Country Rating: 5

  • No guarantee of rights

  • Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights, workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.

Prosegur brings criminal charges against trade unionists: In August 2013, the multinational Prosegur brought criminal charges against eight trade unionists and demanded that they pay 500,000 USD in compensation. The workers charged were Fidel Alfonso, President of Sintravalores and seven leaders of the organisation's branch in Medellín, who have been accused of slander by two Prosegur executives following some expressions used during a protest meeting. Two of them have also been accused of causing damage to third-party property, for allegedly painting slogans on the walls.

Anti-trade union harassment of sugar cane cutters: In July 2013, the Risaralda company, which belongs to the same group as Incauca and Providencia, began a campaign of anti-trade harassment against over 400 sugar cane cutters, threatening them with dismissals. Making use of its dominant position, the company incited its subcontractors PROCAÑA SAS, MATECAÑA SAS and the trade union organisation SINTRAIDUBAL to oblige their workers to join this trade union and warned that if they failed to do so their contracts would not be renewed.

Peasant leader killed in Galapa: Narciso Beltrán, a member of the Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo (ASOTRACAMPO), a farm workers' organisation affiliated to the Federación Agraria Nacional (FANAL), which is a CGT affiliate, was murdered on 12 April 2013 in the municipality of Galapa, in Atlántico.

Narciso Beltrán had been forcibly displaced and his work was partly focused on the fight for land restitution. He was allegedly killed by the Anti Land Restitution Army (Ejército Anti Restitución de Tierras), an illegal armed group made up of land owners linked to drug trafficking and paramilitarism. His father is the vice president of ASOTRACAMPO.

The association's work includes the representation of over 130 families that have been occupying a section of El Tamarindo farm since 2001 and the defence of land rights through fair restitution.

According to Amnesty International, the peasant farmers occupying El Tamarindo have been receiving repeated threats from paramilitary groups. It reports that on 9 April a peasant farmer was told: "You are going to leave this place one way or another, this land has an owner".

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