INTRODUCTION

1. INTRODUCTION • On the 17th December 2008 we established an Irish branch of Justice For Colombia. • Mick Dowling, SIPTU,was elected Chairperson and • Mairtin MacMaolain, ASTI, as Vice-Chair. • Justice for Colombia (JFC) is an international NGO that campaigns for human rights, workers' rights and the search for peace with social justice in Colombia. • Established in 2002 by a group of British trade unionists, JFC was created in response to the appalling human rights crisis in Colombia. • JFC-Ireland is working in close connection with Congress’ Global Solidarity project and the UK branch of JFC.

2. ACTIVITIES • Campaign Awareness: Government/Trade Union Movement • & General Public • Political Prisoner Release actions • Hosting Delegations from Colombia • Actions on the EU/Colombia Free Trade Agreement. • Peace Process Debate.

4. DELEGATIONS TO COLOMBIA: To the Executive Council of ICTU. ICTU has been invited to send a delegate on a delegation that Justice for Colombia (JFC) is arranging for senior trade union figures and British MPs to Colombia between April 2nd and 8th this year. JFC in the UK have taken 14 successful delegations to Colombia in the past five years. The trip will provide an in-depth understanding of the complex situation in Colombia, with an emphasis on the situation facing trade unionists (there was a big increase in the numbers being murdered during 2008). ……… Meetings with Colombian trade unions and their members and visits to workplaces; Meetings with human rights organisations, student and community groups; Meetings with the Colombian authorities (most delegations see the Colombian Vice-President as well as several Ministers); -A meeting with the UN High Commission for Human Rights office -A visit to a prison to see conditions and meet with political prisoners – including trade unionists; -A visit to a rural area to see firsthand the dramatic effects of the conflict on the civilian population; -Meetings with members of Congress, both from the opposition and pro-government parties. ….. Mick Dowling Chairperson JFC-Ireland Feb 2009.

5. Political Prisoner Release Actions : THEY WORK!! Message from Rosalba Gaviria Toro: “After 27 hard months unjustly imprisoned they have declared me innocent of all the charges that I was accused of by the Attorney General’s Office. This was a fabricated case… ……I want to thank immensely the work of Justice for Colombia, the TUC and Thompson's Solicitors, the British parliamentarians Friends of Colombia, Unite the Union, the meat-packing sector and all the children at Cork School in Kerry, who moved me with their tender words”

7. CUT General Secretary Tarsicio Mora with Congress President, Jack O'Connor, (December 2010)

8. EU/COLOMBIA Free Trade Agreement. • All Irish M.E.P’s sign letter against FTA in 2010. • Concern that commitments to oppose would not • be honoured as EU Commission concludes deal. • Maintain the campaign at EU & National • Government level – ratification by both EP & National • Parliaments .

9. Campaign develops… • Santos replaces Uribe….is there hope for change? • Peace process discussed. • Threats, imprisonment & murder continues…. • Relevance of Irish experience?