Urgent Action in the case of Alberto Cerezo Contreras, human-rights defender

On 15 April, the organizations Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz (Serapaz), the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Center for Human Rights, the Fray Francisco de Vitor Human-Rights Center, the Project for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ProDESC), The Inter-Ecclesiastical Commision for Justice and Peace (Colombia), the Associazione Centro di Accoglienza e di Promozione Culturale E. Balducci (Udine, Italy), and Protection International (Belgium) published an Urgent Action that has to do with the harassment, vigilance, and stalking that Alejandro Cerezo Contreras, member of the Cerezo Committee-México and vice-president of Urgent Action for Human-Rights Defender AC, has recently experienced.

According to Contreras, on 13 April, at the close of the forum “Criminalization of social protest:  new challenges for human-rights defenders” that was held at the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM) in México City, he noticed that he was being filmed by a stranger from a distance of approximately 50 meters.  Later, Contreras and two colleagues of his from Peace-Brigades International (PBI) came to realize that they were being filmed once again by the same person from a distance of about 55 meters; this time, though, he was accompanied by another stranger.

Two days later, Contreras suffered new stalking-episodes on the part of one of the same persons who had been filming him on the 13th, among others.  Contreras says that he was followed by people on foot as well in a car, and that they attempted to take his picture.

The organizations that signed on to the Urgent Action made four demands:  that the Mexican government “immediately” take “the appropriate measures to guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity of Alejandro Cerezo Contreras, his family-members and friends, as well as that of members of the Cerezo Committee-México and Urgent Action for Human-Rights Defenders AC,” undertake “an immediate, exhaustive, and impartial investigation into the vigilance, stalking, and harrassment suffered [by Contreras], the findings of which are to be made public, and those responsible dealt with justly,” assure “the application of the demands of the Declaration on Human-Rights Defenders,” and “realize in its actions that which is called for by the pacts and international conventions ratified by México.”

The Urgent Action concludes by calling on “international human-rights organizations” to “express their concern regarding the gravity of the acts and pressure the Mexican government to attend to recent petitions.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Urgent Action, 15 April

CHIAPAS: Frayba Denounces Criminalization of Human Rights Work

In an “Urgent Call to Action” declared on August 28^th, Human Right Center Fray Bartolome de Las Casas (Frayba) denounced new cases of harassment toward their workers as well as the communities and organizations they work alongside.

The Urgent Call to Action makes reference to events that have occurred since June, including harassment against Frayba’s director, Diego Cadenas Gordillo, the center’s president, Don Samuel Ruiz Garcia (who is the bishop emeritus of San Cristobal de Las Casas) as well as other employees of the Center. The Urgent Call to Action also refers to the criminal complaint made against Frayba by Esdras Alonso Gonzalez for “attacks to communication lines, attacks against the peace and security of the people, biodiversity and breaking and entering.” The accusations are linked to follow-up activities carried out by Frayba in Mitziton.

According to the Urgent Call to Action, during a protest on August 10^th and 11^th to denounce the liberation of prisoners accused of the Acteal massacre, a person taking pictures and asking Frayba workers about the event’s organization turned out to be a member of the military. On August 17^th, after a ceremony and press conference with the Mexican representative of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Frayba’s workers were followed and under surveillance by people in a Ford Fiesta with no license plate. The car slowed down along with the workers, proving that their goal was to closely follow the workers movements.

The final complaint was made regarding an event that is documented in detail in the text of the Urgent Call to Action. A person who claimed to be a member of the “Campesina Organization of Independent Workers” and supposedly sent by the General Secretary of the State of Chiapas, Noe Castañón, asked to speak to the director of Frayba to “establish direct contact and communication with you (Frayba) and Las Abejas.” According to Frayba the person stated, “the Governor has failed to carry out his campaign promises, has deceived people, and has been a disaster for the state government.” The person went on to say that’s why the Government Secretary “wants to talk to Don Samuel and Gonzalo Ituarte as well as the president of Las Abejas as soon as possible, so that they can ask for what they want” and for this, he asked for Frayba’s help to make contact. He also indicated that “Juan Sabines will no longer be Governor after presenting his government report, and it’s certain that Noe Castañón will become Governor” and that “he will immediately respond to everything Frayba demands.” When Frayba contacted Noe Castañón about his supposed representative, Castañón said “he hadn’t sent anyone and he was certain that this person was an impostor.”

