News

A UNI delegation today pressed the authorities in Colombia for a full investigation into the recent killing of Colombian trade union leader Leonidas Gomez.

Leonidas - from the finance union UNEB - was killed in his own apartment, the latest in a tragic toll of union activists in Colombia.

The UNI team included UNI Assistant General Secretary Raul Requena and UNI Americas Regional Secretary Rodolfo Benitez and met top officials in the Ministry of Justice in Bogota.

They were accompanied by Leonor Sierra from ANEBRE who is president of the UNI Liaison Committee; Rafael Junco from UNEB; Beethoven Herrera from the International Labour Organisation and UNI Americas’ Marcio Monzane.

They pressed their concerns over the killing and the dangerous climate in which trade unionists carry out their work in Colombia.

Human and union rights were raised in the discussion with officials from the Fiscal General’s office and the UNI group pressed for a very deep and transparent investigation into Leonidas’ killing. The National Prosecutor offered to make a clear investigation.

Although UNEB is not a UNI affiliate, Leonidas was a strong supporter of UNI in Colombia and helped organise a UNI seminar in Bogota in January.

The meeting with the Ministry of Justice was preceded by a meeting last night with UNI affiliates in Colombia who thanked UNI for its solidarity and political support in condemning the killing of Leonidas and pressing for a full investigation.

“Both meetings were helpful,” said Raul Requena. “We are building on our capacity to mobilise solidarity and to lobby the international community on this assassination.”