Rights groups slam EU free trade deal with Colombia http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=16924

The European Union is close to reaching a free trade deal with Colombia. But human rights watchdogs, trade union organizations and some politicians believe the agreement would send all the wrong signals to Bogota.The European Commission concluded trade negotiations with Lima and Bogota this month, following nine rounds of talks. The agreement, if ratified by the European Parliament, would fully liberalize commerce in some sectors between the bloc and the two Latin American countries.The possible deal has sparked an outcry in some quarters because of concerns over the South American country’s human rights record.

Colombia is, for example, the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists. Last year alone, 39 labor representatives were murdered there, according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). No one has been brought to trial.The ITUC and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which both have their headquarters in Brussels, have expressed their continuing opposition to the conclusion of a free trade deal between the EU and Columbia.Under the agreement, new market access would be afforded to exporters from both sides and includes manufactured products, agricultural goods, services and investment, according to the EU commission."Sixty percent of the killings of trade unionists take place in Colombia.

Impunity there is 100 percent. The situation is shocking. Europe cannot give Uribe this reward after all those abuses," ITUC human rights officer, Manuela Chavez, told Deutsche Welle.Outspoken community leaders, political activists, journalists and lawyers also continue to be killed, abducted, threatened, arbitrarily detained and placed under surveillance, according to the Amnesty report to the United Nations in mid-Febuary."Senior government and state officials often seek to equate human rights work with support for the guerrilla or terrorism," it states."A climate of hostility toward human rights defenders and other activists exacerbates the ongoing serious situation they face. Such hostility has been fomented by the government, which appears to perceive human rights and security as mutually exclusive," according to the document.

comment-also see...Stop the EU-Colombia Free Trade Agreement  http://www.justiceforcolombia.org/?link=3_0_3    ICEM Backs Trade Union Campaign against EU-Colombia Free Trade http://www.icem.org/en/26-Latin-America-Caribbean/3545-ICEM-Backs-Trade-Union-Campaign-against-EU-Colombia-Free-Trade-Agreement   UNI blasts EU-Colombia free trade plan while unions are under attack http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/UNINews.nsf/0/7E14BC76F141A2B2C125760A0031C151    Stop the Negotiations between the EU, Colombia http://www.foeeurope.org/trade/statements/2009/Pronunciamiento_UE-Peru-Colombia_sep09_en.pdf