The next free trade agreement by the US is slanted to be Columbia. Just what are the facts in regards to the protection of workers and pay.

Colombia: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (2005)


Cases before the ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association

ILO core conventions ratified
Population: 45,600,000 / Capital: Bogotá / ILO Core Conventions Ratified: 29 - 87 - 98 - 100 - 105 - 111 - 138

The year was marked by continuous and increasingly violent attacks by the government, employers and the courts on collective bargaining, the right to strike and social dialogue as a whole. The reform of labour legislation brought a longer working day, reduced payments for overtime and increased labour flexibility. A large-scale restructuring of state enterprises took place, which appeared in most cases solely to be aimed at eliminating the existing collective agreements and destroying the trade union structures.

At the same time, physical violence against trade unionists continued and even worsened. In all, 99 trade unionists - nine more than in 2003 - were killed during the year, mostly in connection with collective bargaining disputes or strikes. Hundreds more received death threats, others were victims of attempted murders or were abducted, many were arrested and some were intimidated by the police and army. The Labour Day celebrations were harshly repressed by the police, leaving 12 people with serious injuries. Four members of an international trade union delegation who had taken part in a solidarity mission in Colombia were deported from the country between the end of October and the beginning of November. Impunity persisted; in almost 70% of the cases, no information was produced on the intellectual or material perpetrators of the crimes. In the other 30%, nine threats were attributed to far right paramilitary groups or state officials, including members of the regular army.


TRADE UNION RIGHTS IN LAW

Freedom of association is enshrined as a basic right in the Constitution. The Labour Code provides for the automatic recognition of any trade union that has established itself, has at least 25 members and has complied with a simple registration process. In law, unions are free to decide their own rules and manage their own activities. Only a judicial authority, as opposed to a government body, may suspend trade unions or annul their legal personality.

Limited right to strike

The Colombian Constitution recognises the right to strike for all workers, except for members of the armed forces, the police and workers providing essential public services as defined by law. Similarly, the Constitution charges the legislative authorities with making provisions governing the right to strike, however this task has not yet been fulfilled and in practice laws dating back to between 1956 and 1990 which ban strikes remain applicable to a wide range of public services. These do not necessarily qualify as "essential" services, in contravention of the ILO definition that only covers those "the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population".

Furthermore, the law prohibits federations and confederations from calling strikes, and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection (responsible for monitoring and administrative control of industrial relations) can still impose mandatory arbitration on a conflict when the strike goes on for more than 60 days, in contravention of ILO Convention 87 and recommendations by the Committee of Experts.

Trade union officials who engage in strike action that has been declared unlawful can be dismissed. Those engaged in lawful strike action can also be dismissed, provided six months have passed following the end of the dispute.

Collective bargaining - discrimination in the public sector

Colombian legislation has introduced clauses that discriminate against the jobs and collective bargaining rights of public sector workers, by classifying them as "official workers" ("trabajdores oficiales") or "civil servants" ("empleados públicos"). The unions representing public sector workers are not allowed to put forward demands or sign collective agreements, since their right to collective bargaining is limited to submitting "respectful requests" that do not cover key aspects of industrial relations such as wages, benefits and employment contracts.

Labour reform

A reform of labour regulations was imposed, without any form of consultation or social dialogue whatsoever, which resulted in longer daily working time, reduced overtime payments, reductions of severance pay, increased worker flexibility, restrictions on collective bargaining and the loss of previously acquired rights. For example, the new law excludes the possibility of apprenticeship contracts being covered by collective bargaining. According to the ILO conventions, collective bargaining should cover "all written agreements concerning working conditions and terms of employment".


TRADE UNION RIGHTS IN PRACTICE

Colombian trade unionists, whether leaders or grassroots members, are experiencing a fully-fledged humanitarian crisis as the victims of selective, systematic and persistent violence directed against them with total impunity. Trade unionists face attacks on their lives, freedom and integrity, in addition to the liquidation, reorganisation and merging of companies, the relocation of production to sweatshops ("maquiladoras") in free trade zones, as well as the implementation of anti-union strategies by employers, armed groups and agencies. These are the main reasons for the drop in trade union membership, which in Colombia accounts for only 5.11 per cent of the national workforce.

Trends

Generally speaking the violence against trade union members that took place in 2004 occurred during serious labour disputes. The figures show an increase in murders, death threats against trade unionists and arbitrary arrests. Violence against women trade unionists has continued.

Impunity

The vast majority of violations, i.e. over 95 per cent of reported cases, remain unpunished and many murder cases are not investigated. In addition to the fact that few investigations yield results, legal punishment is not enforced and reparation for the victims is non-existent. This almost complete impunity is favoured by other factors, including the fact that in 69.4% of reported cases the perpetrator cannot be identified or evidence is insufficient, and also that the Colombian government takes no immediate measures to conduct a comprehensive investigation covering all cases of violence. The government insists that violence against trade unionists is a result of the internal state of war in the country, rather than a form of selective and systematic violence directed against workers and their organisations.

