Trading away human rights in Colombia: "Hear for yourself"

COLOMBIA/EUROPE: "Only the words and tone of voice have changed, the political and economic policies, the "Democratic Security" doctrine, the assassinations of unionists, opposition and population are the mere extension of the previous eight years of the Uribe Government, meaning this will probably continue for at least four years more ," warns Tarcisio Mora, CUT President, in the Hearing on Colombia, convened by Justice for Colombia, in Brussels on December 7.

"This Government clearly represents the interests of the business class and the major TNC's in Colombia and by imposing the so-called "democratic security" it excludes the majority of the Colombian people and violates their most basic rights to life and land and work," continued Hernando Hernandez, a Colombian Congressman representing indigenous peoples .

Despite Juan Manuel Santos's promises as the new Colombian President to commit to respect human rights, the members of the high-level delegation from Colombia reported that since Santos came into office this year the assassinations have continued with several mass murders including children raped and tortured, 40 unionists assassinated, death threats made against 24 other unionists, 12 Polo Democrático (opposition party) activists killed, and continued reports of the involvement of the Colombian Army, paramilitary and state security forces in most of these cases. Impunity and violence against opposition continue to reign. For more details on the speakers see the flyer here.

In this context of what is becoming well known as "State terrorism" the figures are staggering; 4.5 million displaced persons, 10 million hectares of land turned over to paramilitary bosses, 20 million people living below the poverty line and 8 million unemployed. But despite these facts, the EU is clearly putting economic interests before human rights in considering to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the Colombian Government in 2011. See here the Justice for Colombia report "Trading Away Human Rights" for more details.

Following the hearing, the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) participated in a meeting on December 7 with representatives of European trade unions, global union federations and Workers Uniting to discuss how to continue informing and engaging the EU Parliamentarians about the dramatic human rights situation in Colombia and the unacceptable precedent this would set for other FTA's in discussion for example in Latin America. IMF stressed the importance of coordinating efforts among our European affiliates, in particular, to reinforce awareness among the union and political leadership to refuse the signing of this agreement, which does not guarantee any benefit to Colombian workers and society.