UK Trade Union leaders face death squad

A dozen trade union leaders, a former minister and MPs will face a paramilitary death squad outside Parliament in protest against the UK Government’s continued military assistance to Colombia.

Organised by campaign charity War on Want and trade union solidarity group Justice for Colombia, General Secretaries from 12 trade unions and former foreign office minister, Tony Lloyd, will highlight the terror campaign being waged against the Colombian trade union movement at a press conference on College Green. Some participants will be handcuffed and gagged in a show of solidarity with the Colombian trade union movement which saw 184 of its members killed last year alone.

The executions will be timed to coincide with the opening day of a UK-convened aid summit on Colombia, which NGOs and trade unions in Colombia fear will channel humanitarian assistance away from civil society.

Commenting on the planned protest, Frances O’Grady, Deputy General Secretary of the TUC, said: “It is well documented that paramilitary death squads work closely with the Colombian armed forces and that they are responsible for the vast majority of the assassinations against our trade union colleagues in Colombia. The TUC calls on the British government to freeze military assistance.”

Nick Dearden, campaign officer, War on Want, said: “The UK government refuses to divulge details of its security and military assistance to Colombia. So what guarantees do we have that it will not fall into the hands of those units of the Colombian army that share equipment, intelligence and other resources with paramilitary death squads that are responsible for 95% of the murders of trade unionists?”

Liam Craig Best, convenor Justice for Colombia, added: “The British government’s contention that the situation in Colombia is improving under President Uribe is not backed by any evidence on the ground. If anything the reverse is true. Unless there is an immediate freezing of military assistance, and assurance that future aid is connected to human rights and poverty alleviation, rather than bulking up the military, we will continue to aid and abet the catastrophic situation facing the Colombian people.”

/ENDS

Confirmed participants joining War on Want and Justice for Colombia at College Green, 10am Thursday 10 July include:

Trade union leaders:
Frances O’Grady (Deputy General Secretary TUC), Ken Cameron (Chair of Justice for Colombia and Vice-President of War on Want), Bob Crow (General Secretary RMT), Kevin Curran (General Secretary GMB), Jeremy Dear (General Secretary NUJ), Andy Gilchrist (General Secretary FBU), Sally Hunt (General Secretary AUT), Roger Lyons (General Secretary Amicus/MSF), Rory Murphy (General Secretary UNIFI), Doug Nichols (General Secretary, CYWU) Eamonn O’Kane (General Secretary NASUWT), Mark Serwotka (General Secretary PCS), Tony Kearns (Deputy General Secretary CWU), Steve Sinnott (Deputy General Secretary NUT).

Members of Parliament:
Tony Lloyd (former Foreign Office Minister), Harry Barnes, Jeremy Corbyn, Valerie Davey, David Hamilton, Alice Mahon, Sandra Osborne, Joan Ruddock, Rudi Vis, Frank Doran, Kelvin Hopkins, Lynne Jones, Paul Flynn.

For more information contact:
Marc Lopatin, Media Officer, War on Want on 07739 186640 or 020 7620 1111
Liam Craig-Best, Convenor, Justice for Colombia on 020 7794 3644 or 07931 374 379

Further background to Colombia and trade union killings