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On March 8, 2008, the global labour movement suffered a tremendous loss when Leonidas Gomez Rozo, a worker and union representative at Citibank, was found murdered in his home.



UNI Global Union is calling for justice in the case, which still remains unsolved as the killers enjoy impunity from authorities. UNI has been a vocal campaigner for an end to the atrocities and violent attacks on the union labour movement in Colombia.



Last year, UNI organized a worldwide campaign, including visits to Colombian Embassies in America and Europe and a union mission to Colombia led by Philip Jennings, to urge the authorities to conduct a full and fair investigation into the case and bring those responsible to justice.



In November the paramilitary group Aguilas Negras (Black Hawks) sent an e-mail to the international union movement and some embassies claiming responsibility for the murder of Leonidas, a union representative for UNEB Colombia, and threatening those who have campaigned against violence against union activists in Colombia. The message made it clear that he was killed for political reasons, which Colombian authorities have refuted for the last year.



UNI has called on the authorities to conclude their investigation and find and prosecute the members of Aguilas Negras who declared themselves responsible for Leonidas’s murder.



Click here to send a message to Colombia's President Uribe calling for justice in the case: http://www.uniglobalunion.org/uniindep.nsf/protestleonidas09?openform