Interim Report - Report No 236, November 1984

1. 639. The complaint is contained in a communication from the World Confederation of Labour of 24 May 1984. This organisation submitted additional information in a communication dated 15 June 1984. The Government replied in a communication of 4 July 1984.
2. 640. Nicaragua 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. 641. The complainant alleges that on 29 April 1984, the state security authorities arrested Luis Manuel Mora Sánchez, President of the Union of Press Workers of Managua (affiliated to the Central of Nicaraguan Workers (CTN)), and correspondent for Radio Impacto, of which the headquarters is in San José de Costa Rica. The complainant alleges that Mr. Mora is in solitary confinement, that his defence counsels have unsuccessfully applied for amparo (a writ to constitutional rights) and a writ of habeas corpus and that he is allegedly injured as a result of torture.
2. 642. According to the complainant, Mr. Mora was arrested for a broadcast on Radio Impacto in which he interviewed a group of mothers whose sons had been obliged to do military service; these mothers had not heard how or where their sons were for several weeks.
3. 643. The complainant also points out that Mr. Mora was forced, from his prison cell, to make a confession on television on 17 May, 1984 (for belonging to a guerilla organisation and colluding with diplomats from the United States in the course of his work as a journalist, etc.), and is afraid that this might be used as incriminating evidence in the trial which is taking place against him at the People's Anti-Somozan Courts. The complainant states that two editorials in the newspaper "La Prensa", which denounced this false confession as being devoid of truth and the result of considerable' pressure, were censored.
4. 644. Finally, the complainant alleges that Jorge Ortega Rayo,' member of the Union of Press Workers, has been arrested and arbitrarily accused of counter-revolutionary activities and banished to the free trade zone; it also alleges the arrest, on 2 June 1984, of two CTN officials, Antonio Benito Gómez Centeno and Numan Pompilio Calderón Araus. With respect to these two union officials, the complainant points out that their whereabouts are unknown, that the authorities deny their arrest and that applications for habeas corpus. presented by their lawyers have been unsuccessful.

B. The Government's reply

1. 645. The Government states that Mora Sánchez's arrest was not arbitrary and that he was not taken into custody for having interviewed a group of mothers whose sons were engaged in patriotic military service. Mr. Mora was arrested for activities against the order and public security of the Nicaraguan State. According to his own statements, his criminal actions had been as follows: he belonged to the counter-revolutionary group known as "Democratic Revolutionary' Alliance (ARDE)", which mounted armed attacks against Nicaragua from Costa Rican territory in order, to create a "Western Front" and, in so doing, he recruited a number of individuals with whom he planned a series of crimes, some of which he carried out. For instance, he attempted to burn down the bull ring in Managua, incited a group of workers to confront the Sandinista police on 1 May and scribbled signs (posters) with counter-revolutionary messages on highways; he also traveled several times abroad to meet with counter-revolutionary leaders in order to co-ordinate activities, pass on information on security and be paid dollars for his recruitment work and operating expenses.
2. 646. The Government concludes by pointing out that Mr. Mora is at present being tried by the competent courts in the city of Managua.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 647. With respect to the trade union leader Luis Manuel Mora Sánchez, the Committee notes that the versions given by the complainant and the Government concerning the grounds for his arrest and trial are contradictory. Indeed, according to the complainant, Mr. Mora was arrested for having broadcast on Radio Impacto an interview with a group of mothers whose sons had been obliged to do military service and concerning whose health or whereabouts they had had no news. The Government, on the other hand, denied that this had been the reason for the arrest and claimed that it was the result of criminal actions, such as belonging to a counter-revolutionary group which carried out armed attacks from Costa Rica, attempting to burn down the bull ring in Managua, inciting a group of workers to confront the Sandinista police on 1 May and writing signs with counter-revolutionary messages on highways, etc.
2. 648. The Committee concludes that the grounds for the arrest and trial of Mr. Mora, raised by the complainant and denied by the Government, are not connected with freedom of association but with the freedom of expression of journalists in the course of their duties. However, the Committee notes that although some of the grounds for Mr. Mora's arrest and trial listed by the Government are crimes in common law, others might be connected with the exercise of trade union rights; in particular, the action to incite a group of workers to confront the Sandinista police on 1 May and the posting of signs with "counter-revolutionary" messages on highways. Consequently, the Committee requests the Government to send it the text of the judgment pronounced concerning Mr. Mora.
3. 649. Finally, the Committee notes that the Government has not replied to the allegations concerning the arrest of the trade unionist Jorge Ortega Rayo and the trade union officials Antonio Benito Gómez Centeno and Numan Pompilio Calderón Araus. The Committee requests the Government to send its observations on this matter.