-When did the
death threats start?
-On December
28, 2010, I received a telephone call, threatening me. But I refused to take it
seriously. Then, on January 23, I had a similar threat. And on April 5 it
happened again, this time through a text message to my cell phone.
-What did the
message say?
-That they knew
where I worked. They also threatened my husband and children, said I had to drop
the cases I’m working on or else. In addition to these threats, I’ve been
harassed by men who drive by my house on motorcycles to intimidate me. My
neighbors have told me they go by and look insistently at my house.
-You work for
several unions and also for the organization Fundación Manos Muertas, right?
-I’m a legal
advisor for seven unions: Sintratucar, Astrinal, Sinaltrainal, Sinaltrametal,
Sintralimenticia, Sinaninal, and Ustrial. I’m also the human rights legal
representative of
Fundación Manos Muertas,
an organization that defends women who have suffered the appalling working
conditions common in several Cartagena companies.
So it’s hard to
say which of the cases I’m working on have prompted the threats or who’s making
them.
-But there are
several other union leaders who have been threatened lately.
-That's right.
-It’s an
alarming situation…
-It is and as
I’ve reported it to the Prosecutor’s Office, the Colombian government cannot
ignore the agreement recently signed by Colombian President Juan
Manuel Santos with the government of the United
States, whereby he undertook to provide safeguards human rights and
labor activity and promote their development.
