With FTA Secured, Colombia Takes Steps Backwards on Human Rights
Labor Rights at Risk under Santos Administration
from Washington Office on Latin America
On October 12, the same day that the U.S. Congress passed the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a group of over sixty Afro-Colombian victims protested in Bogotá. The marchers, internally displaced leaders from the conflict areas of Chocó, Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Nariño and Bolivar, had a clear message, “We are marching for our right to life. The government does not protect us. We are killed, threatened and displaced so that Colombia and outside investors can make a profit off of the natural resources found in our lands. We say no to the U.S.-Colombia FTA.” While it was not uncommon to hear such statements under President Uribe’s reign, it was sobering to hear it under the Santos Administration.
Shortly after Juan Manuel Santos was inaugurated in August 2010, his administration swiftly distanced itself from former President Uribe’s anti-human rights and anti-trade unionist rhetoric, reopening dialogue with civil society. President Santos also set out to pass an important law recognizing the rights of victims. U.S. policymakers and civil society welcomed Santos’ tone and initiatives. Many were hopeful that these actions served as indicators that Colombia was opening a new chapter on human rights and correcting past injustices. Labor rights remained a serious concern in debates over the U.S.-Colombia FTA, and Presidents Obama and Santos presented an April 2011 Labor Action Plan to address the country’s disastrous record of labor abuses. While the new rhetoric, the victims’ law and the Labor Action Plan did not address the ongoing internal armed conflict or root causes of Colombia’s long-standing human and labor rights issues, they were steps forward that facilitated the passage of the U.S.-Colombia FTA in the U.S. Congress.
It has since become clear that Colombia has not advanced as much as many hoped prior to the FTA vote. In fact it is now taking backwards steps on human rights. A recent delegation of international experts from fifteen countries, who participated in a verification commission to analyze the protection of human rights defenders in Colombia in November, reported that fifty-four human rights defenders were killed between July 2010 and May 2011. Land activists, human rights NGOs, lawyers and victims’ representatives’ are routinely subjected to death threats, spurious proceedings, unfounded accusations, illegal surveillance and robberies at their workplaces. Threats received by defenders are not investigated, nor are the perpetrators arrested. Human rights defenders from different regions and backgrounds, including Afro-Colombians and internally displaced persons (IDPs), noted to WOLA that under the Santos administration their protective measures have either been taken away, or that existing measures are failing to protect them. When defenders complain to officials about their security situation they are given the bureaucratic runaround or simply ignored.
