Delegates embrace Yessika Hoyos' speech – reaffirm commitment to people of Colombia

'Together, with your support, we can create a country where no other Colombian child loses a parent to violence because they work for a better world.'

Vancouver (22 June 2010) – The delegates to the 2010 Triennial Convention of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) were moved to tears and anger during the testimony of Colombian human rights lawyer Yessika Hoyos Morales.

“In Colombia to struggle for social justice or human rights is to make yourself a target,” she told delegates.

“But we dream of country free from the violence. Together, with your support, we can create a country where no other Colombian child loses a parent to violence because they work for a better world. Where no parent loses a child or someone faces the loss of a sibling from political violence.”

A pin drop could be heard in the room as Yessika spoke to the delegates. The room erupted into an outpouring of support when she finished.

NUPGE president James Clancy pledged that NUPGE will continue its strong support for the cause.

"While the Canadian government may have pushed through a trade deal with the murderous Colombian regime, the National Union will never give up in its fight to win human rights and social justice for the people of Colombian,” Clancy said.

The delegates then passed an emergency resolution committing the union to financial support for the globally-respected human rights lawyers collective, Corporación Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo (CCJAR), that Yessika works with defending the rights of the families of the victims of violence.

Passionate defender of human rights

Yessika Hoyos Morales is a daughter of two well known unionists in Colombia – her mother Betty is a teacher and leader of the teachers’ union in the capital province of Cundinamarca and her father Jorge Darío was once the Latin American representative for the International Federation of Miners and head of the Area of Education for the Andean Countries at the International Federation of Workers in Plantations, Agricultural Enterprises and the Like (FITPAS).

On March 3, 2001, Yessika’s father was murdered by two members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) hired by a second lieutenant of the National Police Force.

While Yessika was in law school, she began to work for the CCAJAR on her father’s assassination case. Upon graduation she continued with CCAJAR and joined the team of lawyers handling her father’s case.

In July 2007, Yessika co-founded an organization called Sons and Daughters Against Impunity and for the Memory of the Fallen. The organization is composed of children of victims of disappearance, torture, exile and murder in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and other Latin America countries.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE