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End UK Military
Free Colombian
Stop the EU-Colombia Free Trade Agreement |
Posted by Justice for Colombia | Date 26 September 2007 |
Labour Party calls for an end to military aid
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The statement as it appeared in The Guardian. An unprecedented coalition of senior Labour Party figures – spearheaded by the Chair of Labour's ruling National Executive, Mike Griffiths, Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Tony Lloyd MP, and Chair of the European Parliamentary Labour Party, Richard Howitt MEP, – have signed a Justice for Colombia statement calling for an immediate suspension of UK military aid to Colombia. The statement appeared in The Guardian newspaper on Monday 24th September.
Over 140 Labour Members of Parliament (MPs), every Labour member of the European Parliament (MEPs) and all of the non-government members of the Labour National Executive also signed the statement along with London Mayor Ken Livingstone and leaders of all of the trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party.
A press release concerning the statement can be read here The full statement along with supporters is below:
WE'RE ASKING FOR A NEW ERA IN FOREIGN POLICY; IN COLOMBIA THEY'RE DYING FOR IT
The welcome appointment of our new Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary provides a fresh opportunity to take forward UK foreign policy in an ethical manner. We believe that relations with the government of Colombia present a key policy issue that requires urgent review.
Colombia has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Amongst numerous violations, 4,000 trade unionists have been murdered in the last 15 years and more trade unionists are assassinated in Colombia than in the rest of the world combined. A majority of these killings are attributed to the Colombian armed forces and state-backed paramilitaries.
The UK is the second largest donor of military aid to Colombia after the Bush administration in the United States. However, the 2006 regaining of the US Congress by the Democratic Party has resulted in significant reductions in US military aid to Colombia, owing to human rights concerns. We believe our Labour government should follow this example.
As the historic success in Northern Ireland demonstrated, the UK under a Labour government is uniquely positioned to offer constructive input into real conflict resolution by playing an active role in promoting a negotiated settlement to the Colombian conflict.
We urge our government to suspend all military assistance to Colombia until the Colombian state fully implements the repeated recommendations of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights. The killing must stop.
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Mike Griffiths (Chair of the 2007 Labour Party Conference and Chair of the Labour Party National Executive)
Tony Lloyd MP (Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party)
Richard Howitt MEP (Chair of the European Parliamentary Labour Party)
Tony Dubbins (Chair of TULO, the Trade Union & Labour Party Liaison Organisation)
Ann Clwyd MP (Chair of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group)
Ken Livingstone (Mayor of London)
Jack Dromey (Labour Party Treasurer)
All of the non-Government Members of the Labour Party National Executive Committee: Janet Anderson MP, Sir Jeremy Beecham, Ann Black, Michael Cashman MEP, Debbie Coulter, Dianne Hayter, Diana Holland, Jim Kennedy, Paddy Lillis, Joe Mann, Stephanie Peacock, Sally Powell, Ellie Reeves, Christine Shawcroft, Dennis Skinner MP, Keith Sonnet, Cath Speight, Norma Stephenson, Gary Titley MEP, Mary Turner, Peter Wheeler, Peter Willsman, Keith Vaz MP, Dave Ward, Walter Wolfgang, Harriet Yeo
