If I knew that just for doing my job as a student leader or even as a student just getting my education, I ran the risk of getting shot dead, beaten or tortured – I don’t know whether I would be brave enough to continue.

Thankfully that’s not a question I have to ask myself - but that does mean all of us have a responsibility to show solidarity with those students, women and trade unionists that do.

My student colleagues in Colombia are frequently the victims of torture, arbitrary detention, evacuation, forced disappearance, death threats and harassment at the hands of the police and the army who are often, working in collusion with the paramilitaries. They are victimised simply for being politically engaged, simply for defending the rights that we take for granted – like access to education and non militarised learning environments.

As recently as the 3rd August, Katerine Soto, a student from the Uni of Valli in Cali – was murdered by the army – no on has been brought to justice for this crime.

Teachers and lecturers in Colombia also suffer – often being attacked and even murdered in their lecture theatres.

In the National University of Bogata there are haunting plaques, dedicated to murdered students – one in memory of a student shot dead whilst eating lunch in the canteen.

Here in the UK we take the right for peaceful demonstration and campaigns for granted.

This is denied to Colombian students – who are often beaten, attacked and sometimes murdered for demonstrations like at an anti privatisation demo in 2006, Nicholas Navar was beaten to death by esmad riot police.

And I am outraged that on the 18th of September, my counterparts, two student leaders from the ACEU, the Colombian Students' Union, Maya Samsara Galindez and Juan Edurdo Jurado received death threats. Two days later Juan narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.

I appeal to all of you:

• Contact the Colombian Embassy
• Demand protection for vulnerable students

We owe it to them to protect them in anyway we can.

We at NUS will stand in solidarity with out sister union in Colombia the ACEU.

Equally as horrendous is the plight of women in Colombia – thousands are killed every year, the majority of victims are women – the killers are men.

• Every two days a women dies for political reasons
• 65% face violence in their lifetimes
• The number killed in the conflict has raised by 20% in recent years
• Army back paramilitaries use rape and terrorise women – kidnapping and raping girls as young as five. The stigma of this sexual violence prevents many from speaking out.

Our government must ask itself if Uribe’s reign of terror is one we would wish to support at all, let alone with military assistance.

Finally we wouldn’t be here today, if it wasn’t for the relentless campaigning of Justice for Colombia – without the staff team consistently raising the plight of the people in Colombia – This conference would be shamefully silent on this issue.

I pledge NUS’ support to Justice for Colombia and to the people of Colombia. Without justice there can be no peace. Now is the time for our new Foreign Secretary and indeed our new Prime Minister, to take action.

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