Document #1340426
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Information on a union named SECAMAT could
not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
However, a 26 July 1996 letter from the
Confederación de Trabajadores de Honduras (CTH,
Confederation of Honduran Workers) states that SEPCAMAT is a
legally registered organization (personalidad juridica No. 252),
founded on 30 May 1975, with a present membership of 700
individuals. The organization is affiliated to the
Federación Central de Sindicatos de Trabajadores Libres de
Honduras (FECESITLIH, Central Federation of Unions of Free Honduran
Workers) and to the CTH.
According to the CTH, from 1989 to 1992,
leaders and members of SEPCAMAT faced persecution for political
reasons, including massive dismissals and state intervention in the
organization's affairs. Of the union's 4000 members, only 700 have
retained their membership.
A copy of the CTH letter, which is in
Spanish, is available from the DIRB upon request.
Please consult the attachments for
information on the involvement of SEPCAMAT and FECESITLIH in
protests and strikes in the spring of 1991.
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
Confederación de Trabajadores de
Honduras (CTH), Tegucigalpa. 26 July 1996. Letter received by the
DIRB in Spanish.
Attachments
Agence France Presse (AFP) [Paris, in
Spanish]. 7 May 1991. "Government Workers Strike to Protest
Dismissals." (FBIS-LAT-91-088 7 May 1991, p. 13)
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) [Hamburg,
in Spanish]. 10 April 1991. "Public Workers Continue Strike; Troops
Deployed." (FBIS-LAT-91-070 11 Apr. 1991, p. 7)
La Tribuna [Tegucigalpa, in Spanish]. 10
April 1991. "President Deems Strike 'Irresponsible'."
(FBIS-LAT-91-070 11 Apr. 1991, pp. 7-8)
Televisora Hondurena [Tegucigalpa, in
Spanish]. 9 April 1991. Reported by Carlos Riedel. "Central Labor
Federation Calls General Strike." (FBIS-LAT-91-068 9 Apr. 1991, p.
17)