Significant Increase in Forced Displacement and Disappearance of Colombian Union Members in 2007

Ninety-five trade unionists were forcibly displaced in the first eleven months of 2007, up from seven in 2006, according to a new report from the Escuela Nacional Sindical, a leading Colombian labor rights organization. Eleven union members were disappeared in the same period, more than doubling the 2006 figure.

Cases of armed harassment and arbitrary detention continued at 2006 levels, while December numbers indicate that there may be a small decrease in death threats when final 2007 numbers are released later this year. The total number of 2007 violations had reached 384 as of December 1st, while that number was slightly lower at 382 for the full twelve months of 2006.

In spite of the “demobilization” process, paramilitaries continue to be responsible for these crimes in the majority of cases in which perpetrators can be identified.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe downplayed the ongoing and systematic violence against trade unionists in Colombia repeatedly in 2007 in statements to Members of Congress and the press. In December, Uribe was quoted in a Washington Post Writer’s Group article claiming that only 17 trade unionists had been murdered in 2006, while the Escuela Nacional Sindical reports that 72 were killed during the year.