1. Comprehensive Redress
for the Victims
2. DECLARATION – Stop
Coca-Cola's Violence in Colombia and the Entire World! Comprehensive
Redress for the Victims The
Popular Public Audience on the politics of the Coca Cola Multinational
Corporation takes place taking into consideration the universal principles of
the struggle against impunity, in other words, in relation to truth, justice
and comprehensive redress, seeking above all to know who the victims are, who
the perpetrators are and in what way Coca Cola benefited both economically and
politically from the crimes and violations of human rights. It is also
determined to have those responsible for these crimes, brought to justice and
punished legally as well as to claim damages for the victims, their communities
and organizations - SINALTRAINAL being one of them -, considering the
irreparable loss and damage caused. We
meet here today with the aim of experiencing the victims' historical memory,
recalling their life projects, letting the public know of the ways in which
Coca Cola benefited from these crimes and human rights violations, judging
and condemning those responsible and imposing the following sanctions, as
comprehensive redress for the victims of such crimes: 1. The Colombian State and the Coca Cola
Multinational Corporation will provide comprehensive redress as compensation
for the political, moral and material damage caused on the victims, their
families and the organizations affected. 2. The President of Colombia - on behalf
of the Colombian State and on account
of not having guaranteed the lives of the victims -, and the Coca Cola
Multinational Corporation - through its World President an on account of having
benefited from the crimes and human rights violations - shall provide a public,
verbal and written apology to the victims, their families and the social
organizations to which they belonged and will commit themselves to punish all
those responsible as well as to prevent these acts from being committed again. 3. The Coca Cola Multinational Corporation
and the Colombian State will declare the 22nd of July the international day
against multinational violence, for the life and dignity. On this date the
multinational will give the day off to all its workers who will carry out
protests and demonstrations within all the countries who have been violently
affected by Coca Cola. The multinational will pay all costs to broadcast a
program on a report of its global behavior through the national and international
Television. 4. As of this date, Coca Cola will display
a label in each bottle produced, containing photographs and biographical
information of the workers murdered in Guatemala and Colombia. 5. Coca Cola shall provide funds to the
affected social organizations in order to fully finance the publication and
diffusion of three million of liflits with
the purpose of providing the international community with the victims'
historical memory, dignifying the victims who embody the dreams and life projects
of the popular classes in Colombia and to denounce to the whole world, the
economic, social, and political beneficiaries of these crimes as well as the
structures and conceptions in which the perpetrators based themselves upon. 6. Those Coca Cola's employees who have in
any way contributed, participated and executed criminal policies and/or
violated the human rights of the workers and the community, shall be
automatically laid off and handed over to the relevant authorities so that they
can be judged for their actions. Coca Cola will reveal before the international
community and before justice, the name of those employees who served as secret
or faceless witnesses at the penal actions carried out by the Corporation
against its workers, with the purpose of having them brought to justice for
their hidden, covered and criminal actions. Coca Cola shall compensate the
workers for damages caused to their reputation and dignity as well for the
deterioration or the personal and family satisfaction. 7.
Coca Cola shall provide SINALTRAINAL with the
necessary resources to acquire and run a ‘Gallery for the historical memory’,
culture reconstruction as well as training on human rights. 8.
Coca Cola shall annually finance an international
forum of all its trade unions, aimed at promoting respect for the worker’s
human rights as well as those of the community. The said forum will be
organized by SINALTRAINAL, CUT (The Colombian Central Trade Union) and the
National and International Campaign against Impunity “Colombia Claims Justice”. 9.
Coca Cola shall pay a pension for life to the wife and
children of those workers murdered to the benefit of the corporation. The
pension shall be equal to the monthly wage earned by the Corporation’s World
President. 10. Coca
Cola shall pay all the costs towards the full completion of the studies of the
children of the workers at the service of the Corporation, who were murdered.
