Commentary: "Violence is normal"

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محتوى الصفحة: Home > مجلة النقل الدولي "Transport International" > Issue 19 April 2005 > Commentary: "Violence is normal"

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Antonio Fritz was far from reassured by the words of the Colombian president when they met to discuss trade union rights violations in September 2004. On a follow-up visit weeks later he got his own small taste of Colombia’s contempt for organised labour

Colombia is a beautiful country, located in the middle of Latin America, with a population of almost 30 million, drawn from a great diversity of ethnic groups that mix every day. People are warm, cheerful and hardworking.

International media reports on the country don’t tend to talk about its customs or diversity however. They talk about something just as precious, but rare here – human rights.

The basic rights of all people to live in peace and freedom have been destroyed in Colombia by a climate of violence and intimidation. Armed groups fight daily for the control of various regions, and very often the civilian population, ordinary people, find themselves caught in the middle.

Assassinations

Trade unionists are a particular target. Hundreds are assassinated every year, savagely persecuted because they struggle to establish the rule of law, protect workers’ interests and follow the dream of a just future for their children. The perpetrators are almost never identified. I don’t know whether this is due to a lack of capacity or simply a lack of political will.

Last year as always, the Colombian trade union movement bravely stood firm, but in a way not seen before. It proclaimed the unity of the working class and its intention to fight, shoulder to shoulder, against the shedding of innocent blood. It asked the international trade union community for help and sent out an “SOS for Colombian trade unionism”.

I had the opportunity, along with dozens of other trade union colleagues, to respond to this call and attend a meeting at the National Congress in Bogota.

The testimonies of the dozens of workers who took part in the meeting suggested that human rights violations, including unpunished criminal violence against trade union activists, were an everyday occurrence.

We were granted a meeting with the Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe, who was anxious to reassure us.

He claimed there was no problem, that violence is normal, that there had been fewer assassinations than in the previous years – only about 200 – and that we shouldn’t worry ourselves. Our blood froze in our veins. Would perhaps the assassination of 100 workers be acceptable? Or 10?

The following month, in October 2004, I went back to Colombia in response to another trade union appeal.

I arrived at El Dorado international airport, Bogotá, on 30 October. When I reached the immigration officers, for some strange reason they were unable to find my name on the database, even though I had recently visited the country.

I remember they jokingly told me that the information system was new and that they were having some problems. They put me in a special queue. A few minutes later, they told me that according to the “system” I needed a visa to enter Colombia and that I couldn’t enter if I didn’t have one. With astonishment, I asked whether diplomatic relations between my country, Mexico, and Colombia had been broken off. They told me no, just that in my case I would need a visa.

Secret police

I was detained and taken to the DAS (Colombian secret police) office at the airport, where finally an officer asked me, “What was the purpose of your last visit to the country?” When I explained that I had attended a meeting convened by Colombian trade union leaders, the reply was emphatic: “That’s why you need a visa, you’re a trade unionist!”

I had to wait another few hours, until they informed me that I would be deported, that I had no right to be in Colombia. They never offered me the option of requesting a temporary visa, as Jorge Noguera, DAS director, mistakenly claimed a few days later.

I felt ashamed to be treated in this way, but later I thought about the thousands of innocent people who are sacrificed with impunity, and I understood. At that time, several friends of mine were forced to flee the country as a result of death threats, thanks to the incredible complacency of the authorities.

I believe that I was the first to be deported for being a workers’ representative. I was certainly not the only one. During the following days, the same thing happened to other trade union representatives. A total of 44 men and women, representing different trade union organisations, including the regional secretaries of fraternal international and regional trade union federations, were ejected.

It is true that the representatives of European trade unions were given the option of a temporary visa, perhaps because some of their countries have international cooperation and aid programmes in Colombia. However the vice president of Colombia, Francisco Santos, was shamed into declaring that the deportations were mistakes rather than reprisals.

We still do not understand how it was possible for a country to bar the entry of visitors who came in peace to support the work of lawful civil society organisations. We will continue to do whatever we can to assist our brothers and sisters in the Colombian trade union movement in their struggle to bring human rights to their country.

Antonio Rodriguez Fritz is inter-American regional secretary of the ITF, based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

الصفحة الرئيسية للأقسام:
Issue 19 April 2005

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