National: Over 100 Deaths from COVID-19 in Mexican Prisons

@AsíLegal

At the end of June, several sources reported an alarming increase in infections and deaths from COVID-19 in prisons in Mexico, with 23 states of the country presenting cases.

The organization AsíLegal reported, through the COVID-19 Penitentiary Map, that up to that date they had already registered 718 people deprived of their liberty and 119 custodians confirmed cases, as well as 102 deaths in the prison population and 27 in prison staff. It warned of a “continuous increase” since the start of the pandemic, due to the lack of measures in the prison system to prevent outbreaks.

The same organization also recorded 16 violent incidents in prisons in the country with causes related to the health emergency: three in Chiapas, two in CDMX, Colima and Edomex, and with an incident in Guanajuato, Tabasco, Oaxaca, Puebla, Michoacan, Chihuahua and Veracruz.

AsíLegal also reported that 3,625 releases were granted, a figure that “increases slowly despite the mechanisms for early release of the prison population at risk or with the recently approved Amnesty Law.”

It reiterated that it is still urgent to reverse the conditions of overcrowding, and sanitation in the prison system. It also urged the authorities to redouble efforts in favor of this population and to seek measures that may allow a new, safe normality.

For its part and according to its count, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) confirmed that it has registered 656 confirmed coronavirus cases, 252 suspects and 103 deaths. Despite the slight difference with the AsíLegal data, the figure shows an acceleration in the lethality caused by the virus, as just two weeks earlier the number of deaths was 68.

For more information in Spanish:

Muertes en cárceles se triplicaron en mayo, en medio de emergencia por COVID (Animal Político, 1ero de julio de 2020)

Semáforo penitenciario en rojo: Contabilizan 131 muertes por Covid-19 en cárceles (SDP Noticias, 30 de junio de 2020)

Suman 625 casos de COVID-19 en cárceles de México (Enterate, 30 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Commission to Implement Amnesty Law Created (June 22, 2020)

National: “Due to Cuts and Bureaucracy, Amnesty Law Hasn’t Been Applied to or Benefitted any Prisoner” – Animal Politico(June 17, 2020)

Chiapas: CSOs Denounces Chiapas State Prosecutor’s Office Setting Conditions for Release of Prisoners Entitled to New Amnesty Law (April 28, 2020)

National: Amnesty Law Approved to Stop Spread of Coronavirus in Prisons (April 23, 2020)

National: Calls on Federal and State Authorities to Take Special Measures to Prevent Spread of Coronavirus in Prisons (March 25, 2020)

 

Oaxaca: Complaint Lodged against Nation Guard for Absence in San Mateo del Mar

@desinformemonos

In a statement published on June 28th, municipal agencies and community authorities that constitute the municipality of San Mateo del Mar blamed the municipal president along with a businessman from the same municipality for the violent events during the last two months that have left more than 15 people killed, houses burned and several people injured. They reported that insecurity continues as well as the absence of the government, despite their various requests for security measures.

They pointed out that this is not an internal conflict between communities, but rather attacks by an armed group controlled by an external agent with economic and political interests that intends to continue controlling, lying and distorting the truth for their personal ends. The statement emphasized that for this reason “since last year and since January 20th, 2020, the State government was informed and intervention requested by the authorities of the municipal capital and the agencies and communities that make up the Ikoots municipality of San Mateo del Mar.”

Representatives from the 13 communities openly questioned the actions of the state and federal authorities as well as the National Guard on June 21st:

“- Why did the National Guard abandon the town on the night of June 21st, why did they withdraw from the place?

– Why did the State Government not see to it when we requested attention?

– Who did nothing or did not act accordingly to avoid this tragedy?

– To which political and economic interests do government institutions that violate our autonomy respond?”

More information in Spanish:

Ponen queja contra Guardia Nacional por abandonar San Mateo del Mar en medio del conflicto (Educa Oaxaca, 30 de junio)

En San Mateo del Mar, la violencia de desbordó a la vista de todos y terminó en masacre(El Universal Oaxaca, 29 de junio)

Responsabilizan a alcalde por asesinatos en San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca(Mileno, 29 de junio)

LA VIOLENCIA SISTEMICA CRIMINALIZA A PUEBLO INDIGENA IKOOTS(Comunicado Agencias Municipales y Comunidades que integran el municipio de San Mateo del Mar, 28 de junio)

More information from SIPAZ: 

Oaxaca: Violent Attacks in San Mateo del Mar Leave 15 Dead (June 23, 2020)

 

Oaxaca: Violence in San Mateo del Mar Leaves One Dead (May 7, 2020)

Oaxaca: Conflicto post-electoral en San Mateo del Mar (September 9, 2017)

 

Oaxaca/National: 7.5 Earthquake in State Ravaged by Pandemic

© Forbes Mexico

On June 23rd, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake was registered in the town of Crucecitas, Oaxaca. As a result, several private and public buildings were damaged in more than 83 municipalities. However, the most regrettable thing is that, mainly due to roof and building collapses, seven people lost their lives. For this reason, the state governor, Alejandro Murat, decided to request an emergency declaration for all affected areas.

Other incidents caused by the tremor were also reported, such as a fire at the Salina Cruz refinery, which was immediately extinguished or some minor effects in hospitals such as the IMSS Hospital in Huatulco and in 15 other health centers. For its part, the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) activated the DN-III-E plan in its phase of assisting the population in Oaxaca with 2,356 members.

