Anti-labor violence rises in Colombia: House testimony

[Judi Lynn]

Anti-labor violence rises in Colombia: House testimony
Submitted by WW4 Report on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 02:26.

The Colombian government has not done enough to stem the rising violence against labor union leaders or address the backlog of labor union leader killings, witnesses told the US House Education and Labor Committee Feb. 12. A leading Colombian labor think tank, the National Labor School, also testified that killings of union members jumped by 25% in 2008.

"Sadly, Colombia has been the most dangerous place in the world to belong to a labor union for decades," said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the committee. "In some recent years, there have been more labor killings in Colombia than the rest of the world combined."

The committee heard testimony from human rights advocates who said that contrary to statements from the Colombian government, violence against labor union leaders is increasing and very little has done to fully investigate and prosecute the backlog of anti-labor murder cases.

"Over the last couple of decades, Colombia’s unions have suffered extreme violence, mostly at the hands of right-wing paramilitary groups that have deliberately targeted unions," said Maria McFarland, a Latin America specialist with Human Rights Watch. McFarland said that although there was an official demobilization of paramilitaries several years ago, new groups have emerged that similarly target labor unions. "The bulk of the threats received by unionists last year have been signed by groups purporting to be paramilitaries, such as the Black Eagles."

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