The main problem is that the country has been under military rule for many years and the government tells the military what to do and controls the country using them.

This has led to many abuses by the government and lots of cover ups, people disappearing, being killed or jailed or never been seen again. Human rights workers and Union leaders and workers disappearing or put in jail on false charges. It is almost like it was one of the old films about communism and Russia.

Human rights workers are big targets for the government as the government are eager to stop their work and findings of injustices.

Gorilla forces run by the government keep a check on local towns and councils with threats and violence and fear.

The military may not gone visually but they continued under the guise of the paramilitary for a while. They are now armed forces out of uniform.

There have been many crimes of violence, threats, killings and beatings done by the paramilitary that have never come to court and to justice as they are protected by the government.

50% of workers are live in abject poverty and the government uses war to justify not giving people any human rights.

99% of the crimes of these armies go unpunished.

While many people are against the current president it is hard to get rid of him when he manipulates the constitution for his own use and changes laws to suit his government.

One he is scared of and so it his government is International scorn or denouncement.

32 trade unions reps have been assassinated or killed and 25 male and 7 female.

This should not be happening in the 21st century.

3000 Union leaders have been killed so far.

The government say they are committed to peace and democracy but they are not.
International support is essential to the struggle of people in Colombia.

24th October to 30th reps from the ILA went into Colombia to investigate the killing of trade Union leaders and this would not have happened if it was not for the International help and getting the message out of what is really happening in Colombia.

Meetings with outside organisations in the world like this one help to renew their spirit to carry on the struggle.

What can they and we do?
Lobby Parliament and MPs and get the message out to people.
Lobby BBC and other media to show more programmes and documentaries of what is going on.

Harassments
Assassinations
Death threats
Torture
Extra-judical executions

Show this is going on
Give victims a visibility platform through film and a way for way for these people to speak to outside countries

Unions have been into the country but they ware watched very closely and even escorted to make sure that they do not find out anything they do not want outside people to know about. progress for Unions, justice, minorities and for LGBT people can never come about under this regime.

Capitalizing on social fears around HIV and AIDS, LGBT sexual practices, and LGBT moral influence on children, both paramilitary and guerrilla forces target gay, lesbian, bisexual, transvestite and transgender individuals to seek control of territory and populations. Paramilitaries justify social cleansing as a means by which to eliminate individuals who fail to conform to traditional Colombian standards and thereby to strengthen the community against the guerrilla threat. Guerrillas employ similar discriminatory methods to secure their own strongholds
The Home Office has resisted the idea that gay men and lesbians who faced persecution in their home country because of their sexual orientation should be recognised as refugees. This has changed, but the home office remains reluctant to recognise gay men and lesbians as refugees because of their sexuality.
This shows in the way Lesbians, gay and bi sexual men and women are treated when they apply for asylum status. The system is unfortunately open to abuse and as a result LBGT men and women are subjected to a second-class service by the Immigration Service and other agencies. This could be addressed more directly, if the law was changed regarding goods and services, so it protected LGBT men and women from discrimination and made this illegal.
There is Human Rights abuse all over the world to LGBT people. Amnesty International have been heavily involved with publicising the plight and treatment of LBGT people in certain countries.
The government are refusing applications from LGBT people telling them, “ go back and keep their sexuality quiet and they will be all right.” They are sending these people back to be tortured, persecuted, raped and in other instances killed.

Pressure needs to be put on the government to change the way applications are dealt with so that a lot of LGBT people do not have to go back to countries where they would not be safe. Policies need to be changed around this so that a lot of applications do not have to the Appeal Courts costing the government a lot of money. The application form I have been informed around LGBT people is discriminating in a lot of ways. The application form is type casting and offensive, asking questions about decoration and whether you use Laura Ashley or liking the music of Barbara Stressed etc. While some gay men do like these things gay men are very different in their tastes in music, culture and film and anybody who bothered to find out this would find this to be the case.
There needs to be monitoring of the applications from people who seek Asylum.
There are concerns that there are no guidelines issued to IND caseworkers or Immigration Judges concerning how to deal with sexual orientation claims in a sensitive and non-prejudicial way. The absence of such guidelines leads to the making of insensitive and derogatory remarks concerning sexual practices and expressions of orientation in IND refusal letters and determinations of Judges
There are many applications turned down by the home office by people who go out of their way to find reasons to refuse an application due to a prejudice against lesbian and gay men.

Fleeing persecution, death sentences, torture LGBT people apply for Asylum and protection then face continual prejudice by the system that is supposed to help and protect them.
Legal Aid is very limited to LBGT asylum seekers and often Asylum seekers are given solicitors who are not experienced in dealing with Asylum and often not gay friendly
Second the interrupters are anti- gay and also not understanding the background culture of the country the asylum seekers come from means a lot of the translation is misinterpret. This interview is crucial and cannot be left to chance.
Thirdly the information given to the home office workers by the home office is based upon reports that include little information about the plight of gay, lesbian and transgender men. They need long-term continual training both external and internal in refugee and human rights of the countries where the refugees are coming from. Without this they cannot give a fair and non-discriminatory service.