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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- 20. The Committee last examined this case, which concerns murders and
other acts of violence against trade union leaders and trade unionists, as well as
anti-union dismissals, at its March 2012 meeting [see 363rd Report, March 2012, paras
22–32]. On that occasion, the Committee: (i) urged the Government to continue to take
measures to combat impunity in consultation with workers’ and employers’ organizations;
(ii) requested the Government to provide information on the legal status of the
investigations via a list following the chronological order of the cases of violence;
(iii) reiterated its previous recommendation regarding the establishment by the
Government and the social partners of criteria for compiling the information to be
transmitted to the investigating bodies on a tripartite basis, and requested the
Government to keep it informed in that respect; (iv) again requested the complainant
organizations to submit to the competent judicial authorities any information that might
help advance the investigations; and (v) with regard to the allegations concerning the
plan known as “Operation Dragon”, whose purpose was said to be the elimination of a
number of union leaders, it invited the complainant organizations to submit comments in
relation to the Government’s declarations in response to the ruling handed down by the
Office of the Attorney-General shelving the case.
- 21. The Government sent information in communications dated May, August
and November 2012 and March and September 2013. In a communication dated May 2012, the
Government indicates that significant progress has been made in the investigations into
the murders and other acts of violence examined in the context of the complaint,
highlighting the following results: 1,504 cases have been assigned; 1,001 are active;
618 are at the preliminary inquiry stage; 336 are in the pre-trial and investigation
stage; and there have been 464 convictions with 594 persons convicted. The Government
also submits a table containing detailed information about the 1,210 cases of murder and
violence examined in the context of the complaint and includes a study conducted by the
Office of the Public Prosecutor in 2011 on the rulings issued from 2000 to 2011 by the
Colombian justice system in this respect. In a communication received on 30 September
2013 in the framework of Case No. 2761 currently before the Committee on Freedom of
Association, the Government provides aggregate statistics on the investigations into all
the cases of murder and other acts of violence against union leaders and trade unionists
(including both the cases examined by the Committee in the context of the current case
and those examined in the framework of Case No. 2761) with a cut-off date of June 2013,
highlighting the following results: 1,542 cases have been assigned; 312 persons have
been accused; 190 cases are at the trial stage; and 579 convictions have been handed
down with 599 persons convicted (533 in respect of murder cases).
- 22. In addition, the Government indicates that the Inter-institutional
Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Workers’ Human Rights has been
reactivated; the aim of this tripartite labour mechanism continues to be to discuss
trade unions’ concerns and observations with respect to the handling of investigations
into cases of anti-union violence. The Government provides information about the
meetings held by the Commission on 31 August 2012 and 6 March 2013, in the presence of
representatives of the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the
Interior, the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the social partners. The Government
indicates that the Commission in question has included on its agenda the unification of
criteria for compiling the information to be transmitted to the investigating bodies on
a tripartite basis with the aim of building consensus in that area. Furthermore, the
Government indicates that the Office of the Public Prosecutor has issued Directive No.
001 of 4 October 2012 “establishing criteria for setting priorities among the various
incidents and cases filed and introducing a new criminal investigation and management
system in the Office of the Public Prosecutor”. As part of the implementation of this
policy, the Analysis and Context Unit was established with the aim of coordinating the
information currently available in the various units of the Office of the Public
Prosecutor. The priority of this Unit, which consists of a team of five prosecutors, six
analysts and four investigators, is the problem of violence committed against trade
unionists.
- 23. The Committee recalls that this case concerns more than 1,580 cases
of murders of Colombian trade union leaders and trade unionists and acts of violence
that occurred between the submission of the complaint in 1994 and June 2009. The
Committee is compelled to reiterate strongly its indignation and its condemnation of
these crimes and recalls that at some point, such as in the early 1990s, there were up
to 250 murders a year. The Committee also wishes to recall that the main objective of
the follow-up on this case, having already examined its substance on repeated occasions,
is to put an end to impunity in each of the cases submitted to it.
- 24. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the
Government and, in particular, of the statistics relating to the progress made in, and
results of, the investigations into murders and other acts of violence against trade
union leaders and trade unionists examined in the framework of this case. While
welcoming the significant progress made between 2010 and June 2013, particularly in the
number of criminal convictions handed down and persons convicted, the Committee observes
that these results are still far from allowing the Committee to conclude that more than
1,500 murders and acts of violence examined by the Committee in this case have been
resolved and led to convictions. Further, the Committee also notes that according to the
information contained in the study conducted by the Office of the Public Prosecutor on
the rulings issued from 2000 to 2011 by the Colombian justice system in respect of
crimes against trade unionists, “only in a very small percentage of cases were the
persons convicted who incited, convinced, persuaded or ordered others to carry out the
activity in question (7.3 per cent)”. The Committee therefore urges the Government, in
consultation with the workers’ and employers’ organizations, to continue to take all
necessary measures to combat impunity and to identify both the perpetrators and
instigators of all the murders and acts of violence examined in this case. The Committee
requests the Government to keep it informed with regard to the actions taken and the
results obtained in this respect.
- 25. The Committee notes with interest the reactivation of the
Inter-institutional Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Workers’ Human
Rights. The Committee considers that this tripartite forum can play a key role in
facilitating the exchange of information necessary for the investigations to advance and
to determine any adjustments necessary to achieve their completion. The Committee
therefore requests the Government to keep it informed about the Commission’s meetings
and the results of its work, particularly with respect to the establishment by the
Government and the social partners of criteria for compiling the information to be
transmitted to the investigating bodies on a tripartite basis. The Committee also takes
note of the establishment of the Analysis and Context Unit, with the aim of coordinating
the information currently available in the various units of the Office of the Public
Prosecutor and welcomes the fact that the priority of this Unit is the problem of
violence committed against trade unionists. The Committee expects that the work of this
Unit will continue to be attributed with the necessary resources so that it can fulfil
its task of considerably contributing to the identification and punishment of the
perpetrators and instigators of all the murders and acts of violence examined in this
case.
