Colombia: Another Trade Union Leader Assassinated

The ITUC, along with its Colombian affiliates, has firmly condemned the murder on 5 June of Hernán Abdiel Ordoñez Dorado, treasurer of the executive board of the prison workers’ union ASEINPEC in Cali. Ordoñez was in the company of his mother when he was attacked by unknown assailants travelling by motorbike, who shot him dead with four bullets.
According to the information received by the ITUC, the trade union leader had been involved in denouncing alleged acts of corruption by top prison officers at the Women’s Prison. He had received death threats and an attempt had already been made on his life. The government had ignored the repeated requests of the CGT (Central General de los Trabajadores) to provide him with security.

In a letter to the Colombian authorities, the ITUC joined with the CGT in requesting that the Colombian government take every step necessary to clear up the motives behind this murder and to identify and bring all those responsible to justice.

“The Colombian authorities must take urgent and effective measures to guarantee the physical integrity of Colombian trade unionists,” insisted ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder.

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