October 12th 2005, London: Exactly 513 years since Christopher Columbus "discovered" America, around 40 peace and solidarity activists picketed the Colombian embassy in support of workers, students, indigenous communities and other social movements there out on general strike.
Also present was a delegation from the British trade union movement, organised by solidarity campaign Justice for Colombia, which met with diplomats inside the embassy. On behalf of the TUC (Trades Union Congress) the delegates expressed their concern at the ongoing and severe human rights abuses in Colombia, especially against organised workers.
Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be an activist. On average, three trade unionists are assassinated there each week by right-wing death-squads, often in collusion with the official military and protected by the Colombian government.
The strikers were protesting against this state-sponsored terrorism as well as president Uribe tampering with the Constitution in order to stand for re-election next year. International solidarity offers vital protection as anyone who opposes the government in any way is branded either a guerrilla fighter or sympathiser and is targeted for repression.
If the spirits of the London protesters were at all dampened by the British rain, these were immediately lifted by samba band Rhythms of Resistance who kicked off the demo with some topically tropical drumming. Their presence and role as the heart-beat of the protest was particularly appropriate given that social movements across Colombia and the entire continent (including the government of neighbouring Venezuela) have renamed October 12th as "Day of Indigenous Resistance".
An open-mic started with Andy Higginbottom, secretary of the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, describing the appalling situation in Colombia and the reasons behind the strike. He also shared the distressing news that over 400 protesters were, at that very moment, surrounded by police in a Bogota hospital which was serving as one of the assembly-points for the march.
Giving more examples of repression against the strike, including the violent occupation of the national university by security forces and the raiding of student homes that very morning, he illustrated that "the Colombian regime, the government of Uribe Velez, its military and its paramilitaries are denying the mass social movement in Colombia the right to democratic protest."
Aiming his critism closer to home, he added that "we condemn British collaboration with the Uribe regime. We condemn military aid in whatever form to the Uribe regime. If the government of this country supported democracy, human rights and justice, it would boycott military aid to Colombia."
After several chants in Spanish, including one which translated as "Uribe - you mercenary, the people are furious with you", Colombian activist Soraya Gutierrez explained how the new so-called "free trade" agreement which Colombia is about to sign with the US will in fact result in even greater poverty and repression, as well as more displacement of indigenous and afro-colombian communities.
Gutierrez, who is president of the Colombian Human Rights Lawyers' Collective, pointed out that the demonstrators in Colombia were also protesting against the culture of rampant impunity, in which no-one is ever held accountable for the assassinations and torture that have become so commonplace. "The government is trying to legalise impunity," she explained.
The new so-called "Justice and Peace" Law has "given legal and economic benefits to the paramilitary groups that are responsible for so many human rights violations and crimes, and many of these crimes have been committed with the help of the state forces."
As darkness fell around 6.30pm, the National Union of Journalists general secretary Jeremy Dear, who led the trade union delegation, reported back they had been told inside the embassy that the situation for trade unionists and activists was improving because less people have been killed this year and more have been prosecuted.
"We disputed every single one of those figures and we've asked to get copies of all the documentation they claim that shows the situation is improving," he assured the protesters.
He also thanked everybody for making lots of noise and revealed that the government representatives were startled by the samba and jumpy with the beats and chants, adding that this "was really useful for us and gave a good background to the meeting."
He finished by making it clear that "we're going to be here every time somebody is threatened, intimidated, kidnapped, harassed or killed, until we put an end to impunity and help the trade union and social movement win that fight for peace and social justice." Hopefully the government will take this seriously and realise that Colombia's international image is now a casualty of their own civil war.
Also present was a delegation from the British trade union movement, organised by solidarity campaign Justice for Colombia, which met with diplomats inside the embassy. On behalf of the TUC (Trades Union Congress) the delegates expressed their concern at the ongoing and severe human rights abuses in Colombia, especially against organised workers.
Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be an activist. On average, three trade unionists are assassinated there each week by right-wing death-squads, often in collusion with the official military and protected by the Colombian government.
The strikers were protesting against this state-sponsored terrorism as well as president Uribe tampering with the Constitution in order to stand for re-election next year. International solidarity offers vital protection as anyone who opposes the government in any way is branded either a guerrilla fighter or sympathiser and is targeted for repression.
If the spirits of the London protesters were at all dampened by the British rain, these were immediately lifted by samba band Rhythms of Resistance who kicked off the demo with some topically tropical drumming. Their presence and role as the heart-beat of the protest was particularly appropriate given that social movements across Colombia and the entire continent (including the government of neighbouring Venezuela) have renamed October 12th as "Day of Indigenous Resistance".
An open-mic started with Andy Higginbottom, secretary of the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, describing the appalling situation in Colombia and the reasons behind the strike. He also shared the distressing news that over 400 protesters were, at that very moment, surrounded by police in a Bogota hospital which was serving as one of the assembly-points for the march.
Giving more examples of repression against the strike, including the violent occupation of the national university by security forces and the raiding of student homes that very morning, he illustrated that "the Colombian regime, the government of Uribe Velez, its military and its paramilitaries are denying the mass social movement in Colombia the right to democratic protest."
Aiming his critism closer to home, he added that "we condemn British collaboration with the Uribe regime. We condemn military aid in whatever form to the Uribe regime. If the government of this country supported democracy, human rights and justice, it would boycott military aid to Colombia."
After several chants in Spanish, including one which translated as "Uribe - you mercenary, the people are furious with you", Colombian activist Soraya Gutierrez explained how the new so-called "free trade" agreement which Colombia is about to sign with the US will in fact result in even greater poverty and repression, as well as more displacement of indigenous and afro-colombian communities.
Gutierrez, who is president of the Colombian Human Rights Lawyers' Collective, pointed out that the demonstrators in Colombia were also protesting against the culture of rampant impunity, in which no-one is ever held accountable for the assassinations and torture that have become so commonplace. "The government is trying to legalise impunity," she explained.
The new so-called "Justice and Peace" Law has "given legal and economic benefits to the paramilitary groups that are responsible for so many human rights violations and crimes, and many of these crimes have been committed with the help of the state forces."
As darkness fell around 6.30pm, the National Union of Journalists general secretary Jeremy Dear, who led the trade union delegation, reported back they had been told inside the embassy that the situation for trade unionists and activists was improving because less people have been killed this year and more have been prosecuted.
"We disputed every single one of those figures and we've asked to get copies of all the documentation they claim that shows the situation is improving," he assured the protesters.
He also thanked everybody for making lots of noise and revealed that the government representatives were startled by the samba and jumpy with the beats and chants, adding that this "was really useful for us and gave a good background to the meeting."
He finished by making it clear that "we're going to be here every time somebody is threatened, intimidated, kidnapped, harassed or killed, until we put an end to impunity and help the trade union and social movement win that fight for peace and social justice." Hopefully the government will take this seriously and realise that Colombia's international image is now a casualty of their own civil war.
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