National Board of Directors meets in February, 2008
Adopted unanimously by the PSAC National Board of Directors February 6, 2008
OPPOSITION TO FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH COLOMBIA
WHEREAS the Government of Canada is rapidly negotiating a free trade agreement with Colombia; and
WHEREAS Colombia is among the worst human rights violators in the Americas:
- More trade unionists are killed in Colombia than in the rest of the world combined. Four-hundred (400) union activists have been murdered during the administration of the current president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe Velez. Only seven convictions have resulted to date, and 97% of these assassinations remain unsolved.
- There are 3.8 million internally displaced persons in Colombia, 57% of which are women. The UN calls this the worst humanitarian disaster in the Western hemisphere, and it is growing;
- Nine-hundred and fifty-five (955) cases of extrajudicial executions by the army over the last five years have been documented, and the numbers are rising;
- Colombian paramilitary organizatons – designated as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the Canadian government – have committed numerous crimes, including massacres, murder, torture, and trafficiking illicit drugs; the purpose of their terror has been to dismantle Indigenous, Afro-Colombian and other social movements to take over their resource-rich territories for the benefit of multinational companies; and
WHEREAS the Colombian government's inaction on these and other human rights violations sends a clear message to human rights violators that there are no consequences to these violations; and
WHEREAS through its Social Justice Fund, the PSAC has developed relationships with and supported public sector trade unions in Colombia, and has heard first-hand how devastating the human rights situation is in Colombia and how a free trade agreement with Canada would lend undeserved legitimacy to the Uribe government; and
WHEREAS the US Congress has refused to adopt a similar free trade agreement with Colombia based on evidence of government involvement in crimes against humanity, human rights violations, on-going unsolved crimes against labour activists and direct involvement with the paramilitaries, and their inaction or collusion on this issues; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the PSAC join the voices of the CLC, Amnesty International, Make Poverty History, Common Frontiers and numerous other labour and civil society organizations expressing grave concerns with the free trade negotiations with Colombia, in light of the severe and persistent human rights violations in that country; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the PSAC fully endorse the CLC's call on Prime Minister Harper to stop the negotiations of the international business deal with Colombia until he can show the Canadian public that measure have been taken to ensure the following:
- the rule of law and an end to impunity for crimes against union leaders, human rights defenders and the civilian population;
- that Canadian extractive companies operating in Colombia act responsibly to the communities in which they operate;
- that displaced communities can return to their lands;
- that Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities are involved and allowed a say on development projects which take place on their territories;
- that no products, resources or other commercial goods are produced on lands illegally appropriated by drug traffickers and paramilitary groups;
- that a trade deal does not benefit government linked criminal networks;
- that an international business deal with Colombia or any other country fosters “fair-trade”, and does not only benefit international investors while worsening widespread conditions of poverty and social exclusion.
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Date Modified : 2008/02/21
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