Assassination, Death Threat and Police Raid Against SINALTRAINAL


OFENSIVE AGAINST SINALTRAINAL SHARPENS

A series of attacks against the very existence of SINALTRAINAL have
occurred in different regions of Colombia; ranging from a raid on the
union's national headquarters in Bogota, to the assassination of one
of our activists.

These incidents are an example of President Alvaro Uribe Velez policy
of 'democratic security' and take place at a difficult moment due to
labour conflicts with the transnationals NESTLE and COCA-COLA.

These are some of the violent incidents against the lives and security
of our members:

RAID ON UNION HEADQUARTERS

At approximately 12:15 a.m. on 3rd August 2006, uniformed men who
identified themselves as members of SIJIN, the Judicial Police,
entered into the headquarters of SINALTRAINAL located at No 35 18,
15th Avenue in Bogota city and proceeded to search the union building
stating it was a preventative operation for the upcoming 7th August,
the inauguration day of president Alvaro Uribe Velez. That morning
SIJIN agents were seen filming the outside of the union's headquarters.

This raid was carried out without a judicial order [warrant], being
classified curiously as an 'act of voluntary registration'.

The raid took place at the very moment that we were informing the
world of the good results of the campaigns against Nestle and
Coca-Cola and public protests against the permanent threats and
possible judicial actions against our members.

DEATH THREAT AGAINST UNION LEADER

In the morning hours of 18th August  2006 a condolence card was left at
the home of comrade Hector Jairo Paz, a worker at NESTLE DE COLOMBIA
S.A., and a leader in the Bugalagrande Branch of SINALTRAINAL. The
condolence card was signed:
"Death to Trade Unionists/ Muerte a sindicalistas."

Just ten days previously another member of the Executive Comitee of
the same Branco was threatened, at the time when we were carryoing out
peaceful protests in front of the NESTLE plants in Bugalagrande and
Bogota against the unjustified sacking of ninety provisionals
[temporary workers] and four workers with indefinite contracts who are
SINALTRAINAL members.

TRADE UNION ACTIVIST ASSASSINATED

Comrade CARLOS ARTURO MONTES BONILLA was assassinated at approximately
11:00 p.m. on 17th August 2006. He leaves his partner Maria Elvia Calvarez
Delgado and 7 orphaned children. His killing took place near to their home,
located to the north of the city of Barrancabermeja.

CARLOS ARTURO had worked for nearly 30 years in the Infants Club for
the workers of ECOPETROL [state oil corporation] and he used to
participate in protests against the COCA COLA multinational and other
trade union activities in this oil port.

Our comrade was a member of SINTRAHOCAR and of SINALTRAINAL; a double
membership that he had as a legal mechanism to protect the existence
of SINALTRAINAL, due to the attacks on it by corporations like COCA
COLA, that have been implementing a criminal policy agsinst the union,
by revoking the union's statutes, impeding the membership of executive
committee members, lifting trade union conventional rights and
activating a judicial plan to block our right of association under the
so-called 'abuse of the law thesis'.

We ask that social organizations and defenders of human rights demand
these threats and assassinations against our people stop.

We demand that the competent authorities punish those responsible and
the immediate cessation of so-called 'voluntary registrations', given
that these are actually a cover-up for raids that put at grave risk
the lives of our men and women and the existence of our organizations.

Edgar Paez M.

National Leadership SINALTRAINAL, International Area

Colombia, 20th August 2006


We urge you to send notes of protest to / Pedimos enviar notas de
protesta a:

Presidencia de la Republica
Dr. Alvaro Uribe Velez
Fax: (+57 1) 566.20.71=20
E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.co

Vicepresidencia de la Republica
Dr. Francisco Santos
E-mail:fsantos@presidencia.gov.co

Procuraduria General de la Nacion
Dr. Edgardo Jose Maya Villazon
Fax: (+57 1)342.97.23=20
E-mail:reygon@procuraduria.gov.co; anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co

Defensor del Pueblo
Dr. Volmar Antonio Perez Ortiz
Fax: (+571) 640 04 91=20
E-mail:secretaria_privada@hotmail.com

Ministro de la Proteccion Social
Dr. Diego Palacios Betancourt
Fax: 57 1 336 0182
E-mail: dpalacio@minproteccionsocial.gov.co

Director del Programa de Derechos Humanos de Vicepresidencia
Dr. Carlos Franco
E-mail: cefranco@prsidencia.gov.co, fibarra@presidencia.gov.co

Oficina del Alto Comisionado de Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos
Dr. Michael Fruhling
Fax: 57 1 6293637
E-mail: oacnudh@hcrh.org.co

JUAN CARLOS MARROQUIN

Presidente Nestle Region Bolivariana
juancarlos.marroquin@co.nestle.com

EMBAJADA SUIZA
lea.valaulta@eda.admin.ch

Con copia a :

SINALTRAINAL

sinaltrainal@sinaltrainal.org
areainternacional@sinaltrainal.org