International Human Rights Day: IUF, International Unions Tell Colombian Government Impunity Must End

Posted to the IUF website 10-Dec-2003

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The IUF marked December 10, International Human Rights Day, by joining with the ICFTU and other Global Union Federations to highlight the Colombian government's abject failure to halt the routine murder of trade unionists in that country. To highlight the call for concrete action to end the impunity which applies to those who kill trade union leaders and members in Colombia, an international trade union delegation met with representatives of the Colombian mission in Geneva following a public union forum at the ILO entitled "Trade Union rights are Human Rights - Stop the Killings and Impunity in Colombia". The union delegation to the Colombian mission included IUF General Secretary Ron Oswald and Communications Director Peter Rossman plus representatives of Education International, the IFBWW, PSI, UNI and the ICFTU.

The delegation presented a letter to Colombian President Uribe demanding government action to protect the lives and security of trade unionists and their families, the prosecution of all those involved in acts of violence against union members and leaders and respect for human, democratic and trade union rights. In 2002 184 trade unionists were killed, the majority in the public sector. This year so far 63 trade unionists have been murdered. To date not a single arrest or prosecution has taken place. Impunity for those who murder trade unionists, Oswald told Mission representatives, makes the Colombian government complicit in these crimes. The international delegation explained that the ICFTU and the Global Union Federations will be mobilizing their members both nationally and internationally to increase the pressure on the Colombian government to fulfill its most basic obligation, that of defending the lives and security of all its citizens and ensuring respect for basic rights.

Colombia remains a major focus for the IUF, and Bogota was the venue for the IUF Latin American Regional Committee meeting November 28-29. The Committee, including the IUF Latin American regional secretary and the IUF general secretary, met with IUF affiliates in Colombia, the CUT leadership and with key political and human rights figures. IUF affiliates and the CUT leadership are united in support of concrete action by the government to end the impunity which underpins systematic human rights abuses. IUF affiliates and the CUT also share a commitment to strengthening unions at the workplace level, advancing the development of national union structures organized along industrial lines and securing respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining.

In the first half of 2004, a delegation made up of the IUF President, several IUF Vice-Presidents and the General Secretary will travel to Colombia to assess both the general situation and the situation in IUF sectors. In addition to the IUF's Colombian affiliates, the delegation will meet with representatives of the wider Colombian labour movement, social and human rights activists and government representatives in order to further develop policies to address the security situation and advance union organizing.