Given this situation, Frayba reports “the accumulation of acts of harassment, surveillance, threats, defamation, slander and intimidation against its workers constitutes an attack against the personal and psychological integrity of the Frayba team. Besides being a violation of human rights, these acts impede and put at risk the development of our work in favor of the indigenous and non-indigenous people and communities of Chiapas.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Acción Urgente: “En Chiapas se criminaliza la defensa de los Derechos Humanos”, CDHFBC (28/08/2009)

More information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: concern regarding threats faced by human rights defenders (june 2009)

Guerrero: Reports of military torture and harassment of three communities in the region of Cuyuca de Catalan

From the 9^th to the 13^th July a group of soldiers entered into three communities in Guerrero (Las Palancas, Puerto de las Ollas y El Jilguero) in the region of Coyuca de Catalán, in the area of Tierra Caliente. The soldiers fired gunshots into the air and at those who tried to flee into the mountains.

The aim of the military excursion was to detain members of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo Insurgente (ERPI), in particular the so-called commander Ramiro, whose real name is Omar Guerrero Solís, who organized a press conference from hiding on the 31^st May. In his declaration, the commandor Ramiro accused a local political boss of using a paramilitary group with the aim of intimidating agricultural workers from the area who opposed deforestation or the cultivation of drugs in the area.

Although on the 9th June, 60 soldiers entered into the communities, on the following day, even more arrived so as to provide reinforcements to those already there, bringing the grand total of soldiers up to around 500. During the five days, women and children of the area suffered harassment by the soldiers, and in some cases, torture. At last, the army withdrew on the 13^th June, when a team of observers arrived, formed of Human Rights organizations, as well as various Civil Society organizations, such as the Human Rights Defense Commission of the state of Guerrero (Coddehum).

The reports submitted by the Civil Society organizations talk of the specific torture of two individuals, as well as of house raids and the use of knifes that were placed on three women’s throats to make them give information regarding the whereabouts of their husbands. In addition, members of the communities suffered robberies, threats and various attempts by the soldiers to falsify tests that would suggest links between community members with armed groups and drug-traffickers, through the sowing of poppy seeds, as well as arms and other military equipment.

For more information (spanish):

• Comunicado de la misión civil de observación que acudió a las comunidades de Puerto de las Ollas y Las Palancas el día 13 de junio del 2009
• Acción Urgente de Amnistía Internacional (AI: AMR 41/031/2009)

Chiapas: new Urgent Action regarding the eight indigenous tzeltales detained in El Amate

In an Urgent Action on May 4, the Human Rights Center Fray Bartlomé de las Casas (CDHFBC) denounced the legal situation of the eight indigenous tzeltales from the Ejido of San Sebastián Bachajón. The lack of due process in all of the cases has been well documented by the CDHFBC. A major concern for their future trial is the fact that all eight have signed confessions, however without knowing the content because of the lack of a translator. Although the law prohibits such declarations of guilt, they were accepted by the Public Prosecutor’s office.

The CDHFBC called attention to the fact that “the Judge in the case has until Friday, May 8 to indict them or free them”. They stated that the trial could form part of the repression that “the government of Juan José Sabines Guerrero has begun, initially by way of the Special Unit on Organized Crime (FECDO), against the members of the Other Campaign of San Sebastián Bachajón and the Zapatista support base of the region of Agua Azul and Agua Clara”.

