Rapport intérimaire - Rapport No. 265, Juin 1989

1. 457. The complaint is contained in a communication from the International
   • Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) dated 17 October 1988. The Latin
   • American Central of Workers (CLAT) presented its complaint in a communication
   • dated 25 January 1989, supported by a letter dated 25 January 1989 from the
   • World Confederation of Labour (WCL). The Government replied in communications
   • dated 2 February and 24 April 1989.
2. 458. Panama has ratified both 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 complainants' allegations

1. 459. The ICFTU alleges that on 19 September, three members of the Executive
   • of the Trade Union of Water and Electricity Board Workers (SITIRHE) were
   • arrested, as they were considered subversive elements for having organised
   • successive strikes to obtain wage increases and better working conditions. The
   • trade unionists affected by these arbitrary measures are Fernando del Río
   • Gaona (supervisor of electric cables, organisational secretary and former
   • secretary-general of the trade union), Luis Enrique Hurtado Jaramillo (civil
   • engineer and press and publicity secretary of the trade union) and Angel Julio
   • Corvalán Sánchez (unions' defence and labour under-secretary of the trade
   • union).
2. 460. The ICFTU adds that previously, on 16 August 1988, Isaac Rodréguez,
   • Secretary-General of the same trade union (SITIRHE), was arrested; he was
   • severely beaten during his detention.
3. 461. Furthermore, in connection with the same occurrences, the CLAT and the
   • WCL allege in their communications of 25 and 30 January 1989 that the
   • authorities intervened following legitimate claims decided upon democratically
   • by the workers grouped together in the Trade Union of Water and Electricity
   • Board Workers (SITIRHE). This resulted in the premises of the trade union
   • being searched and closed by the national guard and the trade union funds
   • confiscated; some 350 workers and 50 officials were arbitrarily dismissed and
   • more than 80 members of the trade union arrested. This gave rise to a
   • permanent persecution campaign against the trade union officials, and the
   • secretary-general of the organisation has been in exile in Spain since
   • November 1988. The WCL and CLAT point out that the trade union officials,
   • Messrs. Fernando del Río, Hurtado and Corvalán were arrested and subsequently
   • released.
   • B. The Government's reply
4. 462. In its communication of 28 February 1989, the Government states that
   • the allegations concerning the arrest of the above-mentioned trade union
   • officials are totally devoid of truth, since they disclaim any link between
   • these persons with the criminal offences committed that seriously endangered
   • collective security and the internal integrity of the State. These events
   • occurred during violent actions, which were mainly instigated by organisations
   • of a political nature in their attempt to bring about a change in the
   • constitutionally established order.
5. 463. The Government points out that the consequences of these criminal
   • actions were of such magnitude that the electric power supply was totally cut
   • off throughout the Republic for more than 24 hours; this was due to criminal
   • acts of sabotage and caused irreparable damage - even loss of life. The
   • respective inquiries determined that Messrs. Isaac Rodríguez, del Río, Hurtado
   • and Corvalán were unequivocably linked with these crimes and, consequently,
   • the investigating official ordered their preventive detention in accordance
   • with the standards laid down in the Penal Code. Indeed, section 235 of the
   • Penal Code deals with the standards transgressed; it states that "a person who
   • damages or puts out of action pipes, dams or other devices designed for
   • irrigation, conveying water and producing or carrying electricity or other
   • sources of energy shall be punished by imprisonment of three to eight years.
   • If the death of one or several persons is caused by the actions described
   • above, the penalty provided for under section 232 o)shall apply".
6. 464. The Government also adds that Messrs. Rodríguez, del Río, Hurtado and
   • Corvalán, taking advantage of their position as trade union officials, were
   • involved in promoting and conducting political activities, thus flouting basic
   • objectives to bring about the good of workers as a whole - and committed
   • crimes against the internal integrity of the State. However, the Government
   • states that the investigating official, who is at present entrusted with
   • carrying out inquiries into this case, released these persons, although these
   • inquiries have not yet ended.
7. 465. In its communication of 24 April 1989, the Government gives the
   • following account of the events: on 16 March 1988, Isaac Rodríguez,
   • Secretary-General of the Trade Union of Water and Electricity Board Workers
   • (SITIRHE), gave the order through the Board's radio, together with other trade
   • union officials and members, to shut down all the electricity power stations,
   • thus leaving the entire country without electricity for 24 hours. The
   • following day, there was a tripartite meeting at which the SITIRHE agreed to
   • give the order to restore electricity but this was not carried out since it
   • was necessary to call upon technical staff not working in the electricity
   • power stations; this caused a delay of up to 54 hours in some cases because
   • Isaac Rodríguez' original instructions had not only been to cut off the
   • electricity but also to tamper with the system and sabotage the machinery
   • enabling it to be quickly restored. At the same time the SITIRHE officials
   • were carrying out their strike on 16 March 1988, there was an attempted
   • military coup headed by a colonel who had permanent contacts with Isaac
   • Rodréguez and even had a meeting with him on 15 March 1988. Similarly, on 16
   • March 1988, there was a demonstration in the city of Panama with a massive
   • turnout of workers convened by the SITIRHE; and there is documentary evidence
   • that Isaac Rodríguez and other trade union officials were handing out arms on
   • this occasion. An arrest warrant was issued against Isaac Rodríguez on account
   • of his participation in the events of 16 March 1988 and he was charged with
   • having committed offences endangering collective security and the internal
   • integrity of the State. However, he was not arrested and remained hidden for
   • more than two months. The Attorney General also ordered the arrest of Fernando
   • del Río, Luis Enrique Hurtado, Angel Julio Corvalán and other trade union
   • officials and militants on account of the events of 16 March. It was
   • impossible to arrest these persons because they remained hidden. According to
   • the documentation sent by the Government, a total of 84 arrest warrants were
   • issued.
