Ratification of the EU/Colombian Free Trade Agreement will be before the Dáil in the coming weeks. Please add your name to this petition to tell our TD’s & Senators that it is the wrong time to approve this agreement. Murders, disappearances; threats & intimidation of trade unionists, human rights defenders and lawyers continue unabated. Colombia is still the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist. Neither has anything changed for the thousands of small farmers who have returned to their homes to reclaim the land they were forcibly removed from. Despite the recent legislation, local paramilitaries continue to force people away, despite state military presence in many areas, suggesting the army is in league with these illegal groups. High aspirations of believing that “Trade” with the EU will lead to a change in conditions on the ground in Colombia cannot be sustained against the clear evidence to the contrary. The root cause of the civil conflict in Colombia is an agrarian conflict. This FTA does not resolve this and, in fact, creates an even greater impetus for a further “land-grab”, transferring the control of the land & the resources beneath, illegally to multinational companies or large local conglomerates. We believe such a move will severely undermine the Peace Talks in Havana. Click here to sign the petition today. Thank you for your on-going support. (Please note, this petition is being conducted in conjunction with our Irish campaign partners against the EU/Colombian FT: Christian Aid (Ireland); Grupo Raices; Latin America Solidarity Centre & Trocaire.) Regards, John O'BrienHon. Secretary, JFC (IRE)
Petition against EU/Colombian Free Trade Agreement
