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Montevideo, May 20, 2010
To the President of the Republic of Colombia
Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Palacio de Nariño
Bogotá
Ref.: Murder of trade union leader
Francisco Antonio Abello Rebollo, Gnecco - Finca
Palo Alto worker
Dear Sir,
It is with deep outrage and sorrow that we are
writing you to denounce the murder of our fellow
unionist Francisco Antonio Abello Rebollo,
a worker at the Gnecco Espinosa Palo Alto
establishment and member of the governing
board of the National Union of Agroindustry
Worker (SINTRAINAGRO) Ciénaga
division.
Early this year, IUF Latin America
conducted an International Campaign to support
the workers of the company Gnecco Espinosa,
who had been savagely repressed for their
decision to unionize and join SINTRAINAGRO.
“We’re here to kill you all! Come on out! You
can’t hide from us!”, the mercenaries hired
by the company yelled as they began shooting.
After several weeks of relentless efforts,
throughout which the company ignored the claims
of the trade union and the Ministry of Social
Protection, we acknowledge that it was your
decisive intervention that ultimately resulted
in the signing of the agreement that ended the
conflict, 67 days after it began.
But just as the situation seemed fully overcome,
on May 17, two hired guns arrived at the oil
palm plantation where Francisco Antonio
Abello Rebollo was working and gunned him
down.
Francisco Abello
was well known to leaders of both
SINTRAINAGRO and IUF Colombia. They
remember him as a committed activist who was
always there to support his fellow workers,
giving them strength to get through the long and
difficult days of the occupation, even as
everyone feared an imminent tragic outcome. As
with so many other Colombian unionists, it was
his prominent role in the conflict that brought
on his death.
Mr. President, you are fully aware of the
arbitrary actions of the company Gnecco
Espinosa, who has systematically
broken the law with its hostile and
anti-democratic behavior. In view of the
campaign of terror conducted by the company with
the sole aim of dismantling the trade union, the
murder of Francisco Antonio Abello Rebollo
cannot be seen as a random incident.
Consequently, we urge your government to act
immediately to investigate this crime and find
the material and intellectual perpetrators,
bringing them to justice.
Sincerely yours,
Gerardo
Iglesias
Secretario regional UITA
Copia:
Vicepresidente
de la República
Comité
Ejecutivo Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT)
UITA
l Secretaría General
Organización
Internacional del Trabajo (OIT)
Amnistía
Internacional
Human Rights
SINTRAINAGRO
EFFAT
–
UITA
Unión Europea
UGT
(España)
CCOO
(España)
Movimiento
Mundial por los Bosques Tropicales (WRM)
Banco Mundial
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