Fredericton Peace Coalition

Flyer – Action Alert for Colombian Trade Unionists and Human Rights Defenders

As consumers of Colombian coal, we are asking NB Power to:

1. Develop a detailed human rights policy to be used in business dealings. We request that NB Power ensure that their purchases, operations or investments do not directly or indirectly contribute to human rights abuses, either by commission, omission or negligence. Compliance with such a policy should be done through an independent third party. Similar to NB Power’s environmental policy, we hope that NB Power would clearly communicate its human rights values to their suppliers, contractors, business partners and the general public. We hope that NB Power’s human rights policy would include the highest of standards such as International Labour Organization (ILO) standards that uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples and the safety of trade unionists. Such a policy would ensure that our electricity in the future is not associated with human rights abuses.

2. Put pressure on Colombian authorities to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the murder of Adolfo Gonzáles Montes, a union leader with SINTRACARBON. The rule of law needs to be restored in Colombia and the impunity must end for crimes against trade unionists, human rights defenders and civilians.

3. Put pressure on the Colombian authorities to take immediate measures to protect the life of threatened trade unionists and human rights defenders in Colombia. The Colombian government’s failure to act on such crimes allows the perpetrators to kill and harass trade unionists and human rights defenders with impunity.