Definitive Report - Report No 137, 1973

1. 30. The complaint of the Latin American Central of Workers is contained in a communication dated 29 June 1972. This complaint was supported by the World Confederation of Labour in a communication, dated 22 August 1972.
2. 31. The Government submitted its observations on the complaint in a communication dated 26 March 1973.
3. 32. Uruguay 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. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 33. The complainants state that they were informed by their national member organisation of Uruguay that on 5 May 1972 one of their best active trade unionists, Mr. Luis Batalla, who worked in the construction industry, died as a result of torture inflicted upon him in a barracks situated in the interior of the country. According to the complainants, the post mortem revealed that his liver had been ruptured, that he had cuts on the head and the heels and numerous bruises over his entire body caused by the ill-treatment he had received.
2. 34. The observations of the Government on this complaint are very detailed and are summarised as follows: Mr. Luis Carlos Batalla had been detained on 22 May 1972 on account of his membership of a subversive organisation self-styled the National Liberation Movement (Tupamaros). The investigation revealed that he had been recruited for this organisation approximately a year previously. After carrying out information tasks of relative significance, he acquired greater importance within this subversive movement acting as a recruiter and head of a group. On 4 April 1972 he went under cover and joined a camp of this organisation. There, and subsequently in the city of Treinta y Tres, he plotted the death of an officer of the armed forces and a police officer as well as the capture of a radio transmitter in order to explain the causes of this act.
3. 35. On 3 May 1972 his capture was requested through the intervention of the police and, between that date and 22 May, when he was arrested, he remained in hiding in various places. His death occurred on 24 May 1972 in a military unit of the department of Treinta y Tres. Mr. Batalla had fainted after having been taken out of the place where he had been interrogated and had hit the edge of a flowerbed. The head of the Health Service of the military unit concerned diagnosed "death through a possible cardio-vascular or cerebral attack" since he did not present any external signs that might indicate another cause. That same night measures were taken to call in the military investigating judge, who ordered a post mortem. This was carried out on 25 May, the findings being "death through acute anaemia caused by a rupture of the liver". According to the doctor it was necessary to take into account the blow sustained when he fell in a faint and the state of obvious weakness due to malnutrition and fatigue as a result of his being a fugitive.
4. 36. The chief of the military region concerned immediately went to Montevideo to see the Minister of National Defence. As a result of this interview it was decided that he should personally carry out an exhaustive investigation into the facts and immediately remove the commanders and officers who were presumed to be involved in the case.
5. 37. According to information received from the military investigating judge inquiries were being continued in order to clarify the facts in accordance with the preliminary procedure.
6. 38. The Government in its communication stated that the fact that had led to the complaint in question was part of the picture of grave terrorist subversion against which the forces required under the Constitution and the laws to defend national legal order had been called upon to struggle undauntedly. It was not a question of fighting a delinquency accustomed to committing criminal offences by ordinary means, or openly opposing public authority. It was a question of dealing with one of the most perfected forms of terrorism, perhaps even the most perfected in the world and, without a doubt, the most dangerous and intolerant. During the struggle hundreds of suspects had passed through the investigating courts, the numbers of investigations, searches, interrogations, etc., growing till truly unusual figures had been reached. All this had required, it should be recalled, laborious, self-sacrificing and risky work and the keeping of hours which usually left no time for the minimum of rest.
7. 39. The Government concludes by saying that, in addition to carrying out the administrative and judicial investigations, Parliament exercised the control functions that are proper to it. The Minister of National Defence was required to explain to the Chamber of Representatives the circumstances of the death of Mr. Batalla and after the information had been given the Chamber approved the following motion: "The Chamber of Representatives expresses its confidence that the armed forces of the Republic , in accordance with their unchanging historic tradition, will comply with the Constitutional and legal standards which lay down in all circumstances respect for the dignity of the human person. And in the face of the lamentable facts which led to the question raised in the Chamber, facts that make it clear that a citizen died through the ill-treatment received during his detention, it demands utmost speed in the proceedings and the public disclosure of those guilty and the penalties imposed upon them."

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 40. The Committee takes note of this information and cannot but deplore the circumstances surrounding the death of Luis Carlos Batalla as narrated in the statement made by the Government. The Committee has repeatedly pointed out that it should be the policy of every government to ensure observance of the rights of man, and especially, of the right of all detained or accused persons to receive a fair trial at the earliest possible moment. The safeguards of normal judicial procedure should not only be embodied in the law, but also applied in practice. Similarly, the Committee has always emphasised the importance it attaches to the principle of prompt and fair trial by an independent and impartial judiciary in all cases, including cases in which trade unionists are charged with political or criminal offences. With respect to allegations of ill-treatment, the Committee has pointed out the importance it attaches to the right of trade unionists, as of all other persons, to enjoy the guarantees afforded by due process of law in accordance with the principles enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2. 41. In any case the Committee considers that in the present case it has received from the Government information which shows sufficiently precisely that the measures taken had no connection with the exercise of trade union activities but were the result of activities carried out by Mr. Luis Carlos Batalla and unconnected with trade unions.