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Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body
Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body
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114. The Committee last examined this case, relating to the trial and sentencing in the first instance for “breach of trust” of the three presidents of the trade union confederations, the United Confederation of Workers (CUT), the Paraguayan Confederation of Workers (CPT) and the Trade Union Confederation of State Employees of Paraguay (CESITEP), Mr Alan Flores, Mr Jerónimo López and Mr Reinaldo Barreto Medina, at its November 2011 meeting [see 362nd Report, paras 105–107]. On that occasion the Committee deeply deplored the fact that these proceedings have gone on for more than ten years and recalled having noted at the time that an ILO mission had visited Paraguay in connection with the case and on that occasion had stated among other things that “the court of first instance violated the principle of nullum crimen sine lege, which prohibits applying criminal law retroactively, and the sentence was handed down on the basis on a rule of criminal law promulgated after the acts at issue took place” and that “the accused have served a substantial part of the terms of imprisonment imposed by the court of first instance” [see 332nd Report, para. 122]. The Committee stated that, as it understood matters, the officials in question were for the time being at liberty – as the Committee had requested at the time – although a court sentence hung over them. The Committee again reiterated the importance of ensuring that these trade union officials were not subject to criminal sanctions including imprisonment.
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115. In a communication of 27 November 2011, CESITEP, the CUT, the CPT and the General Confederation of Workers (CGT) report that without any form of notification to their counsel, in proceedings that have lasted for more than 15 years, the executing judicial authority ordered the arrest of the trade union officials (Mr Barreto Medina has been in Tacumbú jail since 10 November where he faces all manner of health risks and Mr Alan Flores has applied for political asylum in Argentina). In a communication of 24 April 2012, CESITEP reports that Mr Barreto Medina is still in prison five months later, which brings the time he has served up to two years and eight months, which should entitle him to parole and that Mr Alan Flores is still a refugee in Argentina. By a communication of 24 May 2012, CESITEP states that the Government agreed to mediation by the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in order to look for common ground and explore possibilities for an amicable solution with the claimants, and that they have accordingly been invited to take part in a forum for dialogue, but that the Government seeks only to prolong the process. CESITEP adds that Mr Barreto Medina has already been imprisoned for seven months, that he has completed two-thirds of the four-year sentence, that the prison officers describe his conduct as exemplary, yet despite all this he has not been granted the parole that section 51 of the Penal Code entitles him to. In its communication of 25 October 2012, the CESITEP informs that, on 20 July, the trade union leader Barreto Medina was released on probation but that the Public Prosecutor has appealed the decision.
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116. The Committee takes note of this information and requests the Government to send its observations concerning the communications of the CESITEP. It also requests the Government to ensure that Mr Alan Flores is able to return to Paraguay without being arrested in connection with these proceedings.