Collective bargaining

In 2004 a total of 628 collective agreements were signed, which is an improvement on the 284 signed in 2003, but remains a rather disappointing result bearing in mind that barely 1.17% of those in employment are covered by collective agreements. What is more, that total for 2004 includes 192 collective accords ("pactos colectivos"), which are supposed to be an alternative to the agreements negotiated by the unions and apply to non-unionised workers. In reality there is generally no negotiation in such cases since the "accords" are imposed by the employer and tend to be used as a pretext for sidelining the unions.

Factors undermining collective bargaining

Numerous factors have contributed to the reduced number of workers covered by collective agreements, though the chief ones are, of course, the low level of union membership and the violent attacks on the unions. In addition, collective agreements are only negotiated in individual companies and not for whole industries or sectors.

Furthermore, in both the public and the private sectors, the new provisions of the labour law, which were purported to introduce greater flexibility in employment contracts, have led to widespread subcontracting in the form of employment contracts which are deregulated or assimilated to contracts under civil law, as for example in the case of the so-called "work partnership cooperatives" ("cooperativas de trabajo asociado"). As the labour regulations do not apply to these types of contract, workers are systematically excluded from trade union and collective bargaining rights.

Another factor that is having a particularly negative impact on collective bargaining is the new powers given to Arbitration Courts, which are now entitled to review the provisions of collective agreements in such a way as to allow employers to cut back and/or abolish rights previously acquired by the workers. This situation has led many unions not to put forward new sets of demands, but instead to seek to extend the collective agreement in force rather than face the risk of losing existing rights in an arbitration court.

Moreover - adding to other serious violations of the freedom of association - in some cases, unions have been forced to dissolve or their members have had to give up established rights as a result of pressure from armed groups. This was the case, for example, with the health workers affiliated to ANTHOC in La Ceja, Department of Antioquia, and the municipal workers affiliated to SINTRAOFAN in Cisneros, also in Antioquia.

Assassination of trade union negotiators

In many other cases, trade union leaders were murdered or received death threats while engaged in negotiations with employers to advance workers' interests.

Lack of a social partner

The trade unions do not, in practice, have a credible social partner on the government side. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection is responsible for labour matters, through its Vice-Minister of Labour. However, according to trade union sources, the Vice-Minister tends to hide behind the fact that he or she does not have full ministerial authority, and wherever possible refers labour matters to the courts.

Implementation of an anti-union culture by the government

The way in which three major state-owned companies (Ecopetrol in the oil sector, Telecom in the telecommunications sector, and the Instituto de Seguros Sociales in the health sector) were restructured speaks volumes about the labour policies of the current government. Telecom was liquidated, without the company following the required legal procedures for this kind of operation, in order to destroy the 6,000-strong union and put an end to collective bargaining. At the same time, the government used the assets of the liquidated company to set up another non-unionised telecommunications company, which only employed one fifth of the workforce of the old company under employment contracts and working conditions far worse than those formerly enjoyed by the workers.

The Colombian oil company ECOPETROL and the Social Security Institute (Instituto de Seguros Sociales, ISS) were divided into two companies, thereby reducing the unions' influence and denying the workers in the newly-formed companies many of the negotiated rights they had enjoyed in their former companies. The majority of the ISS employees were classified as "civil servants", thus losing the rights they had previously enjoyed under the collective agreement signed between Sintraseguridad Social and the ISS, including the right to be represented by that union.

State violations of human rights on the increase

As mentioned above, in 69.4% of reported cases, the material and intellectual perpetrators of the crimes are not known. However in 30.6% of the remaining cases of violation, where information on the possible perpetrators is held, reports show that: 105 cases are attributed to paramilitary forces, 85 cases to state officials, 13 cases to social violence and delinquency, and 6 cases to rebel groups. The state itself is chiefly responsible for the arbitrary arrests, the house searches and the extrajudicial executions of trade union activists in the department of Arauca.

Attacked for their union activities

The Colombian NGO Escuela Nacional Sindical (the National Trade Union School) points out that "most of the violations of the human rights of trade unionists in Colombia are associated with industrial disputes, even though they take place in the context of war and are committed, in most cases, by one of the belligerent parties." The Escuela also reports that "most of the murders, threats, kidnappings and forced removals suffered by Colombian workers have taken place in periods and contexts characterised by increased activity and pressure for workers' demands" and that therefore Colombian trade unionists are not "accidental or collateral victims of the armed conflict that has been raging in the country for a decade".

