Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: John Clancy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <Africa: ;> Cc: <news: ;> Sent: Monday, August 13, 2001 7:56 PM Subject: Gkuhl:Coke to be charged in US for Human Rights abuses from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subject:Gkuhl:Coke to be charged in US for Human Rights abuses Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2001 16:32:48 EDT Subject: Coke to be Sued in U.S. Court for Human Rights Abuses in Colombia From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (t r u t h o u t) Reply-to: <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]";>[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (t r u t h o u t) t r u t h o u t | 8.10 The CUnited Steelworkers of America Sue Coca Cola Charging Use of Death Squads to Intimidate Workers in Colombia <A HREF="http://www.truthout.com/0509.Steel.Coke.htm";> http://www.truthout.com/0509.Steel.Coke.htm</A> UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF AMERICA Coke to be Sued in U.S. Court for Human Rights Abuses in Colombia PITTSBURGH, Penn. -- 07.19.01 | The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the International Labor Rights Fund will file suit tomorrow, July 20, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Miami) against Coke and Panamerican Beverages, Inc., the primary bottler of Coke products in Latin America. Additional defendants include owners of a bottling plant in Colombia where trade union leaders have been murdered. The case was initiated by SINALTRAINAL, the trade union that represents workers at Coke facilities in Colombia. SINALTRAINAL has long maintained that Coke is among the most notorious employers in Colombia and that the company maintains open relations with murderous death squads as part of a program to intimidate trade union leaders. SINALTRAINAL is filing the case on July 20, Colombian Independence Day, to renew its campaign to highlight that Colombia holds the terrible distinction of being ranked number one in the world for the number of trade union leaders murdered each year. The suit alleges that Coke plays a key role in maintaining that distinction. Other Plaintiffs include the Estate of Isidro Segundo Gil, a trade union leader who was murdered while working at the Coke bottling plant in Carepa, Colombia. The suit alleges that the manager of that facility, owned by an American, Richard Kirby, who is also a defendant in this case, specifically threatened to kill the leaders of the union if they continued their union activities, and that he made good on the threat and ordered the murder of Mr. Gil. The other Plaintiffs are Luis Eduardo Garcia, Alvaro Gonzalez, Jose Domingo Flores, Jorge Humberto Leal and Juan Carlos Galvis, all leaders of SINALTRAINAL, who, while employed by Coke, were allegedly subjected to torture, kidnapping, and/or unlawful detention in order to intimidate them into ceasing their trade union activities. These Plaintiffs allege that Coke employees either ordered the violence directly, or delegated the job to paramilitary death squads that were acting as agents for Coke. "This case is extremely important for trade union and human rights," said Steelworkers President Leo Gerard. "If we can't get Coke, one of the best known companies in the world, to protect the lives and human rights of the workers at its world-wide bottling facilities, then we certainly have a long way to go in making the global economy safe for trade unionists. "While the offenses detailed in the Complaint occurred in an industry outside the Steelworkers' core jurisdiction," he added, "we are filing this case to show our solidarity with the embattled trade unions of Colombia. We absolutely must stand together to stop such criminal activity against our union brothers and sisters, regardless of where or in what industry it occurs." "The case is extremely strong from a legal perspective," said Terry Collingsworth, general counsel of the Washington, D.C.-based International Labor Rights Fund, who is co-counsel for the Plaintiffs, and has brought similar cases against Exxon Mobil and Unocal Corporation for human rights violations in Aceh, Indonesia and Burma, respectively. "There is no question that Coke knew about and benefits from the systematic repression of trade union rights at its bottling plants in Colombia, and this case will make the company accountable." The case is based on the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), a law passed by Congress in 1789 aimed at protecting the new nation's international reputation by enabling non-citizens to use federal courts to hold Americans accountable for violations of international law. "The Plaintiffs allege that Coke and the other defendants violated clear standards of international law by maintaining a willful campaign of terror against members and leaders of SINALTRAINAL," explained Dan Kovalik, a lawyer with the Steelworkers, who is co-counsel for the Plaintiffs and who interviewed many of the Coke victims in Colombia. In addition to pursuing legal remedies in federal court, the Steelworkers and the International Labor Rights Fund join with SINALTRAINAL in asking workers and consumers around the world to send a message to Coke to end the terror at the Coke facilities in Colombia and makes reparations to the victims. A copy of the Complaint will be available at www.laborrights.org CONTACT: International Labor Rights Fund - Terry Collingsworth, 202/347-4100 Ext. 2 or United Steelworkers of America - Dan Kovalik, 412/562-2518 t r u t h o u t - http://www.truthout.com Subscribe to, t r u t h o u t - (Free) : <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reader Comments : <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ***** from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subject: GKuhl: Genoa Italy -Riots provoked. Some face 15 yrs jail Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 23:25:28 EDT Subject: Genoa Italy: Not first 'Martyr", Riots Provoked, Some face 15 years in Jail NOT FIRST 'MARTYR' Editor -- Your article on the Genoa protests incorrectly portrayed Carlo Giuliani as the first martyr in the movement against globalization ("As slain protester buried, Italy debates police conduct," July 26). Unfortunately, there have been all too many before him. Three students protesting against World Bank privatization were recently shot in Papua New Guinea. Several Bolivians fighting World Bank-imposed privatization of their water supply and skyrocketing rates were killed. The landless movement in Brazil has seen many of their members gunned down for opposing World Bank-sponsored land reform and the corporate control of agriculture. Ken Sarowiwa was executed in Nigeria for opposing the environmental havoc wrought by Shell Oil. Zapatistas in Mexico have died fighting the devastating effects of "free trade" on poor farmers. MEDEA BENJAMIN -Co-Founder,Corp Accountability Director Global Exchange <A HREF="http://globalexchange.org/";>http://globalexchange.org/</A> San Francisco -- RIOTS PROVOKED? Editor -Might the deadly riots in Genoa have been purposely inspired by agents provocateurs of major participating nations to discourage, intimidate, discredit, overwhelm and effectively silence peaceful public inquiry into the fundamental consequences of a global economy? AL UJCIC -San Francisco <A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/0 7/31/ED107305.DTL"> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/07/31/E D107305.DTL</A> ***** MANY STILL IN PRISON IN GENOA, INCLUDING SUSANNA THOMAS, A QUAKER PACIFIST AND HONORS STUDENT; SHE FACES 15 YEARS IN JAIL Many people who protested at the summit in Genoa are still in jail, including several U.S. citizens. One of them, Susanna Thomas, who is fluent in French and Spanish, was arrested with two dozen members of Publix Theatre, a political theater troupe based in Vienna, Austria, and travels throughout Europe to protest immigration laws and to promote the "no borders" movement. She could face a 15-year sentence on charges of conspiring to destroy property. Susanna Thomas, who is a Quaker, a pacifist, and an honors student majoring in urban planning, had taken the year to study theology and politics at Jesuit University in Paris. After finishing her studies in May, she worked at a Quaker youth conference in Paris and then started following the theater troupe as part of research for her senior thesis on nonviolence and social activism. We're joined right now by Susanna's mother, Kathy Thomas. Guest: Kathy Thomas, mother of Susanna Thomas. <A HREF="http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow.html";> http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow.html</A> <A HREF="http://democracynow.org/";>http://democracynow.org/</A>" JC ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
