CREDHOS denounces the murder of USO union leader Sibares Lamprea Vargas in Barrancabermeja

Photo: Sibares Lamprea Vargas

On September 12, Unión Sindical Obrera/Workers Trade Union (USO) posted on Facebook:

“Since this morning, our Trade Union Organization has declared a Permanent Assembly in protest against the assassination of our colleague and leader of the Barrrancabermeja sub-directorate, SIBARES LAMPREA VARGAS, an event that occurred last Friday, September 10, in the heart of the city.

The president of the national USO, John Rodríguez, urges not only the oil workers at the Barrancabermeja refinery, but also those throughout the country to reject this criminal act and abide by the Union’s guidance.”

Lamprea Vargas was the Secretary of Administrative Affairs of USO and a member of the Association of Security Guards of Barrancabermeja and Magdalena Medio.

David Gómez, vice president of the USO, has stated: “We demand that Ecopetrol and the authorities of Barrancabermeja carry out the respective investigations so that this crime does not go unpunished.”

This morning, the Barrancabermeja-based Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) also tweeted:

“PROFOUND REJECTION BEFORE THE MURDER OF SOCIAL AND UNION LEADERS OF MAGDALENA MEDIO!

CREDHOS, in its work for the defense, promotion and protection of Human Rights, expresses its REJECTION and DEEP PAIN in the face of violent acts that threaten life and the human dignity of the population of the Colombian Magdalena Medio, especially against human rights defenders, social and trade union leaders committed recently.

We express our REJECTION of the murder of comrade SABARIS LAMPREA VARGAS, 42-year-old trade union leader, who worked as Secretary of Administrative Affairs of the Barrancabermeja sub-directorate of the Petroleum Industry Workers’ Union -USO.”

According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), 22 unionists were murdered in Colombia between April 2020 and March 2021.

The previous year, 14 trade union activists were killed in Colombia.

The Human Rights Information System of the National Trade Union School (ENS) has also recorded 15,430 violations of trade unionists’ rights to life, freedom and integrity in Colombia between January 1, 1971, and September 29, 2021.

Around a fifth of the cases reported were murders: 3,288 trade unionists have been assassinated over the last five decades in Colombia.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.

USO has declared a week of mourning and protests nationwide.