International Observers to meet with Colombian Vice President Santos

by Joe Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:10

LASC is holding a picket at Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
Tuesday, March 23rd, at 12.30 to protest the visit of Vice President of
Colombia, Francisco Santos, who is to address the Joint Oireachtas Committee
on Foreign Policy.

Colombia has the worst record of assassinations at hands of
state and Para military organisations working in collusion. Trade
union leaders are assassinated daily. In 2003, 78 trade unionist were
killed in the streets of Colombia at the hands of paramilitary
groups. Since the foundation of the Colombian Trade Union Federation
"CUT", 3800 trade unionists have died in the same circumstances.

All these crimes remain in total impunity, since the State has
not had the political will to find those responsible, to judge
them and thus mitigate the pain of the victims. The vast majority
of the legal cases has been archived or remain in preliminary
stages, without possibility of showing to the world the truth
about the beneficiaries of these crimes against humanity.
President Uribe wants the EU to set up a "Donor Conference"
in Europe later this year, at which his government would seek
money for his anti-terrorism and "democratic security" policies.

Last summer, at a major international conference organised by
the UK government in London, the Colombian government committed
itself to fulfilling a series of recommendations by the UN Human
Rights Office, as a prior condition to any future Donor's Conference.
But the Colombian government has not attempted to address most of these
conditions, nor, according to the vice-president, do they intend
to. Rather, they have since developed new legislation that, according
to the UN, is incompatible with international human rights laws
to which Colombia is a party.
The government's new "anti-terrorist" legislation gives the
army the authority to conduct investigations, collect evidence,
carry out raids, tap telephones, and make arrests without warrants,
and to recruit a million strong civilian force in support of
Government strategy which relies on military vioence in place
of negotiated settlement.
It is the UN's view that the EU should press the Colombian government
to keep its commitments in London prior to any further donor
conferences.
When Uribe addressed the Parliament in Brussels 2 months ago,
30 MEPs walked out to protest their anger that he had been invited
to speak.
Vice President Santos has attacked human rights defenders accusing
them of being "defenders of terrorism," and "traffickers in human
rights." The human rights community has been subjected to an
orchestrated campaign of harassment.

Join the picket against Santos' visit:
Tuesday March 23rd 12.30 Leinster House.

by BlackPope Sat Mar 20, 2004 01:58

it's that fathead pimp's sworn duty to his imperialist masters to flog the collective and individual rights of Irish citizens for less than half a song anytime it might possibly suit their intrigues - which in this case it so patently does.

If you rely on shameless scum such as Biffo, whose ilk has surely played no small part in securing their current predicament, your men will probably not be home for a very long time.

What of the old motto "... with the help of gallant allies, but relying firstly on the strength of her own arms ... etc."

Regards, BP