Urgent Alert - Missing Colombian Workers
Published by MAC on 2003-10-10Urgent Alert - Missing Colombian Workers
Ask Colombian President to Intervene to Save Lives of Missing Trade Unionists
The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) has called on U.S. and Colombian officials to take immediate action to locate Colombian workers David Vergara and Seth Cure and return them to their families.
On September 29, 2003, Vergara and Cure, officials of the mining union SINTRAMIENERGETICA, disappeared from their abandoned vehicles en route to a meeting to discuss upcoming labor contract negotiations with the Drummond Company.
The clothes and personal effects of Messrs. Vergara and Cure were discovered with their vehicle, and combined with intelligence gleaned by SINTTRAMIENERGETICA, which has worked closely with the USWA, has led to the conclusion that the two men are alive and in the custody of armed groups.
In a letter to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, USWA President Leo W. Gerard noted with alarm that quick action of Colombian officials is necessary to save the men's lives.
Gerard's letter noted that the forceful abduction of Vergara and Cure "is tragically reminiscent of the forced capture and subsequent murders of Valmore Locarna, Victor Orcasita and Gustavo Soler - all employees of Drummond and officials of SINTRAMIENERGETICA."
Locarno, Orcasita and Soler were murdered in 2001 by paramilitaries who forcefully removed them from buses taking them home from their work at the La Loma Drummond mines to their homes. The paramilitaries then murdered these individuals.
Colombia isby far the most dangerous country in the world for labor activists. It holds the record for the murders of trade union activists.
Sample Letter
10 October 2003
Presidente de la República de Colombia Dr. Alvaro Uribe Velez c/o Embassy of Colombia Washington, D.C. By Fax: (202) 232-8643
Re: Forced Disappearance of David Vergara & Seth Cure
Excelentísimo Sr. Presidente:
I am writing to express my alarm and grave concern upon hearing today of the forced disappearances, and possible murder, of David Vergara and Seth Cure. Srs. Vergara and Cure are employees of the Drummond Company in Colombia and are members of the mining union, SINTRAMIENERGETICA.
On September 29, 2003, Srs. Vergara and Cure were apparently abducted from the vehicle they were driving from Barranquilla to Valledupar where they were to meet with fellow union officials in preparation for upcoming contract negotiations. The clothing and personal effects of Srs. Vergara and Cure were found with their vehicle, but Srs. Vergara and Cure have not been seen since September 29, and they never showed up for their union meeting.
This disturbing event is tragically reminiscent of the forced capture, and subsequent murders, of Valmore Locarna, Victor Orcasita and Gustavo Soler -- all employees of Drummond and officials of SINTRAMIENERGETICA.
We implore you to investigate this crime immediately and to try to locate Srs. Vergara and Cure. It is our understanding that the mining union federation, FUNTRAENERGETICA, has already petitioned the Colombian Ministry of the Interior to investigate this crime, but as yet to no avail. In the event Srs. Vergara and Cure are still alive, your quick action is needed to save their lives.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
cc: Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State (By Fax 202 647-1722)
Hon.William Wood, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia (By Fax 57 1 315 2163)
Matthew Johnson, Labor & Human Rights Attache (By Fax 57 1 315 2163)
Joaquin Romero, Secretary General FUNTRAENERGETICA (011 57 1 286-5259)
Fernando Londono Hoyos, Ministro Interior y Justicia (011 57 1 286 8025)
Email to: Campaign for Labor Rights: clr@clrlabor.org
For further information: www.uswa.org and www.chicagoans.net
Background: Union asks Colombian president to find two missing labor workers
October 8 2003
By Jupy Lin, Associated Press Writer
United Steelworkers of America President Leo W. Gerard has sent a letter to the president of Columbia urging swift action in finding two mine workers who were recently abducted on their way to a labor contract meeting.
Steelworkers officials say they fear that the two Colombian men, David Vergara and Seth Cure, may have been targeted for their roles in upcoming labor talks with a mine owned by Alabama-based Drummond Co.
