The International Centre for Trade Union Rights

COLOMBIA BULLETIN 20: 5 May 2004

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During past month ICTUR has received the following reports from Colombia, including serious violations of trade union rights:
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1 March: A man and a woman were arrested in Cali, capital of the department of Valle del Cauca, during a demonstration of the local branch of the CUT and the courts and legal services workers' union ASONAL JUDICIAL. The woman had a digital camera hidden in her book and she was filming the trade union leaders and the people attending the meeting.

3 March: Ångel Rodríguez, former President of the Assembly of Municipal Action and a member of the peasant farmers association of Tolima, ASOPEMA, was murdered when paramilitary groups broke into the health centre where he worked.

4 March: Luis Torres Pérez, an activist of the health workers' union ANTHOC was murdered by unknown armed assailants. Paramilitary groups have been threatening members of this union since September 2003.

8 March: Rafael Carvajal Peñaranda, leader of the Cúcuta section of SINALTRAINAL and a worker at the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the city, won a Labour Court hearing against his dismissal from the factory. The SINALTRAINAL leader complains that he has been unjustly suspended many times.

8 March: According to a report from the Colectivo de Abogados "José Alvear Restrepo", Gilma Culma Sanchez, an activist of the Tolima Department agricultural workers' union SINTRAGRITOL was arbitrarily detained without a judicial order by the military forces of the battalion JAIME RUTH of Ibagué.

9 March: SINALTRAINAL reports that the managers of the Coca-Cola bottling plants in the cities of Cúcuta and Cartagena locked the factory doors and demanded that the workers resign their positions. The workers refused and vowed to continue their ongoing dispute with the company.

9 March: during a press conference by the state mineworkers' union SINTRAMINERCOL, armed men tried to enter the office of the trade union. The union claims that two of the group of 25 men were members of Colombia's DAS (Administrative Department of Security). The leaders of SINTRAMINERCOL have been victims of threats, persecution and murder attempts on several occasions.

10 March: Estela Romero and Luz Martina Vargas, members of the health workers' trade union ANTHOC, were attacked by unknown assailants who threatened their lives and stole documents from the pair.

11 March: the son of Luis Eduardo García, leader of foodworkers' union SINALTRAINAL in the city of Buraramanga, was surrounded by a group of unknown persons who threatened him for being the son of a trade unionist.

15 March: members of SINALTRAINAL employed at Coca-Cola bottling plants across Colombia started a hunger strike in front of factories in Barrancabermeja, Bogota, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Medellín, and Valledupar. The workers are protesting against the firing of 91 co-workers, the majority of whom were trade union activists and local leaders.

15 March: just four hours after the start of their hunger strike, Euripides Yance, president of the SINALTRAINAL section in Barranquilla, said that he had been threatened with death by paramilitary groups.

15 March: José Elías Chanchi, a member of the management committee of the Cauca Department teachers' trade union ASOINCA, was murdered by unknown assailants.

16 March: two cars with black windscreens stopped in front of the Coca Cola plant in Cali. At the same time the local President of the striking foodworkers' union SINALTRAINALsays that he received death threats on the telephone.

16 March: Rosa Maria Daza, a member of the management committee of the Cauca Department teachers' trade union ASOINCA, was murdered by unknown assailants.

19 March: the management committee of the foodworkers' union SINALTRAINAL in Valle del Cauca received a communiqué signed by paramilitary groups, containing threats to the life of the union leaders.

26 March: the management of Coca Cola's Colombian bottling plants agreed to negotiate with the foodworkers' union SINALTRAINAL and consequently the hunger strike (see above, 15 March) ended. The company stated it would not carry out reprisals against the participants in the strike and it would withdraw the sanctions adopted against the workers.

28 March: Alexander Parra, a member of the teachers' union SINDIMAESTROS-FECODE, was assassinated in the city of Chiquinquirá, department of Boyacá.

29 March: Hernando Hernandez, vice president of the national oil workers' union USO, was released after more than 14 months' detention under house arrest. A judge ordered his release after two key prosecution witnesses admitted to taking bribes. During recent months more than 33 trade unionists of USO have been imprisoned, five of them still face judicial charges.

31 March: Luz Perly Córdoba, local leader of the Arauca peasant farmers' association, who has been detained by the authorities in the city of Bogota since 18 February 2004, was awarded the Danish Peace Price in recognition of her work to defend the human rights of Colombia peasants.

12 April: in the city of Floridablanca, department of Santander, the workers of the company LECHESAN declared an occupation of the company to denounce the violations of their legal rights by the administration of the company.

14 March: Edgar Perea, vice-president of the metalworkers' union SINTRAMETAL-Yumbo, was the victim of an attempted assassination. Perea survived the attempt, but his brother, Raúl Perea Zúñiga, was seriously wounded in the attack and died shortly afterwards.

14 March: Onofre Esquivel, a member of the national committee of foodworkers' union SINALTRAINAL, was assaulted in his house. The trade unionist had received death threats by paramilitary groups in several occasions and his house has been repeatedly raided by the statesecurity forces. The latest assault occurred during negotiations between the trade union and the management of Nestlé's Bugalagrande factory.

15 April: Carlos Alberto Chicaiza, General Secretary of the Varios postal workers' union SINTRAEMSIRVA, was murdered while he was travelling from Cali to Palmira in Valle del Cauca.

15 April: The IUF-affiliated foodworkers' union SICO reached agreement with the Carepa Coca-Cola bottling plant following weeks of negotiations. The union has resisted management plans to restrict trade union rights at the plant.

20 April: the office of the National Service of Apprenticeship-SENA in Cali was taken by the military forces who blocked the access to the workers and students. The worker and student groups had declared an occupation to protest against the privatisation of SENA.

20 April: Gabriel Remolina and his wife were murdered and their two children wounded when armed men broke into their home. One of the wounded children died later in hospital. Remolina was the brother-in-law of Efraín Guerrero, leader of the Bucaramange branch of the foodworkers' trade union SINALTRAINAL.

22 April: the oil workers' trade union USO has called a general strike in protest against the government's decision to privatise the state oil company ECOPETROL. The government has declared the strike illegal, militarised oil plants and denied access to trade union leaders and workers.

4 May: as many as 22 leaders and activists of the oil workers' trade union, USO, have been dismissed from their jobs because of their participation in the national strike, including Gabriel Alvis, President, Hernando Herndández, Vice President, Danilo Sánchez, General Secretary and Roberto Schalbach, Secretary.

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ICTUR has written to the Colombian authorities to protest against the continuing violations of trade union rights. ICTUR calls for an end to the aggression and insists 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 1 566 2071
E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.co;

Vicepresident of the Republic of Colombia
Francisco Santos - Consejeria Presidential de Derechos Humanos
Carrera 8A No. 5-57, Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA
Fax: 00 57 1 566 2386
E-mail: fsantos@presedencia.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 1 566 3234
E-mail: ministro@minjusticia.gov.co

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