Speech: CWU Annual Conference – Justice for Columbia fringe meeting

Colombia remains the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist. Thousands have been murdered in recent years, by paramilitaries and state security forces. In 2011, 29 TUs have been killed. Members of the political opposition and human rights activists also face similar repression.

A new President, Juan Manuel Santos took office in August 2010. Whilst he has improved the discourse of the government, the situation on the ground has remained the same. He was also Minister of Defence under the previous regime, when thousands of civilians were murdered by the army and their bodies then dressed as guerrilla combatants, so that soldiers received bonuses and promotions.

In the first year of the Santos regime, on average 1 activist is being killed every 3 days.

Trade unionists also face threats, displacement, imprisonment and forced disappearance.

The Santos regime is extremely concerned about improving the international image and pours resources into a slick PR machine. The Colombian Ambassador to the UK, who JFC, unions and MPs meet with regularly insists that progress is being made despite being provided with concrete examples that show the reality is very much as bad as it has ever been.

Around 5 million people are internally displaced in Colombia, violently forced off their land to make way for large-scale economic projects.

Justice for Colombia campaigns at an international level to stop these abuses and for a solution to the conflict. Their work has helped to free several political prisoners – most recently Liliany Obando, a trade unionist and academic who was freed after almost 4 years in prison without conviction.

If this meeting were taking place in Colombia, and you were Colombian trade unionists, you would probably need bodyguards and a bulletproof car. You’d all know someone who’d been assassinated or disappeared. When you left later today, some of you might be followed, others might receive death threats. This is the daily reality for our colleagues in Colombia.

I visited Colombia in 2010 and it had a huge impact on me. The stories and testimonies you hear are just examples of what Colombian colleagues face on a daily basis.

We visited La Macarena, a small town in Meta, an area with high presence of the Colombian army.

Next to the largest army base on the outskirts of La Macarena is a mass grave, which is estimated to hold hundreds of unidentified bodies. The army claims they are guerrillas killed in combat, but hearing the testimonies of locals, it is suspected that many are civilians murdered by army and passed off as guerrillas.

This visit had a huge impact in Colombia. As a result of the profile the visit had, the issue of mass graves around the country has been exposed. Our colleagues in the opposition in the Colombian congress were able to push for an investigation and they have uncovered the existence of around 20,000 bodies that have been buried in unidentified graves around the country. We are a long way from investigating the crimes, but it is a sure step towards helping to bring those responsible to justice.

That is why I’m proud to be Chair of JFC – because their work really does make a difference.