TUC protest letter
7 June 2010
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber has written yet again to the Colombian Ambassador to protest about the murder of two Colombian trade unionists and threats against a third. The latest deaths were on top of twenty-five murders in the first four months of 2010: demonstrating that despite Colombian government claims, the murder rate is not falling.
The letter follows:
Ambassador Mauricio Rodríguez Múnera
Embassy of Colombia
3 Hans Crescent
London SW1X OLN
Dear Ambassador
On behalf of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) representing British workers and the 6.3 million members of our affiliated unions I regret that I have to write once again to raise our concerns in the strongest possible terms over the assassinations of Leslien Torcoroma Peñaranda Blanco and Francisco Antonio Abello Rebollo, and the threats levelled against Daíro Rúa.
According to the information received by the TUC, these trade unionists were murdered or threatened on account of their trade union activities:
Your government has gone to great pains to argue that there has been a dramatic fall in the number of trade unionists being assassinated. Tragically the facts on the ground continue to contradict this.
The ongoing killings - which as we have already highlighted this year are continuing to run at the rate of more than one a week (25 in the first four months of the year) - indicate that contrary to the assurances given by your Government to the international community, little is being done to safeguard the lives of trade union members and activists in Colombia, or investigate and prosecute such murders.
I must again restate our position that until this situation is rectified, the British trade union movement will continue to urge our own Government to end their political and military support for the Colombian Government and oppose the signing of any bilateral trade agreements between the EU and Colombia.
I look forward to hearing from you regarding what measures are being taken to find and prosecute the murderers in these cases.
Yours sincerely
Brendan Barber
General Secretary
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