Colombia is “working every day to overcome impunity,” Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe said Wednesday while on an official visit to
Canada.
Uribe, speaking at the regional International Economic Forum in Montreal, said Colombia is protecting trade unionists, compensates victims of violence and implements measures to protect human rights in the country.
Tuesday, a a study conducted by the International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC) showed that 49 labor rights activists were murdered, compared to 39 the year before. More than half of trade unionists killed worldwide are Colombian. The ITUC accused the Colombian government of not doing enough to prosecute these murderers.
But Colombia’s President explained that dismantling paramilitarism “has been one of the facts that has helped the most in protecting trade
union leaders’ lives, considering that one of the goals of this
terrorist group was to murder workers,” the Presidency’s press office said Wednesday.
Besides, “the Government is protecting 10 thousand people individually, and two
thousand are workers. That protection has been efficient. None of those
protected, has been murdered. That protection costs 40 million dollars
a year.” Uribe added.
The Colombian President is in Canada for an official visit to push the ratification of a free trade agreement between the countries.