Colombia – the most dangerous country in the world for union activists

The international trade union federation ITUC (of which the Swedish trade federations LO, TCO and SACO are members) has recently published its annual report on the situation for union activists around the world. The statistics are discouraging, in particular for Colombia. Of the 144 murders of union activists that occurred in the world, 78 were in Colombia. In addition to the murders, a very large number of threats and other acts of persecution were carried out against union activists. The Philippines are second worst with, according to the ITCU, with 33 murders. Virtually all of the murders in Colombia were committed by paramilitary groups allied to the government or by the Colombian Armed Forces themselves.

The following is an excerpt from the report:

“Colombia remained the most perilous place in the world for union activity, with 78 killings, almost all of which were carried out with impunity by paramilitary death squads linked to government officials or acting at the behest of employers. Of 1,165 murders documented between 1994 and 2006, only 56 perpetrators have been brought to trial, and a total of 14 have been sentenced.”

The EU is currently negotiating a new free trade agreement with Colombia. The EU must demand security for activists: otherwise, a trade agreement is out of the question. I will take this question up with the trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, as soon as possible.

Question to Peter Mandelson about Colombia
I sent in a question to the EU Commission today. Hopefully it will be debated in Strasbourg shortly. See below.

The international trade union federation ITUC (of which the Swedish trade federations LO, TCO and SACO are members) has recently published its annual report on the situation for union activists around the world. The statistics are discouraging, in particular for Colombia. Of the 144 murders of union activists that occurred in the world, 78 were in Colombia. In addition to the murders, a very large number of threats and other acts of persecution were carried out against union activists. The Philippines are second worst with, according to the ITCU, with 33 murders. Virtually all of the murders in Colombia were committed by paramilitary groups allied to the government or by the Colombian Armed Forces themselves.

Some time ago the EU cancelled its trade agreement with Belarus. The reason was violations of human rights, etc. More recently, the EU did the same with respect to Burma. At the moment, the EU is in the process of negotiating a new free trade agreement with Colombia.

Peter Mandelson has previously stated (e.g., in a June 5 meeting of the EU Parliament), that workers’ rights must be protected, and in cases where a country violates ILO conventions, the commissioner will react forcefully.

With reference to the above, is the commission prepared to suspend the current trade negotiations between the EU and Colombia, or, if not, how does the commission intend to act to insure that human rights are not violated in Colombia.

Jens Holm