene experts of the PNC and the Public Prosecutor’s Office stated in their reports that the latent prints lacked the necessary general and specific characteristics for identification through a comparative study. The Committee observes with concern that the Government’s last reply refers to intimidating telephone calls to a trade unionist, urging him to abandon the investigation; the calls are being investigated.
3. 1093. The Committee can only deplore the limited actions of the police and the Public Prosecutor, as related by the Government, in connection with the burglary of the CUSG and the theft of its property and documents, facts which are placed moreover by the complainant organization within a more general context of persecution and harassment against Guatemalan trade union officials. The Committee notes that the Government refers to the telephone calls aimed at intimidating the trade unionist Carlos Humberto Carballo Cabrera.
4. 1094. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to reactivate and intensify the police and Public Prosecutor investigations into the burglary of the CUSG headquarters and the theft of trade union property and documents. The Committee wishes to emphasize the gravity of these events. The Committee recalls that when examining allegations of attacks carried out against trade union premises and threats against trade unionists, the Committee underlined that activities of this kind create among trade unionists a climate of fear which is extremely prejudicial to the exercise of trade union activities and that the authorities, when informed of such matters, should carry out an immediate investigation to determine who is responsible and punish the guilty parties [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth edition, 2006, para. 184].
5. 1095. The Committee states that, at present, it still lacks sufficient information to be able to determine in all certainty whether the offences had an anti-union objective or if they were acts of vandalism. The Committee recalls that the burglary of trade union headquarters and theft from trade union organizations or trade unionists are matters in which it has full competence and demands that judicial investigations be promptly carried out in order to clarify fully as soon as possible the events and the circumstances in which they occurred, so as to be able to identify, to the extent possible, those responsible, to determine the motives of the offences, to punish those responsible, to prevent the repetition of such acts and to make possible the recovery of the stolen property. The Committee requests the Government to guarantee the security of the trade unionists.
6. 1096. In these circumstances, the Committee firmly expects that the new investigations it has requested of the authorities will allow those responsible to be identified and punished severely as soon as possible, and requests the Government to keep it informed on the progress of the investigations and any judicial decision which is handed down.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 1097. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee deplores the seriousness of the alleged events, which include the burglary of the CUSG headquarters and the theft of trade union property and documents, subsequent threatening phone calls to the trade unionist Carlos Humberto Carballo Cabrera, as well as the limited investigations carried out by the authorities.
   • (b) The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures immediately to reactivate and intensify the police and Public Prosecutor investigations into the alleged offences.
   • (c) The Committee firmly expects that the new investigations requested of the authorities will enable them to determine the motives behind the offences, to identify those responsible and punish them severely, and to make it possible to recover the stolen property. The Committee also requests the Government to guarantee the security of the trade unionists. It requests the Government to keep it informed on the progress of the investigations and any judicial decision which is handed down.