Some of the 99 cases of murdered trade unionists in 2004 illustrate this point. Fabián Burbano, assassinated on May 31 and Camilo Borja Pérez, assassinated on July 12, had played an active role in the strike at ECOPETROL. Ricardo Barragán Ortega, murdered on January 17, was a member of the Cali municipal workers' union SINTRAEMCALI, and had played a leading role in the protests against privatisation. Luis Alberto Toro Colorado, assassinated on June 22, was known for his uncompromising stance in negotiations on behalf of the textiles union SINALTRADIHITEXCO.


VIOLATIONS IN 2004

General figures

According to information provided by the ENS, in the period between January 1 and December 31 2004, Colombian trade unionists were victims of 688 attacks on their physical integrity. In all, apart from the actual murders, there were 445 death threats, 33 forced removals, 6 abductions, 7 "disappearances", 77 arbitrary arrests and 17 cases of harassment.

Rise in violence against women trade unionists

In 2003 the human rights situation of women trade unionists assumed dramatic proportions, with a 600% increase in attacks on their lives, freedom and physical integrity compared to 2002; in 2004 there was a further increase of 20.6%. The information registered in the ENS human rights database shows that in 2004 women were the victims of 16 murders, 187 death threats, 8 arbitrary arrests, 2 illegal searches and 2 cases of harassment.

Strike declared illegal

Citing Resolution 1116 of April 22 2004, the Ministry for Social Protection declared the general strike by USO illegal, since the government said the strike did not meet the conditions governing the right to strike in essential services.

Police repression

On Labour Day, May 1, the police beat up, injured and arbitrarily arrested students, workers and members of various civilian associations. The toll of this operation was as follows:

-Disappeared: ANDRÉS GUERRERO, unemployed.
-Seriously injured: EDWARD PORTILLA, Treasurer of the CUT in the Department of Valle; CARLOS GONZÁLEZ, President of SINTRAUNICOL; ESTIVEN GARCÍA, SINTRAUNICOL activist; OMAR ÁLVAREZ, a member of the Families Association in Valle (ASO FAMILIAS-Valle); LUIS FERNANDO RIVERA, municipal companies' employee in Alcantarillado, Cali (EMCALI - EICE ESP) and a member of the union SINTRAEMCALI; WILLIAM ESCOBAR and ELADIO DOMÍNGUEZ, members of the Executive Board of CUT-Valle; HAROLD GARCÍA, a director at the Universidad Nacional de Palmira (university); HÉCTOR FABIO OSORIO, Secretary of the Valle Department university hospital workers' union, the Sindicato de Hospitales y Clínicas de la Universidad del Valle (SINTRAHOSPICLINICAS); RODRIGO ESCOBAR and GUSTAVO TACUMA, of SINTRAEMCALI; and EVER CUADROS, a member of SUTEV.
-Arrested: JAIME DUQUE PORRAS, an employee of the telephone company Teléfonos de EMCALI EICE ESP and a SINTRAEMCALI activist.

On May 18, the police used excessive force to suppress the demonstrations held in various places against the free trade agreement between Colombia and the USA. Many people were injured, including LUIS MIGUEL MORANTES, General Secretary of the Confederación de Trabajadores de Colombia (CTC), who was injured by a bullet in the leg.

On October 27, lecturers, workers and students in the Department of Nariño carried out a peaceful demonstration through the streets of the town of Pasto. The police stopped the demonstration with excessive force. They proceeded to raid the head office of the teachers' union of Nariño (SIMANA), causing material damage and preventing members from entering it. During the demonstration the following members of the union were arrested (and later released): MIGUEL RUFINO MARTÍNEZ (injured), OLMEDO ERAZO, FRANCISCO MELO, HERNANDO REALPE, ANA ZAMBRANO, EDGAR MEDINA and MIGUEL MARTINEZ. A student ZORAIDA BENAVIDES was later reported to have "disappeared".

SINALTRAINAL

On March 2, two heavily armed unknown persons broke into the Barranquilla branch of the food workers' union, the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de Alimentos (SINALTRAINAL), threatening the union's secretary SANDRA MUÑOZ, its leader and Coca Cola worker CAMPO ELIAS QUINTERO, an employee CRISTÓBAL GÓMEZ, and the woman working in the union's pharmacy SANDRA CASTRO. They knocked over everything in their path, repeatedly demanded where the DVD player was, and went off with some 4 million pesos and the video tape from the security camera.

Between March 15 and 27 a hunger strike was held in various Coca Cola bottling plants to force the company into a dialogue. On March 15, EURÍPIDES YANCE, President of the Barranquilla branch of SINALTRAINAL, received a phone call threatening the strikers.

