Colombian state-run oil company Ecopetrol ignored reports of human rights abuses near its facilities as well as the murders of employees who are also union members, according to pressure groups, the BBC reported Monday.
The non-governmental organization, Human Rights Watch, stated that no action was taken in response to reports of extrajudicial killings and a massacre committed 10 years ago by state security forces close to Ecopetrol facilities.
Furthermore, Justice for Colombia, a British pressure group, stated that many members of the national oil workers union have been assassinated.
“There have been about 100 or so members of the national oil workers’ union, most of them working for Ecopetrol, who have been assassinated,” said Mariela Kohon, director of Justice for Colombia.
In response Ecopetrol’s president, Javier Gutierrez said, “We are close to producing one million barrels a day. Logically there are some difficulties in some regions with some operators.”
