101 Trade Unionists Murdered in 2009; Pressure on Workers' Rights Grows as Crisis Hits Jobs http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-annual-survey.html

Of 101 murdered, 48 were killed in Colombia(fascist regime funded and militarily aided by US), 16 in Guatemala(receives arms and funding by US ), 12 in Honduras(US backed coup), six in Mexico(nafta partner militarized by US), six in Bangladesh, four in Brazil, three in the Dominican Republic, three in the Philippines, one in India, one in Iraq and one in Nigeria. Twenty-two of the Colombian trade unionists who were killed were senior trade union leaders and five were women, as the onslaught of previous years continued. The rise in violence in Guatemala and Honduras also followed a trend developing in recent years.

“Colombia was yet again the country where standing up for fundamental rights of workers is more likely than anywhere else to mean a death sentence, despite the Colombian government’s public relations campaign to the contrary. The worsening situation in Guatemala, Honduras and several other countries is also cause for extreme concern,” said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder.