Bargaining for International Development branch projects

Branch aid for Colombian trade unionists (Oct 2008)

On August 8th 2008 Liliany Patricia Obando was detained by the Colombian authorities. The Colombian regime has accused her of ‘rebellion' and is currently holding her in the political prisoner's block of the ‘Buen Pastor' women's prison in the Colombian capital Bogota.

Liliany is held in appalling conditions, food and medicine are insufficient, communication with the outside world is limited and some women in the political prisoners block, though not Liliany, are imprisoned with their small children.

Liliany is an academic, a women's rights campaigner and a trade unionist. In recent years she has worked in several Western countries, mainly Canada and Australia, in an effort to raise awareness of the situation faced by the Colombian trade union movement. The detention of Liliany is yet another attempt to silence those you speak out against the Colombian regime.

To raise awareness of Liliany's plight and of the repressive conditions trade unionists in Colombia live under, Prospect's Prison Service Branch, has launched a fund raising initiative, in partnership with Justice for Colombia, to raise funds to secure her safe release.

A recruitment campaign now under way in the Prison Service branch means new recruits signed up before the end of November will not only enjoy union protection themselves, but will see £10 donated towards some of the most threatened trade unionists in the world - in Colombia.

Prospect organiser Linda Wall, said: "Many professionals in the prison service who are eligible to join Prospect have chosen careers with a vested interest in human rights and welfare concerns. "We wanted a recruitment campaign where the incentive would reflect this compassionate and altruistic side of their nature."

Joint branch secretary Bryan Wakely added: "This is a winning situation for all parties - nobody can lose here." Wakely and fellow branch secretary Bill Bristow will be visiting prisons throughout the recruitment drive to talk to staff and answer questions about the campaign.

WANT TO KNOW MORE ?

Trade union repression - Justice for Colombia YouTube video (5mins)