One of the conclusions that the committee came to was for the Colombian
government to devote more money to ¨combat impunity¨ through nominating
judges that prioritize cases of trade union violence. According to the
ITUC, 97% of the cases of murders since 1986 have enjoyed impunity.
Not even two weeks after this report, the ITUC has reported that on the
13th of June, Favier Darío Pelaez Castaño was killed in front of his
wife and his youngest daughter." On June 19th, Walter Anibal Recalde
Ordoñez ¨was murdered on his way home from work.¨ Both were police
officers and members of the prison employees' union called the
Asociación sindical de empleados del Instituto Nacional Penitenciario y
Carcelario (ASEINPEC-CGT) (see article). This union was also targeted
in March when another prison officer and also a leader of the same
union, José Gregorio Astros Amaya, was assassinated.
The killings also occurred a week after the ITUC held a protest against continued trade union violence and President Uribe.
Comments
re: Amid Visions of Hope, More Trade Unionists Murdered in Colom
Pardon my ignorance, but why are the leaders of the police officer's and prison employee's union being targeted? For some reason, I feel like in countries where there is union violence, the police officers are often the agressors since they are the "law enforcement." Or is that way off base?
re: Amid Visions of Hope, More Trade Unionists Murdered in Colom
I just did a bit of research about the structure of the Colombian National Police, and have come up with a potential explanation. It looks like there is a hierarchy within the police system - with the General Directorate sitting higher than specialized directorates, such as Social Welfare Directorate, Health Directorate, etc. I am assuming that those who sit at the lower end of this hierarchy are more likely to be unionized, and probably more susceptible to trade union violence. This is a possibility. If someone has a better explanation, please post.