International Commission for Labour Rights: launch of Colombia mission report
On Saturday 12 June, the ICLR presented the findings of its inquiry into trade union rights violations and impunity in Colombia to a high profile meeting of trade unionists and labour lawyers in Geneva, Switzerland.

Colombian lawyer Miguel Puerto described how thousands of trade unionists have been murdered with almost total impunity. The report, he said, demonstrates a clear set of recommendations aimed at all relevant actors in the country.

Welcoming the ICLR report, the leader of the USO oilworker's union Gabriel Alvis said that Colombia's trade unionists would continue to risk their lives and liberty in defence of their jobs and democracy.

ICLR has now begun the urgent task of promoting the report to trade unions, governments, employers and civil society organisations worldwide.

Background
Throughout the world a number of trade unionists are killed because they are trade unionists. It is an astonishing fact that over three quarters of those individuals who have been murdered are Colombian. In 2002 the death toll was 184, in 2003 there were 90 murders. Alongside the murders came countless death threats, kidnappings, torture, arrests, and attempted assassinations.

In respect of almost 4,000 murders of trade unionists since 1986 there has been almost 100 percent impunity - there were just five convictions for these murders between 1986 and 2002.

In the last week of March 2004 the International Commission for Labour Rights sent a mission of legal experts to Colombia to investigate violations of the right to life and liberty of trade unionists, the crisis of impunity that surrounds these violations and the systemic and systematic failings in the Colombian justice system that allow the violations to continue. The participants were:

About the ICLR
The International Commission for Labour Rights was formed in response to an urgent need to defend the fundamental rights of working people worldwide. The initiative for the Commission lies with the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and the International Centre for Trade Union Rights.

The Commission brings together the world's leading labour law experts to undertake high profile actions to investigate labour rights abuses and fundamental breaches of ILO Conventions and the United Nations Charter.

For more information, please contact:
International Commission for Labour Rights
177 Abbeville Road, London, SW4 9RL, UK
tel: +44 (0) 20 7498 4700, fax: +44 (0) 20 7498 0611
url: www.labourcommission.org, e: info@labourcommission.org