Interim Report - Report No 233, March 1984

1. 550. The Committee examined this case at its November 1983 meeting, when it submitted an interim report to the Governing Body. [See 230th Report, paras. 700-726, approved by the Governing Body at its 224th Session (November 1983).]
2. 551. During the Governing Body debates (224th Session, November 1983) on the Committee's report, the Government representative of the Republic of Cuba requested that his statement to the Committee on this case be put on record as the Government's initial reply. The Government sent further observations in a communications dated 18 November 1983 and 23 February 1984.
3. 552. Cuba 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. Previous examination of the case

1. 553. The allegations referred to the sentencing of workers for having attempted to organise an independent trade union, the arrest of four lawyers and a judge for having interceded on behalf of five of the workers and the arrest of other workers for trade union reasons.
2. 554. When the Committee examined the case at its November 1983 meeting, it made the following recommendations: [See 230th Report, para. 726.]
   • (a) As regards the allegation that workers were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for having attempted to organise an independent trade union, the Committee notes that the sentence rendered by the People's Supreme Court of the Republic of Cuba on 6 April 1983 was based on acts other than their trade union activities.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to send its observations on the allegations according to which four lawyers and a judge of the People's Court of Havana were arrested merely for interceding on behalf of the five workers who were initially sentenced to death and who subsequently had their sentences commuted.
   • (c) The Committee endorses the comments of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations concerning the application by Cuba of Convention No. 87 and wishes to stress that section 3 of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 1977 aims at establishing and maintaining a single trade union system; it requests the Government to take the necessary measures to bring this provision into line with Convention No. 87.
   • (d) The Committee requests the Government to send, as soon as possible, the precise and detailed observations which it has not supplied on the allegations concerning:
   • (i) the arrest of two workers of the Pedro Marrero brewery for having suggested that an independent trade union should be set up;
   • (ii) the arrest of between 20 and 30 workers in the Central Chaparra sugar refinery for having tried to organise an independent trade union;
   • (iii) the arrest of some 200 peasants in the province of Sancti Spiritus for participating in collective protest actions.

B. The Government's reply

1. 555. Referring to the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee in its 230th Report, the Government states, in its communication of 18 November 1983, that it cannot understand the link between subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 726 of the Committee's report and that since there is no connection, the Government denies the accusation and its relation with any type of trade union activity. The Government wonders how, if it was fully proved that the initial complaint was false, is it possible to regard as valid the supposed link between the four lawyers and a judge of the People's Court and the trade unionists who were arrested, according to the complainant organisations for having intervened voluntarily. The Government points out that Cuban penal legislation grants all accused persons the full right of appeal against the decision of a competent court, and it would therefore be absurd and unnecessary for any third party to intervene voluntarily in order to secure a reversal of any sentence. Moreover, article 62 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba states: "Each citizen has the right to lodge complaints and petitions with the authorities and to receive the necessary attention and replies in adequate time and in accordance with the law." The accusation that these citizens were arrested for this reason is therefore invalid.
2. 556. As regards the existence of only one trade union organisation in each work centre, the Government refers to the replies which it supplied to the Conference Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations in which it pointed out that the unity of the Cuban trade union movement was an historical achievement of the Cuban working class dating back to 1939. This was a voluntary act on the part of the workers which dates from 1939, that is, 38 years before the promulgation of Act No. 3; the Act only reflects the historical reality. Section 1 of the Act recognises the voluntary character of trade union membership.
3. 557. The Government also states that the allegations relating to the supposedly arrested trade unionists of the Pedro Marerro brewery and of the Jesús Menéndez Central (previously known as Central Chaparra) for having tried to set up "independent" trade unions are totally baseless and are pure calumny. It states that no one in Cuba is under arrest for trade union or labour activities.
4. 558. According to the Government other calumnies relate to alleged protests by a group of small farmers against the requirement to supply part of their crop to state storage centres. It must not be forgotten that the first law promulgated by the revolutionary State was the agrarian reform law, which gave the land of the large estate owners (latifundistas) to the peasants who had been dispossessed by them. Thus, the small farmer has reason to be grateful to the Revolution and is aware of the manner in which the distribution of agricultural produce is carried out in a planned economy. For this reason he is happy to supply part of his crop to the state storage centres, at adequate prices. However, he also has the right to retain part of the fruits of his labour for his own sustenance or to sell it on the free market at a price that the farmer himself may fix. It is therefore meaningless to talk of a protest movement or of alleged imprisonment in this connection. Lastly, the Government points out that it is impossible to reply to false and absolutely groundless accusations.
5. 559. In its communication dated 23 February 1984 the Government, in addition to its previous reply, states that it wishes to repeat that: in Cuba there are no persons detained from the "Pedro Marrero" brewery for having proposed the necessity of creating an independent trade union; in Cuba there are no persons detained from the "Jesus Menéndez" sugar refinery (previously known as the Central Chaparra) for having attempted to set up an independent trade union; in Cuba there are no persons detained in the Sancti Spiritus Province for having participated in collective protest action. The Government concludes by pointing out that it has shown its willingness to, co-operate with the Committee in the elucidation of Case No. 1198, but, for the reasons expressed above, it is clear that it cannot supply details on non-existent facts.
6. 560. During the discussion of this case at the 224th Session of the Governing Body (November 1983), the Government representative of the Republic of Cuba requested that his statement on the case be transmitted to the Committee as the Government's initial reply. The Government representative specifically denied the allegation relating to the detention of about 200 peasants in the Sancti Spiritus Province for having participated in protest action.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 561. As regards the allegation that four lawyers and a judge of the People's Court of Havana were arrested for having interceded on behalf of five workers who had tried to organise an independent trade union and who had initially been sentenced to death but whose sentences were subsequently commuted, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, Cuban penal legislation grants the right to appeal against court decisions, so that it would be absurd and unnecessary for any third party to intervene voluntarily in order to secure a reversal of a court decision; the Cuban Constitution, moreover, establishes the right to lodge complaints and petitions with the authorities and to receive the necessary attention and replies, so that the accusation made is, in the Government's opinion, invalid.
   • Since the five workers on whose behalf, according to the complainant, four lawyers and a judge had interceded were sentenced, as the Committee concluded, [See 230th Report, para. 723.] for acts other than trade union activities, and in view of the explanation furnished by the Government, which denies the allegation, the Committee considers that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.
2. 562. As regards the allegation that workers were arrested for carrying out trade union activities, the Committee takes note of the Government's statements. It notes in particular that the Government describes as an unfounded calumny the allegations that supposed unionists of the Pedro Marerro brewery and the Jesús Menéndez Central (previously called Chaparra) were arrested for attempting to set up independent trade unions. The Government also denies the allegation that 200 peasants in the province of Sancti Spiritus were arrested for participating in collective protest actions. The Government also states that no one in Cuba is under arrest for trade union or labour activities. Lastly, in its communication of 23 February 1984 the Government specifically denies that workers and peasants of the places mentioned by the complainant are detained for trade union activities.
3. 563. Given that the Government denies that trade unionists are being detained for trade union activities, the Committee asks the complainant organisation to send more detailed information on these aspects of the case.