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ITF acts to avenge Zamora and protect colleagues
19 January 2007
The ITF is moving to secure justice for Pedro Zamora’s family and to protect his colleagues, who are experiencing the same intimidation that led up to his murder on Monday.
Launching a campaign called No Hay Impunidad (There is no impunity), the Federation today asked unions worldwide to help it increase pressure on the Guatemalan authorities not to cover up the assassination, and to protect the five surviving leaders of the STEPQ union.
These men are receiving telephoned death threats, are being followed, and one has a car with people in it constantly parked in front of his house. They say that they are particularly concerned because those phoning them say they aren’t just going to kill them, but will murder their families too.
ITF General Secretary David Cockroft commented: “Justice for Pedro begins here and it begins now. This cowardly attack, in which multiple assailants rammed the car of an unarmed man picking up his children from hospital, before firing a storm of shots at him, has caused revulsion in everyone who has heard about it. We intend to harness that revulsion to ensure that a precedent is set, and murderers no longer feel they can kill with impunity.”
He continued: “We are putting the Guatemalan government and police on notice that they must protect the other threatened men. As well as the campaign for Pedro I will write today to that country’s President to demand that he intervenes to provide adequate protection for them immediately and that we will hold him personally responsible if any of them are harmed.”
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