On March 16 in Cali, shots were fired from two vans at the participants in a protest march organised by the union. Similar events had occurred on a number of previous occasions. EBERTH SUÁREZ, President of the Cali branch of SINALTRAINAL, received threatening calls on his mobile phone.

On April 14, ONOFRE ESQUIVEL, a Nestlé employee in Bugalagrande and a member of the SINALTRAINAL national leadership, was beaten up for some three hours at his home by a group of people who had turned up in two vehicles. Onofre had previously received a death threat from the AUC paramilitaries in a letter dated October 11 2003 and his home had been raided 11 days afterwards.

On April 20, people armed with machine guns burst into the home of GABRIEL REMOLINA in Bucaramanga. They murdered Gabriel and his partner FANNY ROBLES, and injured three of their children. Gabriel Remolina was the brother of ESTHER REMOLINA, herself the partner of EFRAÍN GUERRERO, a Coca Cola employee at the bottling plant in Bucaramanga and President of the local branch of SINALTRAINAL.

SINTRAEMCALI

On May 26, following the failure by management to honour some agreements, some 1,600 employees of the municipal companies based in Cali (Empresas Municipales de Cali, EMCALI EICE ESP) held a peaceful sit-in at the EMCALE Tower for four days. The government reacted by sending the army and threatening to end the sit-in, which was later declared illegal, by force. The illegality clause was used as a pretext for sacking a large number of workers.

On June 29, in front of the house of the mother of the union's President, LUIS HERNÁNDEZ MONROY, a person on a motorbike with a walkie-talkie went up to one of the family members and openly threatened to "get rid of" Luis first, followed by the rest of his family.

On July 14, 60 employees of EMCALI EICE ESP were sacked in Cali. They were all members of SINTRAEMCALI and included Luis Hernández and five other leaders.

OPERATION DRAGON

On August 23, a member of a state security agency, who chose not to reveal his identity for safety reasons, said there was a plot to assassinate trade union and social leaders in Valle del Cauca, including the following trade unionists: LUIS HERNÁNDEZ MONROY, President of SINTRAEMCALI; ALEXÁNDER LÓPEZ MAYA, former President of SINTRAEMCALI and current member of the Congress in Valle del Cauca; WILSON ARIAS, a union leader of SENA, Valle del Cauca, and a national leader of the CUT; BERENICE CELEYTA ALAYÓN, human rights director of SINTRAEMCALI; and EDGAR PEREA, leader of the steelworkers' union Sindicato de la Empresa Siderúrgica del Pacífico S.A. (SINTRAMETAL-YUMBO). The so-called "Operation Dragon" was being planned by serving and former army officers based in Cali, Medellín, Barranquilla, Ibagué and Bogotá. On August 25, the MPs Alexander López and Wilson Borja, former President of the state employees' Federación Nacional de Trabajadores al Servicio del Estado (FENALTRASE), presented an official complaint about these threats. Following these revelations Alexander López Maya received continual threats and various members of SINTRAEMCALI were bullied and threatened.

EXPULSION OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION DELEGATION

Between October 30 and November 1, the immigration authorities at Bogotá airport deported the following trade unionists, who were supposed to attend the Annual Coordination and Cooperation Meeting with the Colombian trade union movement organised by the Global Union Federations (GUFs) and the ICFTU and scheduled for November 2:

-Víctor Báez Mosqueira, General Secretary of ICFTU-ORIT;
-Rodolfo Benítez, Regional Secretary of Union Network International (UNI);
-Antonio Rodríguez Fritz, Regional Secretary of the International Transport Federation (ITF);
-Cameron Duncan, Regional Secretary of Public Services International (PSI).

All these colleagues had attended the international solidarity mission in Bogotá in September and, apart from Cameron Duncan, had attended a meeting on September 16 with President Uribe himself. Officials from the Security Department (DAS) also harassed some other international trade union representatives, including Hélène Bouneaud from the French confederation CGT, who had also attended the conference in September and was travelling to Colombia to attend the 4th Women's Congress of CUT-Colombia; she was threatened with deportation, photographed and had her fingerprints taken at El Dorado airport in Bogotá.

Arrests, intimidation, abductions, death threats and murders

Examples will now be provided of arrests, intimidation, abductions, death threats and murders committed against trade unionists during the year.

Arrests

On February 18 D.C. LUZ PERLY CORDOBA, President of the Arauca farmers' organisation Asociación Campesina de Arauca (ACA) and Human Rights Director of the agricultural workers' union, the Federación Nacional Sindical de Usuarios del Agro (FENSUAGRO-CUT), and JUAN DE JESÚS GUTIERRES ARDILA, Treasurer of the ACA, were arrested in Bogotá. In addition, the lawyer RODOLFO RÍOS LOZANO, who was defending Luz Perly Córdoba, received continual death threats.