It shall equally pay all the medical costs and special treatments for the
damaged caused by the psycho-social impact, due to the death of the father. 11. Coca Cola shall pay SINALTRAINAL a
monthly fee, equal to the sum of the pensions received by the victims’
families, as compensation for the
social, economic, political and trade union damages caused to their
benefit. 12. Coca Cola shall restore
the dignity of all the workers who may have been laid off or may have had to
give up their positions due to the persecution, harassment, displacement,
stigmatising or any other means used by the perpetrators in order to force them
to leave their jobs. Likewise, it will guarantee to the family nucleus, the
professional medical assistance they require due to the psychological,
physical, cultural and political violence they were subject to. 13. All
workers Coca Cola may require for its social object shall exclusively have
contracts on indefinite terms and shall enjoy all their rights, which shall be
agreed upon between SINALTRAINAL and Coca Cola. 14. Coca Cola commits itself not to hire
children under age, to respect women’s
rights and to not promote discriminatory policies. 15. Coca Cola shall not promote racism,
fascism or apartheid and for that
reason it shall fire any employee who disregarding these policies, commits this
type of crime. Likewise, it shall denounce before the relevant authorities, all
such violations to the human rights committed by the employees. 16. Coca Cola shall apply to its workers
all the conventional and arbitrales terms of the contract which it has been
disregarding, to its benefit, for the past fifteen (15) years. 17. Along with SINALTRAINAL, Coca Cola will
carry out the necessary reforms to the work’s internal regulations for these
norms not to affect the rights of the workers, the communities and the trade
union organizations. To achieve this, it shall create a commission based on
equal terms, between the Corporation and SINALTRAINAL. 18. Coca
Cola will provide the economic resources to SINALTRAINAL in order to carry out
massive unionization and union training campaigns. 19. Coca Cola shall implement the following
measures as compensations for the damages caused to the ecology and
biodiversity of the Colombian people: ·
Coca Cola shall install water cleaning plants during
all its phases; it shall finance reforestation programs, recovery of the river
basins and it shall pay a million dollars to each municipality where there has
been or there still is a bottling plant, as compensation for the damages caused
by the waste created before the existence of the control devertimiento of
industrial’s waste. Coca Cola shall supply 20
million dollars for the regional corporations to develop - under SINALTRAINAL’s
overseeing and Control - programs on
environmental care, maintenance of the river basins as well as cleansing and
maintenance of the water currents. Five million booklets and a million training
videos on the environment and quality of life will be produced and distributed
at schools, colleges and human rights training centres. Coca Cola will provide
SINALTRAINAL with a dollar per square meter of the water used at the bottling
plants, in order to create a productive project fund to be developed within the
communities. 20.
Coca Cola shall provide the
necessary resources for the protection of the trade union leaders who may be
threatened due to their activities in defence of the rights of the workers and
the communities. Likewise, it shall send all workers whose life is in danger,
to another city or country. This shall take place under common agreement
between SINALTRAINAL and the respective worker and in such a way that it does
not affect the worker's dignity. 21.
Coca Cola commits itself to demilitarise the work posts, thus it will not
employ any members of the armed forces, security corps, or any other
official or private body that promotes violence, violates the rights
of the workers and communities and threatens the security and
life of the population. 22. Coca Cola shall take the necessary
actions before the Colombian authorities
in order to stop the procedures for formal complaints against SINALTRAINAL and
its members, and it shall pay any damages caused on the workers who have been
detained on the grounds of such formal complaints. The value of the damages
shall be assessed by experts appointed by SINALTRAINAL and the CUT. 23.
As of
this date The Coca Cola Multinational Corporation commits itself to respect the
human rights of the workers and the communities and to comply to the agreements
of the International Labour Organzation – ILO, the national legislation, the
collective conventions and extraconventions agreements agreed upon between its
bottling plants and SINALTRAINAL. Coca Cola swears never to benefit again from
the violence and crimes on lese-humanity. 24. Coca Cola shall pay the total costs
arising from broadcasting a two- hour
program on the July 22nd of each year, in order for SINALTRAINAL, the National
and International Campaign against Impunity “Colombia Claims Justice" and
the CUT, to inform the national and international community on a balance of the
Multinational's behaviour and the compliance with the agreements established
with its workers and the communities. 25. Coca Cola shall compensate the
plaintiffs for all the events outlined on
the law suit before the South District of Florida (U.S.A.). The total
compensation sum shall be agreed upon by the two parties. Likewise it must pay
all the lawsuit costs. 26. As of this date, Coca Cola shall create
an international observatory for it to carry out a follow-upon the fullfilment
of the redress commitment taken on by Coca Cola and for it to verify the
respect for the human rights of the workers, relatives and communities. The
said observatory shall be made up of a representative of each of thefollowing:
the victim, the CUT, the National and International Campaign against Impunity “Colombia
Claims Justice”, SINALTRAINAL and the Coca Cola Multinational Corporation. Stop Coca-Cola's Violence in Colombia and the Entire
World! Colombia
has implemented a clear and extreme practice of violence in an effort to
achieve neo-liberal globalization. Any and all organizations resisting this
neo-liberal model are being destroyed. Indigenous peoples, peasant farmers and
workers are murdered for opposing investors claims. More union organizers are
killed each year in Colombia than in the rest of the world. Coca-Cola
and its affiliate in Colombia, Panamco, S.A. are participating in a dirty war
against the greater social movement. This is evidenced in the murder of eight