A telephone message left for Drummond wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.
In the letter to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Gerard noted similarities between the way the men were abducted Sept. 29 and the murders of three employees at the La Loma Drummond mine in northern Colombia in 2001. It's unclear which mine Vergara and Cure worked.
The situation "is tragically reminiscent of the forced capture and subsequent murders of Valmore Locarno, Victor Orcasita and Gustavo Soler," Gerard wrote. Gerard, who has written on numerous occasions to U.S. and foreign government officials on behalf of labor causes, said quick action is needed to save the men.
Steelworkers officials say it's unclear who abducted Vergara and Cure. The two, who are believed to be alive, were taken from their vehicle on their way to labor contract talks with Drummond representatives.
Their clothes and personal belongings were found abandoned with their vehicle. "We have fears it could be related to their trade union activities," Steelworkers attorney Dan Kovalik said Wednesday.
The union has sued Drummond in federal court over the three workers' deaths, claiming the mining company hired paramilitary gunmen to kidnap, torture and murder them for their ties to Sintramienergetica, the Colombian union representing Drummond workers.
The Steelworkers claim Locarno, Orcasita and Soler were forcefully removed from buses taking them home from their work at the mines.
The suit alleges the killings were part of a systematic plan to intimidate union members. According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Colombia is the most dangerous nation for union members, with 184 of the world's 213 confirmed killings last year.
USWA Strongly Urges Colombian President to Intervene to Save Lives of Missing Trade Unionists
Pittsburgh, October 8, 2003
The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) has called on U.S. and Colombian officials to take immediate action to locate Colombian workers David Vergara and Seth Cure and return them to their families. On September 29, 2003, Messrs. Vergara and Cure, officials of the mining union SINTRAMIENERGETICA, disappeared from their abandoned vehicles en route to a meeting to discuss upcoming labor contract negotiations with the Drummond Company.
The clothes and personal effects of Messrs. Vergara and Cure were discovered with their vehicle, and combined with intelligence gleaned by SINTRAMIENERGETICA, which has worked closely with the USWA, has led to the conclusion that the two men are alive and in the custody of armed groups.
In a letter to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, USWA President Leo W. Gerard noted with alarm that quick action of Colombian officials is necessary to save the men's lives.
Gerard's letter noted that the forceful abduction of Messrs. Vergara and Cure "is tragically reminiscent of the forced capture and subsequent murders of Valmore Locarno, Victor Orcasita and Gustavo Soler -- all employees of Drummond and officials of SINTRAMIENERGETICA." Locarno, Orcasita and Soler were allegedly murdered in 2001 by paramilitaries who forcefully removed them from buses taking them home from their work at the La Loma Drummond mines.
The murders of Locarno, Orcasita and Soler are the subject of an Alien Tort Claims Act case brought jointly by the USWA and the International Labor Rights Fund ("ILRF") on behalf of the families of these deceased workers and on behalf of the their union, SINTRAMIENERGETICA.
The lawsuit, brought against the Drummond Company, alleges that officials of Drummond aided and abetted the paramilitary forces that murdered Locarno, Orcasita and Soler, and conspired with these forces to carry out these murders. The defendants' motion to dismiss this case has been denied, and the Plaintiffs are proceeding to discovery of the merits of this case.
The USWA and ILRF have also filed recent suits under the ATCA on behalf of Drummond employees and SINTRAMIENERGETICA officials Jimmy Rubio and Juan Aguas Romero, claiming that Drummond officials are knowingly continuing to aid and abet paramilitary forces which are attempting to kill them and that Messrs.
Rubio and Romero have been forced into exile in imminent fear for their lives. The lawsuit is one of two being pressed by the USWA, which has also named Coca Cola and related bottlers as defendants in a lawsuit filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act that alleges the Coca Cola bottlers conspired with paramilitaries to intimidate, torture, and in some cases murder trade union activists in Colombia - by far the most dangerous country in the world for labor activists.