Brussels, 27 August 2009: Once again the ITUC must strongly denounce and condemn the death of a Colombian trade unionist. This time the victim was Fredy Díaz Ortiz, a member of the prison workers’ union Asociación Sindical de Empleados del Instituto Nacional Penitenciario y Carcelario (ASEINPEC) affiliated to the Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), who was killed on 22 August 2009 in the city of Valledupar, César.

The ITUC joins TUCA and its Colombian affiliates in roundly condemning this murder, which is yet another source of grief for workers and the national, regional and international trade union movement. The assassination took place as Fredy Díaz Ortiz was waiting for a lift to his place of work at the Maximum Security Prison in Valledupar. Two unidentified persons on a motorcycle fired several bullets at him and the brutal attack resulted in his death.

In a letter to the Colombian authorities and the Office of the Public Prosecutor the ITUC asked them to take urgent measures to start an immediate, rigorous investigation into the facts of the case and make an example of the perpetrators of this vile murder by punishing them in a befitting manner.

“This new violent death of a trade unionist is intolerable. A true democracy capable of protecting the country’s trade unionists and workers needs to be built in Colombia”, declared Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the ITUC.

The ITUC represents 170 million workers in 157 countries and has 312 national affiliates. http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on:
+32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 621 018.