For More Information (In Spanish):

Acción Urgente: Riesgo que el juez de la causa dicte auto de formal prisión ante de la detención arbitraria, de ocho indígenas tseltales de la región de Agua Azul, CDHFBC (4/5/2009)

Acción Urgente: Temor de ausencia de garantías judiciales/Alegaciones de malos tratos/Preocupación por malos tratos/Preocupación por seguridad e integridad personal, OMCT (6/5/2009)

En condiciones inhumanas, 8 tzeltales esperan sentencia en penal de Chiapas, La Jornada (5/5/2009)

Abogado de indígenas consignados en el penal El Amate denuncia ‘falta de ética’  en el caso, La Jornada (6/5/2009)

Chiapas: Urgent Action: Concern for the lives and judicial situation of detainees. Criminalization of social protest and of the work of human rights defenders.

The International Service for Peace has expressed major concerns regarding a series of events beginning with the detention of 6 indigenous Tzeltales, inhabitants of the Ejido San Sebastián Bachajón, in the municipality of Chilón, Chiapas. The detainees suffered, among other things: torture and mistreatment; lack of access to fair judicial process, such as a translator who spoke their language; being held incommunicado; and misrepresentation by media sources.

In response, members of the Other Campaign of the ejido San Sebastián Bachajón organized a roadblock to demand the liberation of the detainees. A few days later, two people, who were reported to have disappeared for a number of days, were detained as well. In addition, a number of cases of repression and criminalization of social protest and of human rights defenders who were working on the cases were denounced.

Read the Urgent Action online

For More Information (In Spanish):

Boletín, Detención arbitraria de indígneas tseltales de Bachajón, Chilón, CDHFBC (16/04/2009)

Boletín, Operativo policíaco en contra de indígenas manifestantes de Bachajón, CDHFBC (17/04/2009)

Noticia, Solicitud de medidas cautelares ante detención arbitraria, CDHFBC (17/04/2009)

Denuncia local – Solidaridad de MOCRI-CNPA con ejidatarios de Bachajón (17/04/2009)

Acción Urgente: Privación arbitraria de la libertad, tortura, tratos o penas crueles, inhumanos y degradantes a adherentes de La Otra Campaña de San Sebastián Bachajón, municipio de Chilón, CDHFBC (19/04/2009)

Acción Urgente: 11 hombres recluidos sin cargos en un centro de detención conocido como “Quinta Pitiquito”, Amnistía Internacional (21/04/2009)

Chiapas: Concern about the coming Supreme Court decision in the case of Acteal

On April 20, the Organization “Civil Society of Las Abejas” protested the possibility that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) would grant appeals to 12 “paramilitaries” who were convicted after the massacre of Acteal, which occurred on December 22, 1997*. If they were given appeals, they would be released. In a press conference which took place in the offices of the Human Rights Center “Fray Bartolomé de las Casas” (Frayba) in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, representatives of the civil organization and witnesses of the massacre insisted that the 12 jailed men were among those who carried out the killing, which has been questioned by the legal defense of the jailed men.

Las Abejas denounced that the 12 prisoners accused 9 other men, among them Antonio López Hernández, who is a member of Las Abejas and a main witness because of his information about “how the arms were distributed among the paramilitaries, and because of this he was accused of being responsible”. According to the organization of the victims of the massacre, the legal defense has tried to involve the survivors, accusing them of having arms, and has made various contradictions, such as identifying members of Las Abejas as Zapatistas and accusing them of having planned and participated in the massacre of their own family members. Las Abejas reject the version proposed by the Mexican State and by various media sources that the massacre was the result of a religious conflict. In their press release, the stressed that the responsibility for the crime lies with those who occupied high public positions during the time of the massacre, such as the Mexican President, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León; the Secretary of Government, Emilio Chauyffet Chemor; the Secretary of National Defense, General Enrique Cervantes; Commander of the VII Military Region (located in Chiapas) and Commander of Special Force Rainbow, Mario Renán Castillo; as well as various state and municipal level authorities.

