Take Action! Another Colombian trade union leader murdered in Arauca !

The information in this alert comes from the British organization Justice for Colombia and from US/LEAP. For background information, visit: http://www.justiceforcolombia.org/ and http://www.usleap.org/.
Posted October 17, 2004

Trade union leader Pedro Jaime Mosquera was found murdered with signs of torture in Arauca , Colombia , early in the week of October 3rd. While the circumstances surrounding Mosquera's death are still unclear, FENSUAGRO, his union, believes the Colombian government is responsible for his death. Mosquera was the Vice-President of FENSUAGRO (the union representing agricultural workers) in the region of Arauca .

This is just the latest in a long series of murders of union organizers in Arauca . On Thursday August 5th the Colombian Army murdered trade union leaders, Leonel Goyeneche (CUT-Arauca), Jorge Prieto Chamucero (ANTHOC-Arauca), and Hector Alirio Martinez (ANUC-Arauca) in Caño Seco, a town in Arauca . "A witness in Caño Seco said the unionists were taken from their homes and executed," said Gloria Flórez, director of the Association for the Promotion of Social Alternatives (MINGA). Two other trade unionists, Samuel Morales Florez (CUT-Arauca) and Maria Raquel Castro (ASEDAR-Arauca) were detained.

General Luis Fabio Garcia, chief of the 2nd Division of the Colombian Army, whose troops were responsible for the murders, claimed that they were killed during a military skirmish with the National Liberation Army (ELN), a guerrilla group active in Arauca . On August 7th the Bogotá daily newspaper, El Tiempo, quoted the Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe who said that the three trade unionists were carrying weapons and faced arrest warrants for "rebellion."

Human rights groups and the UN are calling for an immediate investigation of these murders.

Carlos Rodríguez Díaz, president of the CUT, the country's largest union federation, stated that "These deaths demonstrate a continued policy of extermination against Colombian unionists." The CUT has reported that 29 Colombian trade unionists have been murdered so far this year. Two of the victims had recently been approved for protection by the Organization of American States after receiving threats against them.

Take Action!

Tell the Colombian President that a full investigation into Pedro Mosquera's death is necessary and that the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

President Uribe's e-mail : ppdh@presidencia.gov.co

Please also send a copy of your letter to the Colombian Embassy in Washington D.C. at emwas@colombiaemb.org

Thank you for your continued support of Colombian trade unionists!

Sample Message:

Spanish:

Excelentísimo Señor Presidente:

Estoy conmocionado al enterarme que otro sindicalista colombiano, Pedro Jaime Mosquera, un miembro de FENSUAGRO, ha sido asesinado en Colombia recién. Me preocupa de sobremanera que la violencia contra sindicalistas continúe en Colombia a niveles horrorosos. Quisera exhortar al gobierno de Colombia a que ponga fin a la impunidad de la cual gozan quienes asesinan a los sindicalistas,  que conduzca una investigación exhaustiva de la muerte de Mosquera, y a que enjuicien a los responsables de este crimen lo más pronto posible.

Agradezco su atención y espero recibir su respuesta.

Atentamente,

[name]

English:

Dear President Uribe:

I am alarmed to hear that yet another trade unionist, Pedro Jaime Mosquera, a member of FENSUAGRO, was murdered in Arauca , Colombia recently. It is of great concern to me that violence against trade unionists is continuing in Colombia , and at horrific levels. I urge the Colombian government to end impunity for those who murder trade unionists, by immediately conducting a full investigation into Mosquera's death and prosecuting those responsible.

I thank you for your time and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

[Name]