Dear Mr. President,

On behalf of the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confédération (ITUC-Africa) we would like to express our outrage at the recent murder of our comrade CARLOS HERNÁNDEZ in your country.

We have been informed that at approximately 8.30 on the 8 March, CARLOS HERNÁNDEZ was brutally shot by unknown assailants on a rural road in the municipality of Camotán, 210 km to the southeast of the Guatemalan capital.

He was 53 years old and the Culture Secretary of the Executive Bureau of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Salud de Guatemala (SNTSG).

Mr. President,

We unreservedly condemn the murders that continue to occur in Guatemala which have left numerous families and the trade union movement bereft. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is not fulfilling its responsibilities in the face of such atrocities.

We are outraged at the knowledge that governmental responses and reports issued through the Ministry for Labour and Social Services, argue that the murders are not in any way related to trade union activities.

We call upon your government to respect the right to trade union freedom and the lives of Guatemalan trade unionists and we urge you to take steps together with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Judiciary in order that these crimes do not go unpunished. We demand that a full and impartial investigation be undertaken and that all material and intellectual authors of the crime be appropriately punished.

We would like to thank you, in advance, Mr President, for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Kwasi Adu-Amankwah

General Secretary