US Coal Company Sued
On Mar. 14, the Union of Workers of the Mining and Energy Industry of Colombia (Sintramienergetica) filed a civil lawsuit in US federal court in Birmingham, Alabama, against the Alabama- based Drummond mining company and its owner, Garry Drummond. The suit, which union leaders announced in Bogota on Mar. 13, was filed with the support of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), the United Steelworkers of America and the International Labor Rights Foundation. Sintramienergetica charges the mining company with having hired rightwing paramilitaries to abduct, torture and kill three of the union's leaders in 2001 as part of a plan to stop other Drummond employees from joining the union. Valmore Locarno Rodriguez and Victor Hugo Orcasita Amaya - the union's president and vice president, respectively - were murdered on Mar. 12, 2001; Gustavo Soler Mora, who succeeded Locarno as president of the union, was murdered on Oct. 6 [see Updates #581, 611]. The union says the activists had received death threats and had asked Drummond to provide them with extra security, but received no help. The lawsuit was filed under a law that allows foreign nationals to use US courts to address alleged wrongdoing abroad by US citizens. [Associated Press 3/15/02; Voice of America (VOA) News 3/15/02, some from AP, Reuters; La Republica (Lima) 3/14/02 from EFE]
Drummond Officials Have No Comment
Drummond officials in Alabama had no immediate comment on the lawsuit. The company's manager in Colombia, Augusto Jimenez, said he was surprised by the suit because Drummond has "excellent" relations with the union. "I can assure you that nobody in this company has made any deal with any paramilitaries to do anything illegal," Jimenez told reporters in Bogota. [AP 3/15/02]
Similar Lawsuit Filed Against Coca-Cola
A similar lawsuit was filed against Coca Cola in Miami federal court last July 20 by the National Union of Food Industry Workers (SINALTRAINAL), which represents Coca Cola bottling workers in Colombia [see Update #599]. In a Feb. 25 urgent action, Amnesty International (AI) expressed concern for the safety of SINALTRAINAL members following a Feb. 14 incident in which an assailant fired shots at the union's headquarters in Cali, Valle del Cauca department. No one was injured in the shooting. [AI Urgent Action 2/25/02 via Nizkor International Human Rights Team- Derechos Human Rights-Serpaj Europe Urgent Solidarity 3/1/02]
Other Attacks on Unionists
So far in 2002, more than 30 union activists have been murdered. Eduardo Chinchilla Padilla of the Industrial Union of Workers of the Oil Palm and Similar Companies (SINTRAPALMA), an affiliate of the Unitary Workers Federation (CUT), was killed by paramilitaries in Puerto Wilches, Santander Departament, on Mar. 11 - just 10 days into a strike at the Monterrey oil palm company where he had worked since 1977. [CUT message 3/12/02, posted on Colombia Indymedia 3/16/02] Gilberto Torres Martinez, general secretary of the pipeline section of the United Union of Workers (USO), which represents workers at the state-run oil company Ecopetrol, has been held by rightwing paramilitaries since Feb. 25 [see Updates #631, 632].
Take Action
[Messages urging the Colombian government to put an end to attacks against unionists and community activists, and to seek the safe release of USO activist Torres, can be sent to President Andres Pastrana Arango at fax #571-286-7434, 286-6842, 284-2186 or pastrana@presidencia.gov.co.]
From the
Weekly News Update on the Americas (ISSN 1084-922X), published by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012, 212-674-9499,
wnu@igc.org.
Cali Union Halts Privatization
