Employers seek ILO probe into violations of Nicaragua leading business organisation's rights

Employers requested the ILO to investigate repeated violations of the right of association, free enterprise, and private property of the most representative employers' organisation in the Nicaragua, COSEP, and its leaders.

The Employers filed their complaint against the Government of Nicaragua for persistent and serious violations of the national employers’ associations’ rights to establish a free and independent organisation, in particular the violation of the ILO Conventions on freedom of association, to organise and take part in collective bargaining, freedom from discrimination, and respect for tripartite standards.

The principal facts related to this case include:

1. Arrest and prosecution of leaders of business organisations, among them José Adán Aguerri and Michel Healy, former presidents of COSEP, and its vice-president Alvaro Vargas.
2. Seizure of the private property of business leaders.
3. Banishment and deprivation of nationality of several business leaders.
4. Smear campaigns against the business organisation.
5. Cancellation of the legal status of COSEP, which includes 18 business organisations, for alleged non-compliance with the laws that regulate them.
6. Seizure of private property and freezing of accounts of dissolved business organisations.
7. Accreditation to the International Labour Conference of pro-government employers with the purpose of replacing the most representative organisation, which is COSEP.

Employers say the progressive nature of the aggressions by the Government justifies the attention of the ILO governance. The right of association, free enterprise, and private property are at risk. The Secretary-General of the International Organisation of Employers, the global federation of employers, Roberto Suarez Santos concludes with this call for unity: “Respect for civil liberties must unite us as employers to activate the appropriate mechanisms to seek the protection of our rights and of all tripartite partners.”