On July 3, in the town of Chalán in the Department of Sucre, the police arrested FANIME REYES REYES, a member of the Sucre branch of the farmers' union, the Sindicato de Pequeños y Medianos Agricultores (SINDAGRICULTORES), on the charge of rebellion.

Intimidation

On February 18, the ACA office in Arauquita, Department of Arauca, was raided by members of the police and intelligence services. When they arrived at the office and found the door locked, they went to the home of NUBIA VEGA, ACA leader, raided it, took photos of the people there and arrested her bodyguard VICTOR ENRIQUE AMARILLO.

On November 3, three policemen on motorbikes intercepted the van used by the people protecting members of the USO Cartagena branch. The following union activists were in the vehicle: JORGE ORTEGA HERNÁNDEZ, ANTONIO DE LA TORRE GÓMEZ and HERIBERTO BOLÍVAR DEFEX, all members of the union's leadership.

Abduction

On March 17, LUIS CARLOS HERRERA MONSALVE, Vice-President of the Departmental Employees Association (ADEA), and a member of the public workers' Federación Unitaria de Trabajadores Estatales Colombianos (FUTEC) and Public Services International (PSI), was abducted by Division 34 of the FARC, in the village of Venecia in Caicedo, Antioquia.

Threats

On January 13 an envelope was left in the offices of the Atlántico branch of the hospital workers union, the Asociación Nacional de Trabajadores de Hospitales y Clínicas (ANTHOC), with a death announcement ("sufragio") containing the names of the leaders, including GILBERTO MARTÍNEZ, CARMEN TORRES, ÁLVARO MÁRQUEZ, JOSÉ MERIÑO and ANGEL SALAS; it was signed by the so-called self-defence organisation Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC).

FRANCISCO RAMÍREZ CUÉLLAR, President of the national mineworkers' union, the Sindicato de Trabajadores Mineros de Colombia (SINTRAMINERCOL), received a number of threats. Various people called the union and went to the offices to check if he was there, using what turned out to be false pretexts. On April 22 a number of unknown persons were spying on the house of TOMÁS RAMOS, leader of the Human Rights Coordination Body (Coordinadora de Derechos Humanos) in Barranquilla. Later, on April 28, his house was raided by two police officers who claimed to be looking for weapons.

On July 19, PEDRO GALEANO and EDUARDO CAMACHO RUGELES, leaders of the Tolima branch of the university employees' union, the Sindicato de Trabajadores y Empleados Universitarios de Colombia (SINTRAUNICOL), requested State protection measures after receiving death threats. However, later they were given orders from the University of Tolima to return to their jobs, without having received any guarantees regarding their physical integrity.

On November 6, two people on a motorbike accosted ISAAC BARCENAS BARCOS, General Secretary of the Cartagena branch of USO, and threatened to kill him.

Attempted murders

On October 10, as FRANCISCO RAMÍREZ CUÉLLAR, the President of SINTRAMINERCOL, was leaving his house, he was approached by two people on a moped with no registration number. One of them was holding a cocked pistol in his right hand. Francisco Ramírez managed to hide behind the electricity and telephone posts as the traffic lights changed, which prevented the hired assassins from completing their assignment.

Assassinations

In 2004, a total of 99 trade unionists were assassinated in Colombia:

On January 1, DANIEL FONSECA and WILMER VIAFARA, both members of SINTRAEMCALI, were murdered in Cali.

On January 4, AGAPITO PALACIOS a teacher from the Unión de Maestros del Choco (UMACH), was murdered in Ungía.

On January 4, BERNARDO REBOLLEDO, a taxi driver from the Sindicato de Conductores de Taxi de Cartagena (SINCONTAXCAR), was murdered in Cartagena.

On January 7, EDGAR ARTURO BLANCO IBARRA, a teacher and member of the Asociación Sindical de Institutores Nortesantandereanos (ASINORT), was murdered in Cucutá.

On January 15, LUZ AIDA QUINTERO GARCÍA, a teacher and member of the Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (ADIDA-FECODE-CUT), was murdered in el Carmen de Viboral.

On January 17, RICARDO BARRAGÁN ORTEGA, an activist and member of the municipal workers union in Cali (SINTRAEMCALI-CUT) was murdered as he left his home.

On January 17, JAIRO GONZÁLEZ OQUENDO, a member of ADIDA, was murdered in Medellín.

On January 18, LEYTON BANQUERO, a bodyguard engaged by the Interior Ministry to protect a member of the Executive Board of SINTRAEMCALI, Domingo Angulo Quiñónez, was himself murdered.

On January 23, DANIEL VITOLA PÉREZ, a member of SINCONTAXCAR, was murdered in Cartagena.

