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  Issue No 117 Official Organ of LaborNet 26 October 2001  

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Human Rights

Colombia's 'Dirty War' Against Unions

By Ian West MLC - Parliament House, Sydney

It might be tough being an organiser in Australia under the Howard Government, but spare a thought for Colombian trade unionists.

 
 

They are routinely targeted by paramilitary death squads, with over 3,500 killed in the last 15 years. Many more have "disappeared." And it's getting worse. But despite the situation, a message of hope was brought by representatives of the Colombian Trade Union movement who visited Sydney this week to draw attention to the situation, still the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists.

The Colombian delegation including Mr Jesus Gonzalez, Director of Human Rights Department Colombian Union Congress, and Mr Pedro Mahecha, Non Government Organisation Human Rights and Labour Lawyer visited Parliament to collect a statement signed by the majority of NSW Parliamentarians, including the Premier, Bob Carr MP, which read as follows:

"We the undersigned New South Wales ALP Parliamentarians express our deep concern at the deteriorating human rights situation in Colombia. We express our outrage at the fact that trade unionists are targeted by death squads in Colombia, with over 300 murdered so far this year.

We support the Colombian Union Congress, Human Rights supporters and the Colombian people in their struggle for social justice. We urge the Federal Government to pressure the Colombian Government to crack down on private militias and death squads which routinely target, kidnap, bash, torture and kill elected labour representatives, human rights defenders, journalists and community leaders."

Colombian workers and their communities have been involved in a 50 year popular struggle against a Government deeply implicated in the cocaine trade. The great majority of assassinations have been attributed to the paramilitaries (76% according to the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights). Reports by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have shown that despite numerous complaints, there is blatant collusion between paramilitary groups and the authorities. Amnesty international is also among those organisations who condemn the human rights situation in colombia.

The Colombian people's struggle is for better living standards and working conditions, and for political, civil, and economic rights. Currently, any right to strike is purely academic, with such actions resulting in the loss of human life. No legislative mechanism to improve wages or conditions in Colombia currently exists. The current situation aims to reduce already non-existent standards. In January 1991, Law Number 50, The Labour Reform Law, was passed. It nullified all laws pertaining to industrial relations, thereby wiping out the gains of the previous 40 years.

Meanwhile, some national and multinational companies enjoy the support of death squads to enforce miserable wages and conditions on their workers. But in a statement of defiance, Mr Jesus Gonzales told a NSW State Parliament House press conference that, "We are an example of a country in Latin America that has not yet been defeated."

Last Friday, 20 unionists and their families including women and children were beheaded by paramilitary death squads. In the last 20 days, 120 people have been assassinated by paramilitary groups. Selective assassinations and massacres are being used to create a "Reign of Terror" in Colombia.

The forced movement of Colombians has left 3.5 million with no official recognition. They have been forced from their land, possessions, family members, their cultural environment. Colombia has a population of approximately 42 million, 25 million of whom exist below the poverty line with 9 million absolutely impoverished.

According to the United Nations Economic Commission 62% of Colombians live below the poverty line.

The minimum wage equivalent in Colombia is below $300 per month, or around US$5 per day - to cover essentials such as housing, food, health and transport.

Unemployment is running at 21% according to Official Colombian Government figures, but that figure is a gross underestimate of the real level of unemployment, as Colombians are classed as being employed even for working just one hour per day.

The United States initiative to fight the "war on drugs," known as Plan Colombia, is having a diiferent effect than intended. Paramilitary groups have grown by 500% since last year's approval by the US Congress of US$2.5 billion to the Colombian military.

Disappointingly, last year the United States agreed to waive conditions pinning the money to a raft of human rights conditions. Human Rights defenders across the globe have pleaded with the Bush administration to reinstate human rights provisions in Plan Colombia, to no avail. A further $1.4 billion was approved on 7th August 2001, to continue the "war on drugs."

The Colombian delegation brought a message that the struggle will continue, in attempting to stop the violence which exists as a consequence of a political and economic system that has excluded the majority of people from the decision making process and which relies on dispossession and terror to impose its will.

Mr Jesus Gonzales stated at a press conference at Parliament House that, "We are not members of a political armed group. The Colombian Government's attempt to characterise the Colombian Unions' struggle as a terrorist struggle, is a political act aimed at destroying any possibility of social and economic liberation. This is not new. Until one year ago, 'disappearing' someone was not a crime, but since then the phenomenon has risen. There is a political genocide occurring in Colombia."

The Colombian delegation is now in Melbourne, and will shortly travel to Canberra to meet with UNHCR representatives in their attempts to gain political asylum for 10 Colombian Trade Unionists facing imminent assassination. Later they will be travelling to London to continue raising awareness and gathering support to help end the plight of the Colombian people.


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*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 117 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Brothers In Arms
Labour historian Marilyn Dodkin explains how she exposed ASIO ties with Labor Council's Cold War leadership.
*
*  Politics: Defending the Faith
Launching 'Brothers', Premier Bob Carr gave his own take on the allegations that union leaders worked with security agencies during the Cold War.
*
*  History: Surviving the Split
In this extract from 'Brothers' Marilyn Dodkin, looks at the manouverings around the establishment of the DLP.
*
*  International: Viral Attack
Postal unions in the USA are mobilizing to protect their members from the widening repercussions of an apparent bio-terrorist attack.
*
*  Unions: A Living Wage
The ACTU this week unveiled its claim for the 2002 Living Wage Case. Here's what they'll be arguing.
*
*  Campaign Diary: Week Three: Wave Them Goodbye
In a week when our boys and girls went off to war, Labor fought a desperate battle to fight the election on the home front.
*
*  Human Rights: Colombia's 'Dirty War' Against Unions
It might be tough being an organiser in Australia under the Howard Government, but spare a thought for Colombian trade unionists.
*
*  Review: Red Rag Unfurls
Ian Syson is an upfront, knockabout bloke. He heads up a new, small, independent publishing outfit called Red Rag Publications.
*
*  Satire: New Hope for Labor: Mackerras Tips Liberal Win
The electoral hopes of the Labor party have revived dramatically, after the perennially unreliable analyst Malcolm Mackerras forecast a huge victory for the Liberals.
*

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