Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 332, November 2003

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

1. 109. The Committee last examined this case at its June 2002 meeting [see 328th Report, paras. 552-569], on which occasion it formulated the following recommendations:
   • (a) Taking into account the serious flaws in the legal proceedings, both procedural and of substance, and in particular the lengthy duration of the pre-trial detention, as well as the fact that there was a denial of justice since no tribunal ruled on the requests for conditional or final release of trade union leaders, the Committee believes that all necessary measures should be taken to ensure the release of Alan Flores, Jerónimo López and Reinaldo Barreto Medina. Furthermore, the Committee hopes that the judicial bodies will speed up the proceedings, requests the Government to keep it informed of any judicial decision issued in this respect, and hopes that these decisions will be made in accordance with Conventions Nos. 87 and 98.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any proceedings that Florinda Insaurralde may bring against resolution No. 321/99 and Decree No. 7081/2000, which led to her dismissal.
2. 110. In a communication of September 2002, the complainant organizations criticize the conditions under which the trade union leaders Alan Flores and Jerónimo López are detained (a dirty and badly lit dungeon) and allege that their lives had been threatened in their place of detention. They also allege that the Judge of First Instance of the Criminal Courts violated constitutional provisions by recently refusing to liberate the abovementioned trade union leaders for having served part of the sentence imposed on them.
3. 111. In its communication of 6 September and 7 October 2002, the Government states with regard to the legal proceedings concerning Alan Flores, Jerónimo López and Reinaldo Barreto Medina that: (1) in order to hear the appeal against the sentence handed down in the first instance, as well as the appeal against other decisions, the Second Chamber of the Criminal Court of Appeal has been constituted; (2) the members of the Chamber of the Court of Appeal are collectively in the process of reading the entire content of the file and have taken measures in order that the appeal be resolved shortly; and (3) the criminal judge of justice enforcement No. 7 handed down a ruling to liberate Alan Flores and Jerónimo López for having served the minimum sentence and to apply substitute measures (house arrest) instead of preventive detention.
4. 112. The Committee notes this information and, in particular, the fact that the trade union leaders Alan Flores and Jerónimo López are currently under house arrest. However, taking into account its previous comments, the serious flaws in the legal proceedings concerning the two trade union leaders noted in the previous examination of the case, the time gone by since the sentence was handed down in the first instance (over one year) without the relevant appeal having been decided, and the fact that the accused have already served the minimum sentence imposed on them in the first instance, the Committee profoundly regrets that no measure has been taken to release Reinaldo Barreto Medina, Jéronimo López and Alan Flores.
5. 113. Lastly, the Committee reiterates its recommendation concerning the dismissal of Florinda Insaurralde and that it be kept informed of all motions filed.