union leaders affiliated with this company. Two workers have been forced into
exile and 48 others have been forcibly displaced. The
constant actions of paramilitaries, working with the complicacy of the armed
forces and sate security forces,
are used by the multinational company and its affiliate to illegally pressure
union leaders, obligate workers to renounce union membership with the intention
of undoing labor agreements, force workers to renounce their contracts and hire
new workers at lower wages. This labor policy founded on terror allows
Coca-Cola to enormously
increase their profits. Furthermore,
in other countries such as Guatemala, the Philippines, Pakistan, India, Israel
and Venezuela, social organizations are accusing Coca-Cola of implementing,
whether directly or through their affiliates, murder, corruption and disregard
of established labor laws as a way of attaining their financial goals. In the
United States, Coca-Cola has publicly been accused of racial discrimination,
endangering public health, environmental damage and water pollution. In many cases,
Coca-Cola has had charges brought against them and in some cases has been
proven guilty. Nevertheless, in almost every case the company's power has
allowed them to escape justice. Demonstrating the extent to which globalization
and the militarization of Latin America has arrived. While
Indigenous peoples, who have cultivated coca for centuries, are being repressed
by the war on drugs, Coca-Cola is able to buy and then distribute coca as an
ingredient in their beverage. In
regard to the above information, the following organizations and people listed: - Denounce the violence being directly
and indirectly implemented by Coca-Cola and the impunity by which the company
is protected. We denounce the Colombian case that clearly and brutally reveals
the connection between violence and the imposition of a neo-liberal economic
model-a model that is able to expand through the Coca-Cola company along
with McDonalds, Monsanto, United Fruit Co., Unilever, Endesa, Nestlé,
Occidental Co., Reposol, Bayer, Drummond etc…. - We demand that Coca-Cola stop these
activities and that through a judicial process, brought forward by Colombian
victims, those that are found guilty be punished. We demand that the Colombian
government bring an end to the dirty war against social movements and that they
do away with impunity protecting those supporting and carrying out this war. - We urge the United Nations to adopt
norms that will force multinational companies to respect human rights. - We urge industrialized countries and
the United Nations to modify their anti-narcotic policies to bring an end to
Coca-Cola's multinational monopoly on the exportation and commercialization of
coca derivatives, as well as stop the war on drugs against peasant farmers and
Indigenous peoples. - We support the legal action, based on the Tort Claims Act,
initiated by SINALTRAINAL union against Coca-Cola in the United States on July
20, 2001. - We join the innumerable groups that
speak out against Coca-Cola's incorrigible behavior and we clamor in this
fashion so that a different kind of Colombia and a different kind of world, in
which criminal activities of national and multinational companies are not
tolerated, will one day exist. - We condemn the legal actions initiated by Coca-Cola and its
affiliate against Colombian union leaders in response to the lawsuit brought
forth in the United States; the victimizers cannot become victims in order to
mock the law and human rights. - We demand that Coca-Cola and the
Colombian State guarantee the existence of SINILTRAINAL as the social
intermediary that it is. - We demand that Coca-Cola assume
responsibility for the damages suffered by SINALTRAINAL, the surrounding
communities, and the victims as well as accept integral reparation. - We demand that the Colombian State stop
criminalizing social protest and stop imprisoning social and union leaders. - We express our support for the public
hearing “Hector Daniel Useche Berón” against Impunity, SINILTRAINAL Claims for
Justice”, focused on the criminal activities of Coca-Cola, its Colombian
affiliates and bottling companies. We ask that these upcoming activities and
public hearing strengthen the campaign calling for an end to violence, directly
or indirectly carried out against both Colombian workers and workers in many
other countries. Bogotà, December 5,
2002. The
people and social organizations gathered here have decided to move forward with
the following actions: 1.
We
declare July 22 to be an international day of protest and mobilization against
the violence of transnational companies and in favor of life, dignity and
sovereignty for all people. 2.
Send report from these sessions to the world presidency of Coca-Cola and
the solicitude for a January 24, 2003 hearing-a hearing that would allow us to
begin a dialogue contributing to the resolution of problems. We will also
continue to collect signatures memorializing violations. These will then be
turned in at the hearing. 3.
Contribute
to the creation and elaboration of a documentary that will serve to show the
world what has been achieved during these sessions, the conclusions we have
come to and the processes for continuing with public hearings. 4.
Continue organizing sit-ins, mobilizations and massive
actions in every city where Coca-Cola has facilities. We will produce shirts,
posters, buttons and stickers. We will distribute two million post cards to be
sent to the world presidency of Coca-Cola demanding respect for human rights. 5.
As a show of support for the sessions taking place on
December 5 in Bogotá, we will carry out public manifestations of support and
solidarity with Coca-Cola workers throughout European cities. 6.
We commit ourselves to the decision made during the
first session to carry out a year long boycott against Coca-Cola beginning on
July 22, 2003. 7.
Throughout the boycott all vehicles used to distribute
Coca-Cola will have black tape placed on them as a symbol of life and
condemnation for murdering workers which serves to benefit transnational. 8. Those
attending the event declare our willingness to work to achieve an international work stoppage against Coca-Cola in the
case that one of their workers,
anywhere in the world, suffers a violent death. We also manifest our
willingness and commitment to breath life into a monitoring, information and
solidarity network of both Coca-Cola and other employees of transnational
companies. 9. In each one of our respective countries
we will turn in the political declaration and the demand for reparation to the
Coca-Cola company and the Untied States embassy.
