A federal jury today found that Drummond Ltd. was not liable for the deaths of three union leaders from its La Loma, Colombia, mine. The verdict in the civil suit came after about two weeks of trial and about a day of deliberations.

Lawyers from the United Steelworkers of America and the International Labor Rights Forum had sued the company on behalf the of the victims families. Throughout the trial, juror heard testimony from other union leaders, victims family members and company officials, but in the end, it was not enough to convince the jury that Drummond had assisted rightwing paramilitaries in the country in exchange for the murders.

During the trial, Drummond attorneys admitted that the working conditions at the mine were “primitive” at the time of the murders in 2001. Workers were fed bananas topped with shredded cheese for lunch, were not permitted to clean themselves before returning home, and were forced to ride dilapidated buses to and from work.

It was on one of those rides that the first killings occurred. In March 2001, union leaders Victor Orcasita and Valmore Locarno were pulled from the bus by rightwing paramilitaries and killed. Gustavo Soler, who replaced Locarno as union president, was killed in November of that year.

The plaintiffs showed clearly that the murders were part of the 40-year-long civil war in the country between rightwing paramilitaries and leftwing guerillas, but they were unable to prove that Drummond had aided and abetted in the killings.

While arguing that all people should have the freedom of expression, defense attorneys, said that the union leaders had raised their profile with anti-capitalist rhetoric and, in doing so, made themselves targets of the rightwing paramilitaries.

The lawsuit was the first under the Alien Tort Statute to go to trial. The law, which dates back to 1789, has become a favorite tool of labor interests and human rights groups who want to hold multinational corporation accountable for human rights violations in the developing world.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Terry Collingsworth said that they would appeal the verdict.

“Swiftly, very swiftly,” he said.

Collingsworth said that missing testimony from one key witness crippled their case. Raphael Garcia, a former Colombian intelligence official, has said he saw the president of Drummond Ltd., Augusto Jimenez, give a suitcase full of cash to a paramilitary leader. However, Garcia is in Colombian prison for deleting government files on narcotics traffickers. Drummond is suing Garcia for slander.

The plaintiffs tried to clear Garcia through the U.S. State Department and Colombian government hoops and hurdles so he could testify, but they were unsuccessful before the trial began. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre refused to extend a deadline for new witnesses.