In addition, Frayba, the legal representative of the survivors of the massacre, released an Urgent Action stating the risks involved if the 12 men are liberated. For human rights defenders, “the violent actions which took place as part of the massacre constitute a crime against humanity, which was part of a counterinsurgency strategy planned and carried out by the Mexican State”. They state that within the context of the counterinsurgency carried out by the Mexican Government, “the State created, financed, trained, and harbored paramilitary groups which carried out systematic attacks against the civil society”. Frayba asked that the civil society declare itself against the continuing counterinsurgency strategy and against paramilitary groups, because “there is now a risk that their violent actions will continue”. If the appeal were given to the 12 paramilitaries, they would be freed immediately without the possibility of challenging the decision. The SCJN is the highest institution in the Mexican judicial system, and according to the law no one can be judged twice for the same crime.

*It is important to remember that during the massacre in Acteal, in the municipality of Chenalhó, on December 22, 1997, 45 people were killed, the majority women and children, and that 4 of the women were pregnant. To date, Las Abejas continue calling for justice, because according to them, all of those involved in the crime have not been prosecuted, especially the intellectual authors of the crime.

For More Information (In Spanish):

Denuncia de Las Abejas (20/04/2009)

Acción Urgente: Riesgo de que liberen a paramilitares responsables de la Masacre de Acteal, Frayba (20/04/2009)

Impunidad y responsabilidad de las autoridades públicas en el caso Acteal, SIPAZ, Boletín de febrero de 2008

Audios de la conferencia de prensa (20/04/2009)

“ Pretenden liberar a 12 asesinos de Acteal: Frayba”, La Jornada (21/04/2009)

Guerrero: National and international organizations demand an investigation into the killing of the two human rights defenders

National and International organizations from the civil society, including SIPAZ, have joined together in order to condemn the extrajudicial executions of­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Raúl Lucas Lucía y Manuel Ponce Rosas, two human rights defenders from the Organization for the Future of the Mixteco People (OFPM). All of these organizations signed a statement written by Insyde (Institute for Security and Democracy) and Fundar (Center of Investigations and Analyis), demanding an immediate and impartial investigation into the forced disappearance and killing of Raúl Lucas and Manuel Ponce. The letter states, “Organizations from Mexico and the rest of the world demand an immediate investigation in order to explain the extrajudicial executions of Raúl Lucas Lucía and Manuel Ponce Rosas, protect their families integrity, and guarantee reparations for the victims families”.

In addition, the Presidency of the European Union has condemned the torture and extrajudicial executions of the two human rights defenders. In a letter, they state: “the Presidency calls for strict punishment of those responsible, and in addition urges that human rights defenders of the indigenous population be given protection so that more attacks do not occur”.

Also international human rights organizations like Amnesty International (AI), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) of the United Nations have denounced the killing of the human rights defenders.

The letter signed by organizations from the civil society also demands that the Mexican State comply with the recommendations made by the Human Rights Council of the UN as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on February 10. The recommendations include the necessity of “Increasing the effectiveness of preventative measures for the protection of human rights defenders”.

For More Information:

Statement written by Insyde-Fundar and signed by organizations from the civil society.

Mexico: Further Information on Fear for safety, Amnesty International, (2/25).

IACHR CONDEMNS MURDER OF INDIGENOUS LEADERS IN MEXICO, IACHR (2/24).

More Information in Spanish:

Comunicado de la Presidencia de la Unión Europea (25/2)

Condenan CIDH, ONU y AI ejecución de dos defensores de derechos en Guerrero, La Jornada (25/2)

More Information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: the bodies of two mixteco leaders, reported dissapeared since February 13, are found, SIPAZ Blog, (2/24).

Oaxaca: Attempted murder against a member of VOCAL

The night of January 10, a member of the organization VOCAL (Oaxacan Voices Building Autonomy and Liberty), Rubén Valencia Nuñez was victim to an attempted murder. After having been insulted in the middle of the street in the center of the city of Oaxaca, he took refuge in a nearby café. According to the urgent action, signed by VOCAL, the CASOTA (the House of Solidarity and Self-Sustaining Work), the University of the Earth- Oaxaca, and Diploma of Barefoot Investigators, Rubén Valencia Nuñez was wounded 3 times with a short, stabbing weapon by a man “who looked like a member of the ministerial or judicial Police”. Rubén was taken to the hospital where his wounds were taken care of and he is now out of danger.