8. 466. On 16 August 1988, Isaac Rodréguez led a group of workers who, acting
   • on their own initiative and failing to give previous notice or seek any
   • authorisation, cut the supply of electricity to the National Television
   • Channel 2 (ERSA), causing significant material damage, disrupting public law
   • and order and obstructing the public highway, using vehicles belonging to the
   • Board. On account of this, Isaac Rodríguez and the other workers were arrested
   • and later released. None of these workers showed any signs of having been
   • beaten; in the particular case of Isaac Rodríguez, this is borne out by the
   • forensic medical report.
9. 467. Throughout the month of September, the campaign to discredit the IRHE
   • authorities and the National Government continued. The trade union officials,
   • Messrs. del Río, Hurtado and Corvalán called upon the community, by means of
   • pamphlets and radio announcements, not to pay their electricity bills. On 19
   • September, they held meetings in the workplaces at Poli, Las Tablas and
   • Torremolinos, where they ordered the workers to stop work without justified
   • grounds, thereby infringing the provisions contained in the Cabinet Decrees
   • Nos. 6 and 23 of March 1988; these state that the IRHE, as other public
   • service institutions, is an enterprise guaranteeing national security, thus
   • authorising the army to intervene if the provisions contained in the said
   • legislation are violated. In view of the circumstances, Messrs. del Río,
   • Hurtado and Corvalán were arrested on the basis of the above-mentioned Cabinet
   • Decrees and the arrest warrant issued after the events of 16 March 1988. Mr.
   • Rodréguez Armuelles sought refuge in the headquarters of the Papal Nunciature
   • until the date when he left the country for Spain as a political refugee with
   • the consent of the authorities who gave him a safe-conduct, in spite of the
   • fact that a warrant for his arrest had been issued and that he was charged
   • with the above-mentioned offences. In November 1988, Fernando del Río was
   • released; Luis Enrique Hurtado and Angel Julio Corvalán were released in
   • December and proceedings are still pending against them. They are all charged
   • with having committed offences against collective security and the internal
   • integrity of the State, with abusing authority and infringing the duties of
   • public service, with usurping public functions and committing acts against
   • public authorities, and more specifically with infringing sections 235, 287,
10. 301, 305, 306, 338, 343 and 344 of the Penal Code.
11. 468. Furthermore, proceedings were instigated to authorise the dismissal of
    • Mr. Rodríguez, who enjoyed trade union immunity in his capacity as a trade
    • union official; the Higher Labour Court authorised his dismissal on the
    • grounds that he had participated in the events of 16 March 1988.
12. 469. The Government concludes by pointing out that the judicial proceedings
    • undertaken were at no time prompted by the trade union activities of the
    • persons concerned but by serious offences against state security; there can
    • therefore be no question of infringement of Conventions in the field of
    • freedom of association.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 470. In the present complaint, the complainant organisations have alleged
   • that after strikes carried out in the electricity sector to obtain wage
   • increases and better working conditions, the authorities arrested four trade
   • union officials and 80 members of the Trade Union of Water and Electricity
   • Board Workers (SITIRHE), searched and closed the trade union premises,
   • confiscated trade union funds and arbitrarily dismissed 50 trade union
   • officials and 350 workers.
2. 471. As regards the detention of four trade union officials and 80 trade
   • unionists, the Committee notes that there is a contradiction between the
   • Government's and the complainant's accounts of the grounds for these
   • detentions. According to the Government's reply, the arrests occurred because
   • common law crimes had been committed and mainly because the electricity supply
   • had been cut off without warning throughout the country for 24 hours;
   • furthermore, this action had been accompanied by acts of sabotage and had had
   • political objectives because on the same day there had been an attempted
   • military coup by a colonel who was in permanent contact with the
   • secretary-general of the SITIRHE. On the other hand, the complainant
   • organisations allege that trade union officials and trade unionists in the
   • elctricity sector were arrested because they had taken part in a strike to
   • obtain wage increases and better working conditions. Furthermore, it is not
   • clear whether the strike in the electricity sector was legal on the day the
   • supply of electricity was cut off because, although the Labour Code authorises
   • strikes in the electricity sector - provided that notice is given and that a
   • minimum service is maintained (sections 486 and 487) - the Government pointed
   • out that on 6 and 23 March 1988 the Cabinet had issued Decrees banning strikes
   • in this sector. However, the Government did not send copies of these Decrees;
   • neither did it provide information on the reasons why the general regulations
   • on strikes were amended with respect to the electricity sector.
3. 472. In view of the marked contradictions between the allegations and the
   • Government's reply and the lack of information on several points, the
   • Committee feels that it has not been presented with enough information to
   • reach a conclusion on the allegations concerning the arrests of trade union
   • officials and trade unionists. Consequently, noting that the four trade union
   • officials in question are on bail (one of them is in exile in a foreign
   • country) and that proceedings against them are under way, the Committee
   • requests the Government to send it the text of the judgement handed down in
   • this case. The Committee also requests the Government to provide details on
   • the stage of the proceedings against the other 80 trade unionists who were
   • arrested, to mention whether they have been released and to provide the text
   • of the judgement that might be handed down in their case.
4. 473. Finally, the Committe regrets to note that the Government failed to
   • reply to the other allegations (the searching and closure of the premises of
   • the SITIRHE, the confiscation of its funds and the arbitrary arrest of 50
   • trade union officials - the Government only referred to the dismissal of the
   • official Isaac Rodríguez - and of 350 workers). The Committee therefore
   • requests the Government to reply to these allegations.