The Human Rights Ombudswoman
on the Possible Ratification of the U.S.-Central
America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
 PUBLIC
STATEMENT
Spanish
Version
As the Human Rights Ombudswoman I wish to express
my concern to the country’s authorities
and to Salvadoran society regarding the possible
ratification of the Central America Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA) prior to the end of the year,
after the Executive Branch sent the text of
the Agreement to the Honorable Legislative Assembly
on December 2. I do so based on my constitutional
mandate to monitor the guarantees and respect
for human rights in the country and to oversee
the actions of the public administration with
respect to citizens, as well as to comment on
draft legislation that will affect the exercise
of these rights and to promote all necessary
measures that will prevent their violation (ordinals
1, 7, 9 and 10, article 194.I, Cn).
1. Since the CAFTA negotiations concluded
about a year ago and the Agreement was later
signed by the various parties involved, I
have lamented the fact that an instrument
of such magnitude for the future development
and well-being of the Salvadoran population
has not involved the level of debate and participation
necessary to build consensus for the Agreement
as part of the economic and social agenda
that all men and women desire as they aspire
to a better quality of life. The Legislative
Assembly’s dissolution of its Special
Commission, which was formed to monitor the
Agreement, constitutes a setback to any attempt
to overcome this sensitive problem. Just when
the Commission’s existence would have
been most relevant, its work was not taken
into account by the Legislature.
2. I reiterate my concern about the limited
mechanisms and opportunities to obtain information
on the Agreement and, above all, the absence
of broad consultation and effective consideration
of the timely contributions to the Agreement’s
text made by a range of sectors interested
in the sensitive aspects of the Agreement,
both during the negotiation process and after
it was signed. In particular, I refer to the
well-founded fears – expressed publicly
on different occasions and in recent days
reported in the press – regarding the
lack of clarity as to the real consequences
that CAFTA’s implementation will have
on important economic activities and population
groups, as well as the absence of effective
and transparent mechanisms to prevent or reverse
these consequences.
3. The Office of the Human Rights Ombudsperson
has carried out a serious analysis of CAFTA,
based on studies and reports by institutions
such as the International Labor Organization
(ILO), the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP), and even the World Bank (WB), that
reflects the serious impact of the Agreement
on the right to work and to organize trade
unions – despite the fact that the Agreement
includes chapters on labor and the environment.
The analysis also shows the inadequate and
ineffective legal and institutional framework
that exists for the protection and defense
of these rights. Furthermore, there are significant
doubts and resistance concerning the unjust
logic of the mechanism for sanctioning violations
of labor and union rights. The burden of these
sanctions will not fall on the companies that
commit the violations but rather on the State
and, thus, on citizens whose taxes will ultimately
pay these fines. This will in no way promote
the eradication of such violations.
In light of the above and given the risk that
CAFTA will negatively affect the social peace
and the democratic spirit that should guide
the broad-based building of a prosperous, inclusive
society that can overcome social inequality
in the country, in my capacity as Human Rights
Ombudswoman and by virtue of my constitutional
mandate, I hereby call for the following:
a) To request that Mr. Elías Antonio
Saca, Constitutional President of the Republic,
instruct government authorities and their
advisors, particularly those who negotiated
CAFTA, to provide all necessary information
to sufficiently satisfy the existing doubts,
fears and disagreements of not only those
who, having participated in and contributed
to the negotiations, do not feel represented
by the final decisions made, but also of those
sectors that were excluded from the entire
process.
b) To demand that the Legislative Assembly,
and in particular its Foreign Relations Commission,
which is discussing the CAFTA text, not rush
to ratify the Agreement without gaining support
beyond that of certain business sectors. Instead,
the Legislature should generate a level of
discussion and consensus necessary to avoid
the possibility of social instability and
confrontation on very sensitive issues that
are in the public interest and thus require
full transparency and consensus-building.
c) To recommend that the Legislative Assembly
not make the mistake of ratifying CAFTA only
because a simple majority is in favor. A legal
document of this nature, involving such sensitive
issues for our country as the national territory,
Central American integration and national
sovereignty – issues that are clearly
protected by the Constitution – requires
significant discussion and debate to allow
all political parties represented in the Legislature
to properly analyze whether or not it should
be ratified.
d) To officially provide the Ombudsperson’s
Office, in light of its constitutional and
legal responsibilities, with the CAFTA text
and documents related to the Agreement’s
implementation, in which the foreseeable impacts
on the population’s economic and social
development are laid out. This Agreement is
a legal instrument that takes precedence over
secondary legislation, such as the Labor Code,
and will have similar standing to the international
norms on human rights that are part of what
constitute the legal framework to which our
Constitution responds.
In light of the above, I reiterate my strong
commitment to contribute towards building democracy
and greater understanding of the options presented
to our country so that, in a responsible manner,
the aspirations of Salvadoran men and women
to live better and more dignified lives may
be fulfilled.
San Salvador, December 13, 2004.
Doctora Beatrice Alamanni
de Carrillo
Human Rights Ombudswoman
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