Ala. jury hears Colombia killings case

An ex-employee of an Alabama coal company sued for allegedly using paramilitary groups to kill three union leaders in Colombia testified that an executive there made a veiled threat toward labor: "A fish that swims with its mouth open soon dies."

Testimony began Wednesday in the case against a subsidiary of Drummond Co. Inc. that operates in Colombia and is being sued by the relatives and union of the slain men. The federal lawsuit is believed to be the first to go to trial against a U.S. company under the Alien Tort Claims Act, which dates to 1789 and lets foreigners sue U.S. corporations for their conduct abroad.

In his opening statement, Drummond Ltd. attorney Bill Jeffress denied plaintiffs' claims that the company was tied to paramilitary forces. He said Drummond had nothing to do with the 2001 killings.

Drummond's La Loma mine produces 25 million tons of coal annually and has been described as the world's largest coal pit.

Victor Orcasita and Valmore Locarno, two union leaders who worked at Drummond's operations in Colombia, were killed after being pulled off a Drummond bus outside a company mine. Gustavo Soler was forced off a separate bus and murdered seven months later after taking over the union local's presidency from Locarno.

The union has presented affidavits to the court from two people who say they were present when Drummond's chief executive in Colombia, Augusto Jimenez, handed over a large sum of cash to representatives of the local paramilitary warlord for the killings of Locarno and Orcasita.

The judge, however, barred testimony from the men, one of whom is imprisoned in Colombia. Plaintiffs didn't mention their claims in opening statements, and Drummond denies any payment was made.

The first plaintiff's witness, former Drummond employee George Mack Pierce of Yuma, Ariz., said the company had a "hostile attitude" toward the union.

Pierce said he once heard Jimenez say "A fish that swims with its mouth open soon dies" when asked about union negotiations.

Pierce said he took the comment as a threat, but Drummond attorney Paul Enzinna pointed out that Pierce failed to mention the remark in sworn testimony three years ago.

Rusty Johnson, an attorney for the men's relatives and union, said in his opening statement that witnesses will testify that paramilitary forces were spotted on Drummond property and used its gasoline.

"They chose a side in the war. They chose the paramilitaries. It was a natural alliance," Johnson said.

Johnson said Locarno had given a televised speech critical of the company. Miners had to work around dangerously hot machines, he said, and the mine lacked showers for workers covered in oil and coal dust.

Jeffress, the Drummond attorney, said there is no evidence linking the murders to the company, which began operations in Colombia in the 1980s as some of Alabama's coal reserves played out.

"The allegations of the plaintiffs are not true, and they're not fair," said Jeffress, who also represents former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, whose 2 1/2-year sentence in the CIA leak trial was commuted by President Bush earlier this month.

The company had a strict policy against taking sides with anyone in the Colombia conflict, Jeffress said.

Colombia's landowner-backed paramilitaries arose in the 1980s to counter kidnapping and extortion by leftist rebels but grew into terrorist organizations in their own right, killing more than 10,000 people, stealing land from peasants and taking over much of the drug trade. As the paramilitaries demobilize under a peace pact with the government, many former fighters are coming forward to describe the groups' ties with business leaders and politicians in revelations that are shaking the nation.

Relatives of the dead men and their union, Sintramienergetica, filed suit against Birmingham-based Drummond Co. Inc. and its Colombian arm, Drummond Ltd., in 2003. The parent company was dismissed from the case, leaving Drummond Ltd. and Jimenez as defendants.

Testimony is expected to last up to a month.

The trial began amid congressional scrutiny of the activities of U.S. companies operating in Colombia, where government statistics show more than 800 union members have been killed in the last six years.

A congressional subcommittee held a hearing last month into the Colombian dealings of Drummond and Chiquita Brands International Inc. Chiquita has acknowledged paying paramilitaries $1.7 million in protection money over six years; the Cincinnati-based company was sued in federal court last month by the families of 144 people killed by paramilitaries.

(This version CORRECTS that parent company, Drummond Co. Inc., has been dismissed from case).)