Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 391, October 2019

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

1. 24. The Committee last examined this case, relating to the trial and sentencing for “breach of trust” of the three presidents of the trade union confederations, the Paraguayan Confederation of Workers (CPT), the United Confederation of Workers (CUT) and the Trade Union Confederation of State Employees of Paraguay (CESITEP), Mr Gerónimo López, Mr Alan Flores and Mr Reinaldo Barreto Medina, at its March 2017 meeting [see 381st Report, paras 69–72]. On that occasion, the Committee lamented Mr Gerónimo López’s death while in hiding and as a fugitive from justice, and expressed its regret that Mr Alan Flores continued to reside abroad as a fugitive from justice and that the Public Prosecutor’s Office had appealed against the decisions granting Mr Reinaldo Barreto Medina conditional release and quashing his sentence. The Committee requested the Government to keep it informed of the status of the proceedings against the union leaders, including the outcome of the appeal of the Public Prosecutor’s Office against the decision quashing Mr Barreto Medina’s sentence.
2. 25. The Committee notes that, by communications of 27 May 2018 and 9 June 2019, CESITEP indicates that the proceedings against the three presidents of the trade union confederations, which had commenced 22 years ago, had not yet concluded, and that since 2012 the Public Prosecutor’s Office had been appealing against the decisions granting conditional release and quashing the sentence of Mr Barreto Medina. CESITEP emphasizes that, without prejudice to the fact that Mr Barreto Medina was convicted in 2001 and received a four-year custodial sentence, since 2001 Mr Barreto Medina has spent: (i) two years and two months under house arrest at the CESITEP premises; (ii) eight years on parole with strict rules of conduct; (iii) eight months as a political prisoner in the Tacumbú prison; and (iv) the last seven years on conditional release with drastic rules of conduct, including not being able to leave the country unless authorized by the judge.
3. 26. The Committee expresses its regret at the fact that the Government has not sent any communications on the case since it was last examined. It also notes with concern that, according to the information provided by the complainant organization, the judicial proceedings concerning Mr Barreto Medina, which commenced two decades ago, have not yet been concluded. The Committee notes that this situation has reportedly arisen as a result of the appeals lodged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office against the decisions ordering his conditional release and quashing the sentence.
4. 27. The Committee considers that, when appeals are lodged against decisions ordering conditional release and quashing a sentence, as is the case with Mr Barreto Medina, the proceedings must be conducted without delay. Noting with concern the 20-year delay in the judicial proceedings, the Committee recalls that justice delayed is justice denied [see Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association, sixth edition, 2018, para. 170]. In these circumstances, the Committee firmly expects the judicial proceedings to be concluded shortly and requests the Government to inform it of the outcome.