ILO CONSIDERS COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO INVESTIGATE KILLINGS OF TRADE UNIONISTS IN COLOMBIA

  
Myanmar (formerly Burma) received a historic sanction at the International Labor Organization (ILO) meeting in Geneva. Can Colombia be far behind? On June 14, the ILO voted overwhelming to set a November 30 deadline for Myanmar to take concrete measures to bring its legislation and practices into line with conventions banning forced labor. It is the first time in the history of the ILO that the organization has invoked Article 33 of its constitution, which provides for sanctions against a regime. This has Colombia very concerned.

On June 16, after a bitter and hard-fought battle, the ILO's Governing Body was scheduled to decide whether to convene a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the assassinations of trade union leaders in Colombia. The Colombian government is fiercely opposed to such an inquiry and has launched an unprecedented offensive to put an end to the ILO proceedings. The government denies responsibility for attacks against trade unions and other violations of human rights and attempts to cast doubt on the objectivity of the ILO's supervisory mechanisms. According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the Colombian government has incited personal attacks against ILO officials in the Colombian press. The government campaign presents the possibility of a Commission of Inquiry as a threat to the ongoing peace negotiations and, in an attempt to garner sympathy from other developing countries, argues that the mere fact of the commission's establishment would lead foreign economic partners such as the European Union to impose immediate commercial sanctions on Colombia.

The ILO has refuted the threat of economic sanctions, as have the union organizations that have made this cause one of their principal objectives at the ILO meeting. In a statement released on June 14, Luis Anderson, general secretary of the ICFTU's regional body in the Americas, the ORIT, clarified his organization's position. "We are not seeking economic sanctions, rather that the ILO condemn Colombia for the impunity which has occurred with these deaths," he explained. "The trade union movement of the hemisphere aspires that this process end with a sanction, the strongest that can be imposed by the ILO-a Commission of Inquiry; that is, a moral and political sanction which has a great deal of weight internationally." More than 3000 union leaders and activists have been assassinated in Colombia over the last 10 years.

If established, the Commission of Inquiry would constitute the culmination of a formal complaint lodged against the Colombian government at the 86th ILO Conference in June 1998. This complaint was signed by trade union delegates from 26 countries, including Colombia. Killings have continued ever since, the new report states, pointing to a list of 39 Colombian union leaders and activists murdered since November 1999, when the ILO Governing Body last examined the case. The Colombian government argues that the unionists are victims of criminal activity and the armed conflict affecting the country. However, the ICFTU/ICFTU-ORIT distributed a report to the Workers Group at the ILO claiming that the killings consistently coincide with industrial disputes and collective bargaining taking place in the victims' places of work.

Coincidentally, in Bogotá this week, union organizations and other groups met to approve a declaration rejecting the "Plan Colombia," the government's blueprint for reaching a peace accord. The declaration, entitled "Plan Colombia: Plan for Peace or Plan for War," is signed by the both the CTC and the CUT, union organizations affiliated with the ICFTU and closely tied to the AFL-CIO, which has already expressed its concern over approving military aid to Colombia. These civil society groups ask the Colombian government to change the focus of the plan from national security to "citizen security," based on the broadest concepts of human rights.

This bitter debate has far-reaching consequences in the trade and workers' rights arena. Under the leadership of its new director general, the Chilean diplomat Juan Samovia, the ILO has sought a more activist stance for the organization. The Myanmar case is far less controversial than the Colombian situation, but it proves that the ILO's international pronouncements continue to have weight. Colombia, by raising the issue of sanctions, seeks to rekindle the strong feelings of Third World countries in the workers' rights and trade debate. The outcome will not only affect current discussions about strategies for peace in Colombia, but also the ability of the ILO to influence the workers' rights question in the context of the WTO and other international trade and economic forums. When the FTAA discussions eventually "spill over" into more public debate, the ILO will likely play a role in promoting the link between trade negotiations and workers' rights in the Americas. The ILO's position on Colombia could become key to the organization's international credibility.