144 trade union activists killed globally in 2006: ITUC
The number of activists killed rose to 144 from 115 in 2005, while 800 were injured or tortured and more than 5,000 arrested and 500 jailed.
By Agencies |
PARIS: Nearly 150 labour activists were killed worldwide in 2006, a new global trade union said in a report on Tuesday outlining a rising tide of violence and harassment against unionists across the globe.
The number of activists killed rose to 144 from 115 in 2005, while 800 were injured or tortured and more than 5,000 arrested and 500 jailed, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) said.
A single country, Colombia, accounted for more than half the victims with 78 unionists killed last year, according to the ITUC's first annual survey of rights violations since being founded in November 2006. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is spending millions to "tell the world that the situation in Colombia is improving ... instead of using its resources to tackle the real problem," ITUC secretary general Guy Ryder says in the report.
"They are lying," he said.
Those killed included Jose Gregorio Izquierdo, a public service union leader, murdered after receiving threats from paramilitary groups, Daniel Cortez Cortez, an electrician shot dead at work, and farmers Jose Mario Guerrero Garzon and Hector Jairo Yate.
Violence against unionists soared worldwide, with the outlook particularly worrying in parts of Asia and across Africa.
The number of activists killed rose to 144 from 115 in 2005, while 800 were injured or tortured and more than 5,000 arrested and 500 jailed, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) said.
A single country, Colombia, accounted for more than half the victims with 78 unionists killed last year, according to the ITUC's first annual survey of rights violations since being founded in November 2006. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is spending millions to "tell the world that the situation in Colombia is improving ... instead of using its resources to tackle the real problem," ITUC secretary general Guy Ryder says in the report.
"They are lying," he said.
Those killed included Jose Gregorio Izquierdo, a public service union leader, murdered after receiving threats from paramilitary groups, Daniel Cortez Cortez, an electrician shot dead at work, and farmers Jose Mario Guerrero Garzon and Hector Jairo Yate.
Violence against unionists soared worldwide, with the outlook particularly worrying in parts of Asia and across Africa.
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In the Philippines, at least 33 unionists were killed in "an orgy of extrajudicial violence," ITUC said, charging that members of the government or security forces were guilty in several high-profile cases.Download
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