Guatemala City, April 30 (RHC)-- Seventy labor activists were murdered in Guatemala between 2004 and 2013, the Network of Labor Rights Defenders said Thursday.

All but 18 of those crimes remain unpunished, the Network said.

"The levels of impunity continue to be alarming," said Julio Coj, an official with the Unsitragua union, adding that violence against union members "is doing a lot of damage to the movement."

He cited figures showing that the level of union membership had declined from nearly 12 percent of workers in 1996 to 1.2 percent currently.

The Network report pointed out that the International Labor Organization is currently deciding whether the chronic abuse of worker and union rights in Guatemala warrants the appointment of a special commission of inquiry.