In this letter to the Colombian Consul-General, ACTU President Sharan Burrow strongly protests and condemns the assassination of Esperanza Amaris Miranda.
Dear Mr Alzamorora-Campo,
RE: ASSASSINATION OF ESPERANZA AMARIS MIRANDA
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has just learned of the assassination of Ms Esperanza Amaris Miranda, a member of the Popular Women’s Organisation (OFP) and women’s rights activist, working since 2002 in the North-East Branch of the Primero de Mayo region of Barrancabermeja.
According to our sources, at 7.30pm on 16 October 2003, Esperanza was abducted from her home in the Versalles district, by three members of the Bloque Central Bolívar, which belongs to the paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), that is operating in the region. Her captors forced her into a taxi and drove her to the “Camilo Torres Restrepo” college, in front of which she was killed. Her body was thrown into the street.
I am writing both on behalf of the officers and members of the ACTU, as well as the ACTU Women’s Committee to strongly protest and condemn the killing of Ms. Miranda.
We respectfully request that you immediately convey to your Government our protest and condemnation. Further, that the Colombian Government should immediately conduct an extensive and impartial investigation into the assassination of Experanza Amaris Miranda, so that those responsible for the crime are brought to trial and made to pay for it. We shall continue to afford our full solidarity to all working women and men whose daily lives are constantly threatened by the terrible violence and impunity in your country.
Yours sincerely,
SHARAN BURROW
President
Cc: Alexander Downer
Kevin Rudd
Guy Ryder, ICFTU
