The International Centre for Trade Union Rights

URGENT ACTION BULLETIN: COLOMBIA, 12 February 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 6th January, William Mendoza, the president of the food workers' union, SINTRAINAL, in the city of Barrancabermeja, received a telephone call. The caller claimed that he was the local political commander of the paramilitaries and that he needed to talk to William.

2. On 17th January, William Mendoza's daughter received a call from an unknown person who told her to tell her parents to be careful. The caller then said "you study in the Diego Hernandez College and your brother is at this moment in front of your house. Be careful". She does indeed study in the Diego Hernandez College and her brother was at the time in front of the house. This indicates that the home and family of the union leader are being watched by the paramilitaries and that William Mendoza is in great danger.

3. On 18th January, in the municipality of Morroa in Sucre department, members of the armed forces detained a leader of the local agricultural workers' trade union SINDAGRICULTORES. Nubia Esther Gonzalez, who is still in detention, is also the daughter of the President of the union, Etelberto Gonzalez.

4. On 18th January, the home of trade union activists Policarpo Camacho and Gloria Holguin was raided and both were detained. They are members of the executive committee of the agricultural workers' trade union in the Calarca region although the authorities presented both trade unionists to the media as owners of a clandestine clinic for FARC guerrillas. The trade union describes this as a montage created by the state security in their efforts to eliminate those trade unions that struggle for agricultural workers' rights.

5. On 21st January, Abelardo Barbosa Paez, a member of the agricultural workers union, FENSUAGRO, was assassinated whilst he travelled by motorcycle from his home to his place of work in the city of Puerto Wilches in Santander department.

6. On 27th January, the Association of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared, ASFADDES, announced that trade unionist Luis Carlos Usuga Martinez, who worked at the University of Cauca, had left his home in the city of Popayan on 23rd November and has not been seen since. He was well known for his union activities at the University and was believed to be in great danger from paramilitary forces. The paramilitaries have declared a large number of public education workers, and specifically members of public education trade unions, to be military objectives.

7. The Colombian Government has ordered the Superintendent of Public Services to start liquidating EMCALI, the Municipal Company of Cali. The union points out that the order was given just prior to the first anniversary of the accord between the Colombian government and the workers of EMCALI, in which the government agreed not to liquidate the company. On 29th January, an event organised by the union to protest against the looming privatisation was violently attacked by the police in Cali and various people, including members of the union, were detained.

8. At the beginning of February the Colombian government removed security measures which had been in place to protect the life Guillermo Rivera Zapata, vice-President of the rural workers union, SINTRAINAGRO. The removal of these security measures is contrary to recommendations from the international agencies which require Colombia to protect the lives of trade unionists.

The situation facing the CUT trade union federation in 2003
During last year trade unionists affiliated to the CUT faced persistent and extremely serious violations of their human rights. The CUT has provided information showing that some 172 members were assassinated, 164 threatened with death, 26 kidnapped, 7 forcibly disappeared, 132 arbitrarily detained and around 80 others forced into exile.

These violations were the direct consequence of the trade union activity of the victims. Of the 172 assassinations in 49 cases, or 28 per cent of the total, the victims were union leaders whilst they also received some 53 per cent of the death threats and 67 per cent of the physical attempts. Of the three trade union federations the CUT continues to be hardest hit, with the affiliated Colombian Federation of Educators (FECODE) alone suffering from 79 assassinations, some 45.9 per cent of the total. In 6.14 per cent (33 of the total cases) the victims were female union members, the majority working in the service sector.

Last year the Arauca Department regional headquarters of the National Association of Hospital Workers, ANTHOC, were raided by the security forces without any type of judicial order or search warrant. The police and army searched the home of Jorge Prieto, the ANTHOC President, on three separate occasions, 12th, 17th and 19th November. Currently one member of the union executive and four ANTHOC members are being held in prison.

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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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