Uruguay: Information on attacks against or harassment of unionists or "left-wing" political activists

Further to the information available in the REFINFO database and the documents available at your Regional Documentation Centre, please find attached some documents that provide recent (1992-94) background to union and political conflicts in Uruguay.

The Spanish-language 1992 annual human rights report by the Peace and Justice Service (SERPAJ) of Uruguay does not mention attacks or harassment affecting unionists or "leftist" political activists in 1992. However, the 1993 SERPAJ annual report mentions the assassination of three people linked to the former guerrilla group Movimiento de Liberación National-Tupamaros (MLN-T), which has been a legal political movement since 1985 (SERPAJ 1993, 34).

One of the victims was an active member of a human rights group in the town of La Paloma, the Movimiento por la Tierra (Movement for the Land) (ibid.). The Movimiento por la Tierra, an organization founded by Raúl Sendic (deceased MLN-T leader), was the target of various violent actions in the first half of 1993: swasticas and offensive graffiti were sprayed on the home of Xenia Ité (Sendic's partner), shots were fired against the movement's farm the night before the assassination of its member, a jeep belonging to the movement was forced off the road by an unidentified vehicle on the night of the assassination, and the assassination victim's widow received a death threat against her daughter the day she arrived in Montevideo accompanying her deceased husband's body (ibid.).

The 1993 SERPAJ report also refers to court actions against two MLN-T leaders who are also editors of the fortnightly political publication Mate Amargo and three journalists from the weekly Brecha (ibid., 53-54). The first two were given suspended sentences for offensive statements against the president (desacato por medio de ofensas in Spanish, according to the source), while one of the journalists was given a suspended sentence for an unproven accusation and the other two were indicted on charges of defamation (ibid.).

The attached 1992-94 documents provide some information on the current labour and political developments in Uruguay. However, the documents do not refer to attacks against or violent harassment of unionists and left-wing political activists.

Please note that the Instituto Cuesta Duarte, an information centre of the labour movement in Uruguay, could not be reached for researching this Response. The institute is closed until May, due to renovations. The pertinent sections of the 1993 SERPAJ report cannot be attached to this Response, as the report is not written in one of Canada's official languages, but it can be provided upon request, as it is a public document received by the DIRB.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Reference

Servicio de Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ), Montevideo. 1993. Informe 1993: Derechos Humanos en Uruguay.

_____. 1993. Informe 1992: Derechos Humanos en Uruguay.

Attachments

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 4 November 1993. Samuel Blixen. "Uruguay Government, Workers Tussle over Wages."

_____. 29 April 1993. Samuel Blixen. "Uruguayan Proposal Shows Option for Repression."

_____. 12 November 1992. Samuel Blixen. "Uruguayan Armed Forces Pressuring Government."

Latin American Regional Reports: Southern Cone Report [London]. 17 March 1994. "Judges, Teachers on the Warpath," pp. 6-7.

_____. 18 November 1993. "No New Policies in Run-Up to Elections," p. 3.

_____. 2 July 1992. "Spotlight on the Privatisation Law," p. 7.

_____. 28 May 1992. "Retired Officers Warn of Trouble," pp. 6-7.