This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 002692 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
GENEVA PLEASE PASS TO JOHN CHAMBERLIN 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM PREL CO
SUBJECT: GOC ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN TO HIGHLIGHT LABOR RIGHTS 
ADVANCES AND POLITICAL WILL 
 
REF: A. 03 BOGOTA 6597 
 
     ¶B. 03 BOGOTA 6596 
     ¶C. 03 GENEVA 1969 
 
This report is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (U) To address the international community's concerns 
about human rights violations against trade union members, 
Vice-President Santos briefed ambassadors of member states of 
the ILO's Governing Body on GOC advances in promoting 
workers' human rights and tripartite dialogue.  In addition 
to citing numerous dialogue and training initiatives, Santos 
highlighted progress in judicial proceedings related to human 
rights violations against trade unionists and cited 
government statistics indicating a decline in levels of 
violence against them.  Diplomats present asked the GOC to do 
more to publicize its efforts in this field.  End Summary. 
 
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VP Briefs Ambassadors on Labor Rights 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) In advance of this month's scheduled review of the 
International Labor Organization's (ILO) Special Technical 
Cooperation Program with Colombia, Vice President Francisco 
Santos briefed representatives of ILO Governing Body (GB) 
members on March 8.  Also in attendance were Foreign Minister 
Carolina Barco; Minister of Social Protection Diego Palacio; 
Ministry of Social Protection (MSP) Vice Minister for Labor 
Relations Luz Stella Arango; Gabriel Mesa, Director of the 
MSP's Office of International Cooperation; and Ana Maria 
Sanchez, Director of the MSP's Office of Human Rights. 
 
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Context 
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¶3. (U) In June 2003 the GB rejected a proposal by the ILO's 
Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) to appoint a Fact 
Finding and Conciliation Commission for Colombia to address 
the many murders and other human rights violations against 
trade union leaders and members that remain unresolved (ref 
C).  The GB did, however, urge the GOC to more effectively 
address cases of violence against union members and take 
appropriate steps to foster an environment in which unions 
can operate without fear of intimidation or reprisal.  In an 
effort to demonstrate its political will to address these 
issues and to highlight advances made under the Special 
Technical Cooperation Program, GOC officials announced the 
launch of an informal campaign to raise awareness of GOC 
advances in promoting and protecting the human rights of 
Colombian union leaders, members, and workers in general. 
 
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GOC Addressing ILO's Concerns 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The GOC presented a report charting progress to date 
on the 357 sub-cases contained within CFA Case Number 1787. 
Each of these sub-cases represents a case in which the GOC 
has allegedly failed to take sufficient action to investigate 
and/or prosecute a murder, kidnapping, or series of threats 
against a trade union member.  According to the MSP, the GOC 
has formally responded with a status report in 345 of the 357 
sub-cases, even though only 196 of the sub-cases actually 
involved union members or leaders.  According to the MSP, the 
majority of sub-cases are still in the investigative stage 
and have not been brought to trial, largely because of 
complex legal procedures, an overburdened judicial system, 
and the fact that witnesses and others with information are 
reluctant to work with prosecutors out of fear for their own 
safety.  The report notes, however, that few cases have been 
formally dismissed. 
 
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Advances Under Technical Cooperation Program 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶5. (U) In conjunction with the Technical Cooperation Program, 
the GOC has worked to strengthen tripartite dialogue through 
a series of seminars, training programs, and social dialogue 
boards involving GOC authorities, labor organizations, and 
employers.  Since its reinstatement in January 2003, the 
Inter-Institutional Commission for the Promotion and 
Protection of Human Rights has conducted over 40 tripartite 
activities designed to strengthen communication and 
cooperation, including a series of dialogues chaired by 
Santos and other high-ranking GOC officials.  The Commission 
has also worked closely with the Ministry of Interior and 
Justice (MOI/J) to increase resources and decentralize the 
GOC's protection program, which provided protection to 5,221 
at-risk union members, politicians, journalists, political 
figures, and human rights workers in 2003.  The Commission 
has also provided training to protection program 
administrators, local police, and judicial authorities in 
order to shift the focus of the program from merely reacting 
to human rights violations toward taking concrete steps to 
prevent them. 
 