On January 27, FRANCISCO JAVIER LOTERO RÍOS, a teacher and member of the Educadores Unidos de Caldas (EDUCAL), was murdered in Manizales.

On January 31, CALIXTO GÓMEZ RUMMER, a member of the national coalminers' union, the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria del Carbón (SINTRACARBON), was murdered in Riohacha.

On February 6, LUCERO HENAO, a member of the agricultural workers' union, the Sindicato Campesino del Department del Meta (SINTRAGRIM), was murdered in Castillo.

On February 8, ÁLVARO GRANADOS RATIVA, a leader of the construction workers' union, the Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Construcción (SUTIMAC), was murdered in Bogotá.

On February 9, YESID CHICANGANA, a teacher and member of the Asociación de Institutores del Cauca (ASOINCA), was murdered in Santander de Quilicha.

On February 15, YANET DEL SOCORRO VELEZ GALEANO, a teacher and member of ADIDA, was murdered in Remedios.

On February 24, CAMILO KIKE AZCÁRATE, a member of a food workers' union, the, the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de las Grasas, Aceites Vegetales y Oleaginosos (SINTRAGRACO), was murdered in Buga, Department of Valle.

On February 24, CARLOS RAÚL OSPINA, the leader of the public service workers' union, the Sindicato de Trabajadores y Empleados de Servicios Públicos Autónomos e Institutos Descentralizados (SINTRAEMSDES), was murdered in Tulúa, Department of Valle.

On February 27, ERNESTO RINCÓN CÁRDENAS, a teacher and member of the Sindicato Nacional de Maestros (SINDIMAESTROS-CUT), was murdered in Boyacá.

On March 2, PEDRO ALIRIO SILVA, a teacher and member of the Asociación de Educadores de Putumayo (ASEP), was murdered in Orito.

On March 3, LINA MARCELA AMADOR LESMER, also a member of ASEP, was murdered in Putumayo.

On March 4, LUIS JOSÉ TORRES, an employee of Barranquilla General Hospital, in the Department of Atlántico, and a member of ANTHOC, was murdered in the Department of Atlántico,

On March 5, OSCAR EMILIO SANTIAGO, another member of ANTHOC, was murdered in Barranquilla.

On March 11, OSORIO FERREIRA, a member of USO, was murdered in Barrancabermeja.

On March 13, CÉSAR JULIO GARCÍA, leader of the prison authority employees' Asociación de Empleados de la Autoridad Penitenciaria Colombiana (ASEINPEC), was murdered in Cartago.

On March 16, ROSA MARY DAZA, a member of ASOINCA, was murdered in Bolívar.

On March 16, HUGO PALACIOS ALVIS, a member of the union of trainee civil servants, the Sindicato de Empleados Públicos del Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje (SINDESENA), was murdered in Since.

On March 19, ANA ELIZABETH TOLEDO PUBIANO, a member of ASEDAR, was murdered in Tame.

On March 21, RAFAEL SEGUNDO VERGARA, a taxi driver and member of SINTRACONTAXCAR-CUT, was murdered in Cartagena.

On March 28, ALEXÁNDER PARRA, a teacher and member of the Sindicato de Maestros (SINDIMAESTROS-FECODE-CUT), was murdered in Chiquinquirá, Department of Boyacá.

On April 1, JUAN JAVIER GIRALDO, a teacher and member of ADIDA, was murdered in Medellín.

On April 4, JOSÉ ARCADIO SOSA SOLER, a member of the CGTD, was murdered in Bogotá.

On April 6, LUIS FRANCISCO VERANO GÓMEZ, a member of the aqueduct builders' Asociación de Construcción de Acueducto, was murdered in Mesetas.

On April 9, JOSE GARCÍA, a teacher from the Escuela Rural Santa Elena in Tame, Department of Arauca, was murdered. He was a member of ASEDAR.

On April 14, JORGE MARIO GIRALDO CARDONA, a teacher from the Colegio José Félix in Bedouth and a member of ADIDA, was murdered in Medellín.

On April 15, CARLOS ALBERTO CHICAIZA BETANCOURT, a leader of SINTRAEMCALI (CUT-PSI), was murdered in Cali.

On April 19, PALOMINO NOHORA MARTÍNEZ, a teacher and member of the Asociación de Educadores del César (ADUCESAR), was murdered in Valledupar.

On April 22, JUAN JOSÉ GUEVARA, a member of ASINORT, was murdered in Villa del Rosario.

On April 23, JOSÉ MARÍA RUIZ SARA, a member of the teachers' Asociación de Educadores del Atlántico (ADEA), was murdered in Barranquilla.

On April 24, GERSON AGUDELO, a member of SINTRENAL, was murdered in Villa del Rosario.