All Labour Party Affiliated Trade Unions: Dave Prentis (UNISON General Secretary), Derek Simpson & Tony Woodley (Unite Joint-General Secretaries), Paul Kenny (GMB General Secretary), John Hannett (USDAW General Secretary), Billy Hayes (CWU General Secretary), Alan Ritchie (UCATT General Secretary), Michael Leahy (Community General Secretary), John Smith (Musicians Union General Secretary), Gerry Doherty (TSSA General Secretary), Gerry Morrissey (BECTU General Secretary), Joe Marino (BFAWU General Secretary), Keith Norman (ASLEF General Secretary), Geoff Bagnall (Unity General Secretary), Steve Kemp (NUM General Secretary), Rowland Soar (NACODS General Secretary)
All of the Labour Members of the European Parliament: Linda McAvan MEP, Richard Corbett MEP, Robert Evans MEP, Glyn Ford MEP, Neena Gill MEP, Mary Honeyball MEP, Stephen Hughes MEP, Glenys Kinnock MEP, David Martin MEP, Arlene McCarthy MEP, Claude Moraes MEP, Eluned Morgan MEP, Brian Simpson MEP, Peter Skinner MEP, Catherine Stihler MEP, Glenis Willmott MEP
Labour Members of Parliament: Diane Abbott MP, Graham Allen MP, David Anderson MP, Charlotte Atkins MP, John Austin MP, John Battle MP, Hugh Bayley MP, Ann Begg MP, Joe Benton MP, Roger Berry MP, Clive Betts MP, David Borrow MP, Lyn Brown MP, Richard Burden MP, Colin Burgon MP, Dawn Butler MP, Ronnie Campbell MP, Martin Caton MP, Colin Challen MP, David Chaytor MP, Michael Clapham MP, Katy Clark MP, Paul Clark MP, Tom Clarke MP, David Clelland MP, Harry Cohen MP, Michael Connarty MP, Frank Cook MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Jim Cousins MP, David Crausby MP, Jon Cruddas MP, Ann Cryer MP, Jim Cunningham MP, Ian Davidson MP, Janet Dean MP, Jim Devine MP, Andrew Dismore MP, Jim Dobbin MP, Frank Dobson MP, Brian Donohoe MP, Frank Doran MP, Jim Dowd MP, David Drew MP, Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, Clive Efford MP, Louise Ellman MP, Jeff Ennis MP, Bill Etherington MP, Paul Farrelly MP, Frank Field MP, Mark Fisher MP, Paul Flynn MP, Michael Jabez Foster MP, Hywel Francis MP, Neil Gerrard MP, Ian Gibson MP, Roger Godsiff MP, John Grogan MP, Patrick Hall MP, David Hamilton MP, Fabian Hamilton MP, Dai Harvard MP, Doug Henderson MP, Stephen Hepburn MP, David Heyes MP, Kate Hoey MP, Jim Hood MP, Kelvin Hopkins MP, George Howarth MP, Lindsay Hoyle MP, Joan Humble MP, Brian Iddon MP, Eric Illsey MP, Brian Jenkins MP, Kevan Jones MP, Lynne Jones MP, Martyn Jones MP, Sally Keeble MP, Alan Keen MP, Peter Kilfoyle MP, Ashok Kumar MP, Bob Laxton MP, Mark Lazarowicz MP, David Lepper MP, Martin Linton MP, Andy Love MP, John MacDougall MP, Andrew MacKinlay MP, Khalid Mahmood MP, Judy Mallaber MP, Rob Marris MP, David Marshall MP, Robert Marshall-Andrews MP, Chris McCafferty MP, John McDonnell MP, Jim McGovern MP, Ann McKechin MP, Michael Meacher MP, Andrew Miller MP, Austin Mitchell MP, Anne Moffat MP, Laura Moffat MP, Julie Morgan MP, George Mudie MP, Bill Olner MP, Sandra Osborne MP, Greg Pope MP, Gordon Prentice MP, Gwyn Prosser MP, Jaime Reed MP, Linda Riordan MP, Geoffrey Robinson MP, Terry Rooney MP, Martin Salter MP, Barry Sheerman MP, Jim Sheridan MP, Sion Simon MP, Alan Simpson MP, Marsha Singh MP, Geraldine Smith MP, Sir Peter Soulsby MP, Phyllis Starkey MP, Ian Stewart MP, Gavin Strang MP, David Taylor MP, Emily Thornberry MP, Mark Todd MP, Jon Trickett MP, Paul Truswell MP, Desmond Turner MP, Rudi Vis MP, Joan Walley MP, Lynda Waltho MP, Robert Wareing MP, Alan Whitehead MP, Betty Williams MP, David Winnick MP, Mike Wood MP, Anthony Wright MP
Labour Affiliated Organisations: Black Socialist Society, Jewish Labour Movement, Labour Disabled Members Group, Labour Irish Society, Labour Students, LGBT Labour, National Union of Labour & Socialist Clubs, Socialist Education Association, Society of Labour Lawyers
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