The organizations that signed the urgent action denounce “these acts as part of a strategy of repression and violence orchestrated by the government of the state of Oaxaca, but carried out through paramilitary police groups or civilians in the service of that same state. For this we denounce to the entire world the possibility of the initiation of a selective repression, in the style of the dirty war suffered by the social movements of this country thirty years ago. The aggression suffered at this moment by comrade RUBEN comes at the head of a string of aggressions, intimidations and detentions against different comrades in the social movement over recent months, and whilst none of which have been successful, demonstrate the authoritarian and illegal acts of the State that continue with this latest aggression, which may signal a new and yet more dangerous type of governmental repression and violence carried out by paramilitary police, paramilitaries and thugs in the service of the bad government of ULISES RUIS ORTIZ, in the style of a dirty war.”

For more information:

Attempted Murder of APPO member Ruben Valencia (Infoshop News, 1/11/09)

Guerrero: Urgent Actions by various international organizations call attention to the arbitrary detention of Máximo Mojica

Amnesty International (AI), the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) through the Collective Against Torture and Impunity (CCTI) released Urgent Actions regarding the case of Máximo Mojica Delgado, María de los Ángeles Hernaández Flores, and Santiago Nazario Lezma who were arbitrarily detained in the last days of November in Telolapan, Guerrero.

On November 27, three armed men carried off Máximo Mojica without presenting identification or an arrest warrant. On November 29, María de los Ángeles Hernández and Santiago Nazario were detained by armed men who were described by neighbors to be agents of the Police Ministry of Investigation (PIM).

On December 3, after a number of days without knowing the location of these 3 people, they were found in the custody of the State Attorney General’s office. They were visited by members of the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights in Guerrero which later stated that the three detainees showed signs of mistreatment and had not been given the right to an attorney. The State Attorney General’s office had not yet presented formal charges against any of the three detainees.

It is worth mentioning that Mojica had participated in the Civil Association of Land and Liberty (Asociación Civil de Tierra y Libertad), which is part of the Front of Democratic Organizations in the State of Guerrero (FODEG) and that Mojica and María de los Ángeles Hernández were both members of the State Coordination of Educational Workers of Guerrero (CETEG).

Case update:  On December 4, 2008, Máximo Mojica Delgado, María de los Ángeles Hernaández Flores, and Santiago Nazario Lezma were transfered to Tecpan where they were brought before the Galeana District Judge in order to solicit an administrative detention on charges of kidnapping Adriana de Jesús Ortega Zarate.

For More Information:

UA – Mexico: Fear of torture or other ill-treatment (AI, 04/12/08)

The IRCT demands immediate action regarding forced disappearance of a Mexican colleague (03/12/08)

Oaxaca: Military operation in Santiago Lachivía leaves two dead and one wounded; Urgent Action

According to the Centro Prodh, on August 5, twenty military personnel arrived unannounced at the community of Santiago Lachivía, located within the San Carlos Yautepec district, in the southern sierra of Oaxaca, and shot several rounds into the air after which the majority of people in the area, who were working on a communal plot, attempted to flee, looking for safe cover. Two were left dead and one wounded as a result of the attack, according to the Communal Lands Commissioner Evaristo Belleza Ávila and later confirmed by the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Oaxaca (PGJE). However, in his initial statement Alberto Quezada, State Director of Public Security, confirmed that he was only aware of “one death in Lachivia (committed by) personnel in military uniform.”

In addition, anonymous government sources confirmed that there had been military presence in the region carrying out anti-organized crime operations. Immediately after the incident the military personnel searched those present and after failing to find any arms or drugs, they left the scene without any further explanation.

The Union of Indigneous Peoples and Communities of Yautepec Oaxaca (UPCIYO), Tequio Jurídico A.C. and Transparency for Local Development A.C. circulate an urgent action.