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Colombia: Existence of an Antioquia-based Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia, FARC) front known as Mártires del Cairo; whether individuals affiliated with the company Cementos El Cairo, also based in Antioquia, have been subjected to extortion, violence or harassment by the FARC (1997-May 2003)

No mention of a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia, FARC) front known as Mártires del Cairo could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, in an undated overview of FARC leaders and units, the American geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor refers to the Héroes y Mártires del Cairo company as based in Antioquia and attached to the FARC's northwestern bloc (n.d.). No additional information on the Héroes y Mártires del Cairo company, including the geographical scope of its activities, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Cementos El Cairo, a cement company which employs approximately 530 individuals (Cement Trade.com n.d.), was founded on 25 April 1946 (Cementos El Cairo n.d.). In addition to its offices in the city of Medellín (Cement Trade.com n.d.), the company operates at least one cement factory which is variously described as located in the municipality of Montebello (Equipo Nizkor 13 July 2001; CUT 10 July 2001) or the neighbouring municipality of Santa Bárbara (IACHR 5 Oct. 2000; Cement Trade.com n.d.).

A number of documentary sources refer to incidents in which employees of Cementos El Cairo were subjected to violence or intimidation by the FARC, the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC) or unidentified individuals; examples follow.

On 24 March 2001, Jaime Duque, a Cementos El Cairo employee and president of the Santa Bárbara section of the United Trade Union of Workers in Construction, Wood and Related Industries (Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores de la Industria Construción, Madera y Afines, SUTIMAC), was seized by AUC members (ICFTU 2002; FSM 29 Mar. 2001). According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the AUC had earlier conducted a "survey on the relations between the union and employers in the company Cementos El Cairo" (2002). No additional information on the whereabouts of Duque could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

On 5 April 2001, Cementos El Cairo employees Javier Agudelo, John Jairo Sánchez, Ramón Alzate and Rafael Montoya were kidnapped by the FARC (El Colombiano 17 Apr. 2001). They were held for roughly one week before being released in a rural area of Montebello (ibid.).

On 3 July 2001, Jairo Domínguez, a Cementos El Cairo employee and SUTIMAC member, was kidnapped by unidentified armed men while travelling between Santa Bárbara and the company's cement factory in Montebello (CUT 10 July 2001). Domínguez's body was found one week later in the factory's vicinity (Equipo Nizkor 13 July 2001). He had been shot three times in the head (ibid.).

In April 2002, Alfredo Zapata, secretary of the Cementos El Cairo trade union local, was found dead in a rural area in Antioquia after being seized by unidentified individuals (La Prensa 5 Apr. 2002). Fellow union members claimed that "death squads" (escuadrones de la muerte) were responsible for Zapata's death (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Cement Trade.com. n.d. "Cement Companies." <http://www.cementtrade.com/wcd/wcd_main.asp> [Accessed 7 May 2003]

Cementos El Cairo. n.d. "Pasado y presente: historia." <http://www.cementoscairo.com/interna.htm> [Accessed 6 May 2003]

Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Colombia (CUT). 10 July 2001. Jesús Antonio Gonzalez Luna. "Unceasing Barbarism against Colombian Trade Union Leaders." (Labournet UK) <http://www.labournet.net/world/0107/colomb3.html> [Accessed 6 May 2003]

El Colombiano [Medellín]. 17 April 2001. "La guerra y la paz." <http://www.elcolombiano.com/historicod/200104/20010417/ndh005.htm> [Accessed 6 May 2003]

Equipo Nizkor. 13 July 2001. "Continúa el asesinato, secuestro y amenazas como forma de persecusión sistemática de activistas sindicales." <http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/doc/infojul14.html> [Accessed 6 May 2003]

Federación Sindical Mundial (FSM). 29 March 2001. No. 10. "La FSM denuncia ante la comunidad internacional el secuestro del compañero Jaime Duque, presidente de SUTIMAC y dirigente de la CUT-Antioquia, el 24 de marzo por paramilitares." <http://www.fsm.org.mx/Comunicados/diez.htm> [Accessed 7 May 2003]

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). 5 October 2000. Norberto Javier Restrepo. Report No.84/00: Case 11.726, Colombia. <http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/2000eng/ChapterIII/Admissible/Colombia11.726.htm> [Accessed 6 May 2003]

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). 2002. "Colombia: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (2002)." <http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991215638&Language=EN> [Accessed 6 May 2003]

La Prensa [Panama City]. 5 April 2002. "Desalmados asesinan a sindicalista colombiano." <http://mensual.prensa.com/mensual/contenido/2002/04/05/uhora/uhora_mundo1.shtml> [Accessed 6 May 2003]

Stratfor. n.d. "FARC." <http://www.stratfor.com/hotspots/hotspot_colombia/farc.htm> [Accessed 7 May 2003]

Additional Sources Consulted

Cementos El Cairo

IRB databases

Internet sites, including:

Agencia de Noticias Nueva Colombia (ANNCOL)

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism

El País [Calí]

Patterns of Global Terrorism. 1999-2002

Peace Brigades International

Semana [Bogotá]

Topics: Militias,