¶6. (U) The MSP, in cooperation with the Office of the 
Prosecutor General (Fiscalia), has conducted seminars on 
international labor law for prosecutors and judges, 
instructing them on the fundamentals of international labor 
law and the scope of activities protected under international 
humanitarian law.  These programs have also urged prosecutors 
to speed up investigations of human rights violations of 
trade unionists.  The MSP has also conducted training 
programs for labor inspectors and regional employees of the 
Ministry. 
 
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Statistics Confirm Improvement 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (U) Santos cited MSP statistics asserting that murders of 
trade unionists dropped from 120 in 2002 to 51 in 2003, a 
decline of 58 percent.  Santos credited the decline to 
improvements in the GOC's protection program and a change in 
paramilitary strategy related to ongoing demobilization 
negotiations with the Government.  (Note: The percentage 
decline in murders of trade unionists cited by the MSP is 
slightly higher than the 51 percent decline reported by the 
National Labor College ("Escuela Nacional Sindical," or ENS), 
a respected labor rights NGO that reported that 90 trade 
unionists were murdered in 2003, compared with 184 in 2002. 
Although MSP's statisticians agree that more trade unionists 
were murdered than the numbers they cite, they explain that 
they only cite cases in which union leaders or members are 
killed because of their trade union activities.  MSP did not 
include, for example, cases in which unions members died as a 
result of land disputes, crimes of passion, automobile 
accidents, and the transport of explosive materials.  End 
note.) 
 
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Santos: Information Campaign Long Overdue 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) In response to questioning, Santos confirmed that 
the GOC has not done a good job of "selling its successes." 
He asserted that European NGOs and parliamentarians only hear 
one side of the story from a small number of left-leaning 
NGOs and unions whose "destructive syndicalism" (as opposed 
to "constructive syndicalism," in which unions, employers, 
and the government work together) is bent on damaging the 
credibility of the GOC.  Santos asked those present to 
support GOC efforts to portray the "full picture." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
GOC Looking Forward, Focusing on Europe and Geneva 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶9. (U) FM Barco announced her plans to travel to Europe in 
the near future to meet with a key group of Colombian 
ambassadors to develop a strategy to communicate the GOC's 
advances in protecting and promoting workers' human rights. 
This strategy will focus on changing perceptions of 
Colombia's labor environment among key NGOs, 
parliamentarians, opinion leaders, and foreign unions.  In 
order to highlight a "new sense of cooperation" between labor 
unions and the GOC, MSP is working with Colombia's three 
major labor federations -- the United Workers Central (CUT), 
the General Federation of Democratic Workers (CGTD) and the 
Confederation of Colombian Workers (CTC) -- on a proposal to 
deliver a joint report to the ILO's Freedom of Association 
Committee in June.  The report would attempt to present a 
consensus perspective on the labor environment, but would 
acknowledge points of disagreement as well. 
 
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Reaction: GOC Can Do More 
------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Although generally supportive of the GOC's plan, 
many attendees noted that improved statistics and a status 
report alone would not be enough to satisfy the concerns of 
the international community.  Noting that the majority of 
union members are detained for reasons other than trade union 
activities, the UK Ambassador asked the GOC to provide 
regular, public updates on high-profile detentions to explain 
what motivated them.  Santos stated that the majority of 
detainees are charged with rebellion and that arrest warrants 
have been issued prior to all detentions.  The attendees 
agreed that similar updates on GOC responses to alleged human 
rights violations committed against trade unionists and other 
at-risk groups would be useful.  The German CDA observed that 
the fact that only four percent of the Colombian labor force 
is unionized will limit the scope of what the GOC can 
accomplish through traditional tripartite mechanisms. 
 
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Comment 
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¶11. (U) The GOC's democratic security policy and 
GOC/paramilitary demobilization negotiations have led to a 
significant reduction in violence, including against trade 
union members.  Vice-President Santos and the MSP's 
commitment to improving the GOC's relationship with 
Colombia's trade unions is evident in their efforts to 
advance legal cases related to violence against trade union 
leaders, improve tripartite dialogue, and protect and promote 
trade union members' human rights. 
WOOD