On April 24, EVELIO HENAO MARÍN, a member of the workers' union of the Department of Antioquia (SINTRADEPARTMENTO), was murdered in San Rafael.

On May 4, OVIDIO ARTURO MARÍN CUEVAS, a member of the liquor workers' union, the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Licores (SINTRALIC), was murdered in Cali.

On May 7, JESÚS ALBERTO CAMPOS, a member of ASEDAR, was murdered in Arauca.

On May 7, RICO ELIAS DURÁN, a member of the transport workers' union, the Sindicato de Trabajadores del Tránsito de Barranquilla, was murdered in Barranquilla.

On May 9, BEATRIZ PIÑEDA MARTÍNEZ, a member of ADIDA, was murdered in Cisneros.

On May 21, a group of 200 heavily armed men broke into the local communities of Flor Amarillo and Cravo Charo, Department of Arauca, and arrested 13 residents. These included JULIO VEGA, the regional leader of SINTRAINAGRO. The following day, the corpses of 11 of the 13 abducted people were discovered, but not that of Vega.

On May 23, WILSON GÓMEZ SIERRA, a member of the Santander teachers' union SES, was murdered in the Department of Santander.

On May 26, MILDRET BERTEYD MAZO JARAMILLO, a member of ADIDA, was murdered in San Andrés de Cuerquía.

On May 31, FABIÁN BURBANO, a temporary worker from the maintenance department of ECOPETROL in the southern part of Orito, was murdered.

On June 1, JAVIER MONTERO MARTÍNEZ, a member of ADUCESAR, was murdered in Valledupar.

On June 1, FERNANDO RAMÍREZ BARRERO, a member of the Risaralda teachers' union (Sindicato de Educadores de Risaralda, SER), was murdered in Pereira.

On June 1, ISABEL TORO SOLER, a member of ASEP, was murdered in Yopal.

On June 2, LUIS OVIDIO MACHADO NISPERUZA, a member of the teachers' Asociación de Maestros de Córdoba (ADEMACOR), was murdered in Monteria.

On June 4, NELSON WELLINGTON CORTES LÓPEZ, a member of the union of employees of DIAN (SINTRADIAN), was murdered in Barranquilla.

On June 22, LUIS ALBERTO TORO COLORADO, an employee of the textile company Compañía Textiles Fabricato Tejicondor S.A., was murdered in the town of Bello, Department of Antioquia. He was the treasurer of the national union of textile workers (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Textiles, SINALTRADIHITEXCO-CUT).

On June 22, HUGO FERNANDO CASTILLO SÁNCHEZ and his wife DIANA XIMENA ZÚÑIGA, were murdered in Cali. Mr. Castillo was an official bodyguard working for the Special Protection Programme for special leaders and human rights activists set up by the Ministry of the Interior and had been employed for three years as a Security Department official (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, DAS). He had been assigned to work for the union at the iron and steel works, the Empresa Siderúrgica del Pacífico S.A. (SINTRAMETAL-YUMBO).

On June 30, former union leader MIGUEL ESPINOSA, a founder of the national CUT and of its Atlántico branch, was murdered in Barranquilla.

On July 12, CAMILO BORJA PÉREZ, a member of USO who had played an active role in the strike at ECOPETROL, was murdered in Barrancabermeja.

On July 15, nurse CARMEN ELISA NOVA HERNÁNDEZ, legal secretary of the hospital workers' union, the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Clínicas y Hospitales de Santander (SINTRACLINICAS), was murdered in Bucaramanga.

On July 21, SALOMÓN FREITE MUÑOZ, a member of the civil servant lawyers' association, Asociación Nacional de Funcionarios y Empleados de la Rama Jurisdiccional (ASONAL JUDICIAL), was murdered in Cucutá.

On July 22, BENEDICTO CABALLERO, Vice-President of the national federation of agricultural cooperatives (Federación Nacional de Cooperativas Agropecuarias de Colombia, FENACOA), was murdered in the town of Mesitas, Department of Cundinamarca.

On July 24, EVELIO FORERO CARDONA, a member of SINCONTAXCAR, was murdered in Cartagena.

On August 5, in Tulúa, two hired assassins shot at HENRY GONZÁLEZ LÓPEZ and GERARDO DE JESÚS VÉLEZ, members of the engineering union, the Sindicato de Trabajadores del Ingenio San Carlos (SINTRASANCARLOS), an affiliate of the Confederación General de Trabajadores Democráticos (CGTD), a sister organisation of the ICFTU. Gerardo died two days later from his wounds.

