The International Centre for Trade Union Rights

URGENT ACTION BULLETIN: COLOMBIA, 23 January 2003

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During the past two weeks ICTUR has received the following reports of serious violations of trade union rights in Colombia:
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1- On December 6th 2002, members of the Army, the Attorney General's Office and the DAS secret police in the city of Bucaramanga (Santander department), raided the homes of Alvaro Tapias, Julio Avella, Elvis Antonio Nino, Alvaro Rivera and Saul Dala Alvarez, all well-known trade union leaders in the city. Julio Avella is also an activist with the NGO ANDAS, a member of the COEUROPA committee (the coordinating group for Colombian, European and North American human rights NGOs) and an activist with the CUT trade union federation. All of them were taken to prison in the city of Bucaramanga.

2- On December 16th 2002, in the municipality of Saravena (Arauca department) various leaders of the Saravena Community Water and Sewage Company Workers Union were detained for some hours. They were abused physically and verbally before being freed.

3- On December 17th 2002, Augusto de Jesus Palacio Restrepo, a leader of the Glass Workers Union (SINTRAVIDRICOL) was detained and later disappeared whilst he travelled along the road between the cities of Medellin and Bogotá.

4- On December 18th 2002, in the city of Cali (Valle del Cauca department), Nicodema Luna, a leader of the Oil Workers Union (USO), was detained by various men identifying themselves as members of State Intelligence. After abusing him physically and verbally he was detained in the base of the 3rd Brigade of the Army in Cali.

5- On December 19th 2002, sentences were handed down in the case of the attempted assassination of the president of FENALTRASE (the National Federation of State Workers), Wilson Borja. The two principal accused, retired Army Captain Jorge Ernesto Rojas and retied Army Officer Evangelista Basto Bernal, were each given 18 years in prison. The verdict also sentenced Jhon Fredy Pena, a former 1st Lieutenant in the Army who was involved in the attempt, to 42 months in prison.

6- On January 13th 2003, Jose Marcelino Diaz Gonzalez, Head of the 'Froilan Farias' College in the municipality of Tame (Arauca department), was assassinated. He was also the President of the Head Teachers and College Directors Association (COLDIT), an organisation affiliated, via the Association of Educators of Arauca (ASEDAR) to the main teaching union FECODE.

7- On January 15th 2003, the Oil Workers Union (USO) denounced a plan to assassinate their national president, Rodolfo Gutierrez Nino. The information arose at a time when the union was in discussions with the government and management of the state oil company (ECOPETROL) regarding an USO petition and the counter-petition by the company, regarding the elimination of workers' rights and the free exercise of union activities and their relationship with dismissals, disciplinary processes and penalties.

8- On January 15th 2003, the Attorney General of the Nation ordered that Hernando Hernandez, the International Secretary of the Oil Workers Union (USO), be preventatively detained (similar to house arrest). Hernando Hernandez is a former president of the USO and was a previous Vice-President of the CUT trade union federation Executive Committee.

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ICTUR has written to the Colombian authorities to protest these violations of trade union rights. We call for an end to the aggression and insist that the authorities implement and ensure full respect for the international legal standards that protect freedom of association.

For more information contact ICTUR: miguel@ictur.org

If you want to take action in support of these cases you can send letters of protest to the Colombian authorities at the following addresses:

President of the Republic of Colombia
Dr. Alvaro Uribe Velez
Palacio de Narino, Carrera 8 No.7-26 Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA
Fax: + 57 1 3375890 / 3420592
E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.co; rdh@presidencia.gov.co

Vicepresident of the Republic of Colombia
Francisco Santos - Consejeria Presidential de Derechos Humanos
Calle 7, No 6-54, Piso 3 Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA
Fax: 00 57 1 337 1351 E-mail: mdn@cable.net.co; infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co; siden@mindefensa.gov.co

Minister of the Interior and Justice
Fernando Londono Hoyos Ministerio del Interior y Justicia
Palacio Echeverry, Carrera 8a, No.8-09, piso 2o., Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Fax:00 57 1 286 8025 E-mail: mininterior@myrealbox.com

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