AFL-CIO Demands Release of Burma Activist Suu Kyi
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The AFL-CIO is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Burmese democracy activist and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Burma’s military dictators today sentenced her to 18 months of house arrest after her conviction on trumped-up charges.
Suu Kyi, 64, was arrested in May 2009, just six days short of completing her most recent house arrest. She was taken to prison after a U.S. citizen swam a mile across a lake to her home and stayed overnight, which violated the terms of her house arrest. She has been under house arrest a total of 14 of the past 20 years.
In a statement, the AFL-CIO said:
The verdict in her so-called trial is a travesty. Her continued imprisonment is extremely dangerous to her future well-being as she is reportedly in poor health and in need of medical care.
AFL-CIO Urges Obama to Discuss Workers’ Rights in Mexico
As President Obama travels to Mexico today, the AFL-CIO is calling for the U.S. and Mexican governments to make human and workers’ rights a key part of the agenda.
The AFL-CIO strongly believes that security and prosperity in North America must be based on respect for human rights. According to the AFL-CIO International Department:
While we applaud the administration’s recent initiatives to support Mexican efforts to control the drug cartels, the federation is calling on the U.S. to clearly state that all security operations funded by U.S. taxpayers must respect human rights. Such a policy is particularly important in view of the many violations, nearly all unpunished, that have been documented by respected Mexican and international human rights groups.
Labor, Human Rights Groups Urge Colombia to Respect Unionists
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Eight labor and human rights groups, including the AFL-CIO, Teamsters and Human Rights Watch, this week called on the Colombian government to respect the work of trade unionists and human rights defenders in Colombia and to retract statements that put these workers at risk.
Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for trade union members. Over the past 23 years, some 2,697 trade union members have been killed in Colombia. That’s a rate of one every three days. Many other attempts to kill Colombian unionists failed, and there has been a notable increase in forced removals, arbitrary arrests, illegal raids and threats, especially in agriculture, health and education.
