JUSTICE FOR COLOMBIA

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2012 :: RMTnews 20 When most people hear of Colombia they often think of football or drug barons. Hardly anyone thinks of the real Colombia, a country that has been torn apart by civil war for more than 40 years, where trade unionists have been routinely targeted for torture and assassination by government forces and their paramilitary allies. Justice for Colombia (JFC) was set up ten years ago in response to the horrific death toll on trade union members that has seen nearly 3,000 people killed since 1985. Thousands more have received death threats, and thousands have been forced to flee. Many trade unionists have been imprisoned for their politics. Alongside trade unionists, women’s rights activists, progressive politicians, community activists, gay rights activists, environmentalists, afro-colombian and indigenous activists are also targeted by right-wing paramilitary death squads. They are among the millions that have suffered directly or indirectly as a result of the vicious armed conflict. Colombia has the highest number of internally displaced people in the world, over five million – more than Iraq, more than Sudan. Nearly 13 per cent of the population are internal refugees of some sort. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, over 50,000 brutally tortured and disappeared - more than in all the notorious South American dictatorships combined. What lies at the root of this conflict is the vast inequality that afflicts this incredibly rich and diverse country. Nearly half the population lives in abject poverty. Many more live on the breadline. Huge shanty towns surround the main cities where vast armies of unemployed subsist from day to day, falling victim to crime, drugs and violence. In many rural areas there are no roads, no schools, no hospitals. Meanwhile, less than 100 families control most of the country’s wealth and spends a quarter of the state’s budget is military-related. This situation has only been sustainable because of the violence employed against those who voice an alternative. Army officers have colluded with politicians to create ultra-right wing paramilitary groups which have killed thousands of people and continue to target government opponents. During the 1990s Colombian governments implemented Thatcherite reforms aimed at privatising the national industries, lowering taxes on the export of raw materials and ‘shrinking’ the public sector. The result has been to worsen inequality. Today Colombia’s trade unions continue to be targeted for voicing an alternative to the neoliberal agenda. Three trade unionists have been killed so far this year. Last year over 20 were assassinated. Many live and work under threat, but they can’t be free of repression until the armed conflict ends. JFC, as the voice of British trade unions on Colombia, campaigns to protect trade-union rights, and to free political prisoners, five of whom were released last year. International support has also saved the lives of many who live under threat. Colombian civil society organisations believe that the violence against them will not end until the war itself ends, and this is why JFC is supporting their efforts to initiate a peace process. To support JFC’s work on Colombia, affiliate your branch, or make a donation. You can also ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 2276 on peace in Colombia. With your help we can make a difference. Contact: Justice for Colombia 4th Floor, 75-77 St John St, London EC1M 4NN Phone: 020 7324 2490 Web: www.justiceforcolombia.org JUSTICE FOR COLOMBIA Victor Figueroa of Justice for Colombia asks you to urge your MP to sign Early Day Motion 2276 condemning widespread human rights abuses and calling for peace in Colombia