According to the reports received by the ITUC, this double murder took place in the midst of social unrest in Teteyé, where Mauricio Redondo was active in the protest movement and industrial action that community and trade union organisations had been organising since the start of the year to back the demands for better pay and working conditions and to denounce the environmental damage caused by the oil companies in the region.
This is not the first time the USO and CUT have denounced human and labour rights violations in this region in southern Colombia, where threats against trade union and social leaders are all-too common.
"Both the government and the judicial authorities must urgently conduct the investigations needed to clear up the facts, prosecute those responsible at every level with the full force of the law, and bring an end to the impunity surrounding the vast majority of the violent crimes against trade unionists in Colombia," insisted ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
In a letter to the Colombian authorities, the ITUC urged President Juan Manuel Santos and his administration to take every step necessary to resolve the serious and constant violations of fundamental rights in Colombia and to ensure respect for Conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labour Organisation, which Colombia has ratified.