On August 5, the army's military operation in the village of Caño Seco, in Saravena, caused the deaths of HÉCTOR ALIRIO MARTÍNEZ, President of the agricultural workers' Asociación Departmental de Usuarios Campesinos (ADUC), JORGE EDUARDO PRIETO CHAMUSERO, President of the Arauca branch of ANTHOC, and LEONEL GOYENECHE GOYENECHE, Treasurer of the Arauca branch of the CUT. The first two men had been covered by the special protection measures provided by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) since 2002. During the same operation SAMUEL MORALES FLÓREZ, President of the CUT's Arauca branch, and MARÍA RAQUEL CASTRO, a member of ASEDAR, were arrested.

On August 5, ADIELA TORRES, a member of ASEP, was murdered in Puerto Legizamo.

On August 7, ESTHER MARLENY DURANGO CONGOTE, a member of ADIDA, was murdered in Anza.

On August 8, HAROLD ANTONIO TRUJILLO, a member of SINTRAEMCALI, was murdered in Cali.

On August 10, LUIS GALINDO, a member of the farming union, the Sindicato de Pequeños y Medianos Productores del AGRO (SINDEAGRO), was murdered in Líbano.

On August 11, YANIS VALENCIA FAJARDO, a member of ADEMACOR, was murdered in Tierralta.

On August 22, JORGE ELIECER VALENCIA OVIEDO, President of the teachers' union, the Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Educación del Valle (SUTEV), was murdered in Tulúa.

On August 24, MANUEL GÓMEZ WOLFRAN, a member of SINCONTAXCAR, was murdered in Cartagena.

On August 26, MIGUEL CÓRDOBA, Organising Secretary of the sugar cane workers' union, the Sindicato de Trabajadores, Cultivadores y Procesadores de la Caña de Azúcar de los Departmentos del Valle del Cauca (SINTRACAÑAVALC), was murdered.

On August 30, HUMBERTO TOVAR ANDRADE, a teacher and member of the Sindicato de Maestros de Tolima (SIMATOL), was murdered in El Espinal.

On September 10, EXENEN HERNÁNDEZ BARÓN, a teacher from the village of Vegas de Motilonia (El Carmen), was murdered. This horrified teachers in the region and led some to leave it.

On September 11, LUIS EDUARDO DUQUE, a member of SIMATOL, was murdered in Líbano.

On September 11, OFER HERNÁNDEZ MORENO, a member of the construction material workers union, the Sindicato Único de la Industria de Materiales para la Construcción (SUTIMAC), was murdered in Sincelejo.

On September 11, IRIA FENIDE MESA BLANCO, a member of ASEDAR, was murdered in Arauca.

On September 11, ERENIA MARÍA CAICEDO SARRÍA, a member of ANTHOC, was murdered in Bordo.

On September 15, JEAN WARREAN BUITRAGO MILLAN, a member of SINTRADIAN, was murdered in Tulúa.

On September 17, ALFREDO CORREA DE ANDREIS, a university professor and member of the Asociación Sindical de Profesores Universitarios (ASPU), was murdered in Baranquilla.

On October 6, PEDRO JAIME MOSQUERA COSME, the Vice-President of ACA, was found dead, with his body bearing signs of torture.

On October 12, ANA DE JESÚS DURÁN ORTEGA, a member of ASINORT, was murdered in Cucutá.

On October 19, ÁNGEL DE LA HOZ CAUTELAR, a member of the Atlántico branch of the CUT, was murdered in Soledad.

On October 23, MARTHA LUCÍA GÓMEZ OSORIO, an activist from SIMATOL, was murdered in Tolima.

On November 7, JOSE JOAQUÍN CUBIDES, General Secretary of the union of agricultural workers of the Department of Arauca, was murdered in Fortul, Arauca.

On November 8, WOLMAR ELI MACHADO, a teacher at a school in the town of San Calixto, Department of Santander, was abducted, shot to death and later decapitated.

On November 24, ARNOLDO CANTILLA and JUAN MIRANDA UZULA, both members of SINCONTAXCAR, were murdered in Cartagena.

On November 24, SENEN MENDOZA MOLINARES, a member of ADUCESAR, was murdered in Codazzi.

On December 6, JUAN BERNARDO GIL, a member of ADEM, was murdered in Mesetas.

On December 6, HÉCTOR TÉLLEZ ALZATE, a member of SUTEV, was murdered in Tulúa.

On December 12, CARLOS EDUARDO MONTOYA GUTIÉRREZ, a member of SER, was murdered in Pereira.

On December 18, NELSON DE JESÚS MARTÍNEZ, a member of ADIDA, was murdered in La Ceja.

On December 27, JOSÉ NEVARDO OSORIO VALENCIA, a member of SER, was murdered in Mistrato.

On December 29, JOSÉ ORTIZ, a member of the teachers' union in Amazonas, was murdered in Puerto Santander.