Carleen Pickard of the Council of Canadians and Barbara Wood representing CUPE were part of an international election monitoring mission to Colombia head of the presidential election in May. They say systematic human rights abuses, corruption and escalating violence cast doubts on whether the election can be free and fair.
Most disturbingly, the mission’s report highlights:
- The involvement of illegal armed groups in the elections, including paramilitaries and drug traffickers, who benefit from campaign financing as well as determining outcomes;
- Electoral fraud and corruption, including vote buying, voter intimidation, use of fraudulent identification cards and vote rigging;
- Illegal campaign financing including the use of public funds and contracts, the use of drug trafficking profits and exceeding campaign financing limits; and
- The manipulation of social programs designed to assist the poorest of the poor – recipients of such programs have been told to vote for certain candidates, otherwise the state-funded program would be cut and with it, their benefits.
In regards to the Canada – Colombia Free Trade Agreement, we conclude:
“The serious concerns raised by the pre-electoral mission combined with the ongoing human rights violations and the continued climate of impunity in Colombia further support the immediate halt of the CCFTA and the call for an independent and comprehensive human rights impact assessment. Canada entering into a free trade agreement with Colombia now not only sends the wrong message to Canadians and the Colombian regime, it also may make Canada and Canadian companies complicit or passive supporters of continued violence in Colombia.”
Keep up the pressure to defeat Bill C-2…
Public pressure was successful in deterring the Harper government from forcing Bill C-2 through parliament but we still need to keep up the pressure!
MPs will be called to vote on Bill C-2 again soon, so we need you to write to your MP and send a copy to the leaders indicated below.
Threats and attacks continue against trade union activists. According to the National Labour School (ENS) of Colombia, 45 trade unionists were murdered in 2009 alone.
In promoting the new legislation, the government says Colombia is “a strategic destination” for Canadian direct investment in mining and oil exploration, amongst other sectors. But on February 23 2010, Amnesty International released a new report that documents an intensification of violence against Indigenous leaders and communities, many of whom live in areas valued for their minerals, oil and other natural resources. During 2009 alone, thousands of Indigenous women, men and children were killed, threatened or driven from their land. According to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), the survival of 32 Indigenous groups is at risk of extinction as a result of the armed conflict, large scale economic projects and a lack of state support. OPSEU has given concrete assistance to ONIC to launch a campaign for the survival of these communities.
Express your concern about the intensification of violence against Indigenous peoples living in areas of economic interest in Colombia and the continued attacks on trade unionists and human rights activists, by:
- Asking your MP to let you know whether she or he will withhold support for Bill C-2 until at least an independent human rights impact assessment has been carried out.
Write to your MP:
Click on:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/
MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC
Please send a copy to:
International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 992-8351
EMail: VanLoan.P@parl.gc.ca
Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 992-5880
EMail: IgnatM@parl.gc.ca
Jack Layton, Leader of the NDP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 995-4565
EMail: LaytoJ@parl.gc.ca
Gilles Duceppe, Leader of the Bloc Québécois
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 954-2121
EMail: DucepG@parl.gc.ca