Saul Arellano Almanza, researcher at UNAM, explained that “the impact of an accident like this is greater for the Oaxaca region when there are precarious social and economic conditions.” This is due to the little evidence of reconstruction that there were after past earthquakes. In addition, the state of Oaxaca reports a strong impact in this pandemic situation since, along with Chiapas and Guerrero, it is 40% below the national average in the availability of doctors and health infrastructure.

As for the possible aftershocks, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador invited the population to be alert for the situations that can arise.

For more information in Spanish:

Oaxaca, estado vulnerable en jaque por el sismo y la pandemia (Forbes, 24 de junio 2020)

Sedena activa Plan DN-III-E en Oaxaca y la Ciudad de México tras sismo (El Universal, 23 de junio 2020)

Terremoto en México: un sismo de magnitud 7,5 y epicentro en Oaxaca deja al menos 6 muertos y se siente con fuerza en Ciudad de México (BBC, 24 de junio 2020)

Así quedó Oaxaca tras el sismo de 7.5 (Excelsior, 23 de junio 2020)

Suman siete muertos en Oaxaca tras el sismo magnitud 7.5 (ADN40, 24 de junio 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Detienen obras de remodelación para el Tren Transítmico en San Juan Guichicovi hasta llegar a acuerdos

Chiapas “Nos indigna que los desplazamientos forzados sean métodos de ‘castigo’ a las minorías”, Abejas de Acteal

Oaxaca: Violent Attacks in San Mateo del Mar Leave 15 Dead (June 23, 2020)

Oaxaca: After Four Years, Still No Justice for Nochixtlan Massacre (June 22, 2020)

Oaxaca: Death Threat at Door of Oaxaca Consortium Office (June 17, 2020)

Oaxaca: Violent Attacks in San Mateo del Mar Leave 15 Dead

@Unotv

On June 21st and 22nd, two attacks occurred in the municipality of San Mateo del Mar on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which resulted in 15 deaths and several injuries. There were also reports of people being tortured and burned.

On June 21st, after a call by the municipal agencies of San Mateo del Mar to an analysis and information assembly between the community authorities in Huazantlan del Rio, people from the Union of Ikoots Agencies and Communities traveling to the meeting “found burning tires everywhere” at a Coronavirus checkpoint “that impeded the passage and in the middle of the flames, men with their faces covered began to fire their firearms, immediately injuring several people who were in the trucks.” In a statement published the same day by the Ikoots Union of Agencies and Communities, the complicity of the municipal president and a businessman from San Mateo del Mar was noted, and an urgent call was made to have a public security presence. In this instance, at least four people were reported injured.

On the morning of June 22nd, a new violent clash was reported between members of the San Mateo del Mar city council, headed by the municipal president, and people from the Ikoots Union of Agencies and Communities. It took place after elements of the National Guard and State Police entered to escort the inhabitants of San Mateo del Mar to Huazantlan del Rio to carry out the community assembly, which was not possible. In that moment, violence broke out, leaving a balance of 15 deaths.

It should be remembered that there was an attack in May of this year in the same municipality and that San Mateo del Mar, where a regulatory system of customary law prevails, and it has remained in political conflict since last year because five of the eight municipal agencies consider that there were irregularities in the election of the municipal president.

For more information in Spanish:

Crece masacre en San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca; suman 15 muertos. (El Universal Oaxaca, 22 de junio)

Tras tercer atentado en San Mateo del Mar escala la violencia en municipio ikoots(Educa Oaxaca, 22 de junio)

Escala violencia en san Mateo del Mar; agresión en filtro sanitario deja al menos 4 heridos. (El Universal, 21 de junio)

Enfrentamiento deja al menos 15 muertos en San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca (El sol de México, 22 de junio)

 For more information from SIPAZ

Oaxaca: Violence in San Mateo del Mar Leaves One Dead (May 7, 2020)

Oaxaca: Threats from shock groups in San Dionisio del Mar; alternative plan for wind-energy in the Tehuantepec Isthmus (October 26, 2012)

Oaxaca: Ikoots community denounces incursion by private firm and “rigged” assembly in San Dionisio del Mar; invitation to a Meeting for Resistance (September 18, 2012)

Oaxaca: After Four Years, Still No Justice for Nochixtlan Massacre

@EducaOaxaca

Four years have passed since the Nochixtlan massacre: on June 19th, 2016, the police removal of a blockade carried out in opposition to the educational reform of the Enrique Peña Nieto government left eight people dead and 198 wounded by firearms, a case that continues without progress.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large part of the commemoration had to be carried out online. Through a video, the Secretary General of Section 22 (CNTE) Oaxaca, Eloy Lopez Hernandez, gave the message expressing that they continue to fight for justice for those who died in the massacre. They demand justice from the government and jail sentences for the guilty, and that there it is not forgiven or forgetten.

The Victims for Justice and Truth Committee “June 19” (COVIC) stated that “we have not only had to fight for those responsible to be investigated and punished, but we have also been forced to fight to be heard by the bodies of the administration and the administration of justice that have refused to bring to trial the criminals of the government of Peña Nieto and Gabino Cue [governor of Oaxaca at that time]. ”

It should be recalled that on June 19th, 2016, the government of Oaxaca requested support from the Federal Police to clear road blockades of teachers from the CNTE in Nochixtlan. It has been reported that even after the highway was unblocked, state and federal forces committed acts of repression in several surrounding towns. The investigation of these acts seeks to reveal the chain of command in order to find the high-ranking officials who were responsible for giving the order, which has been and continues to be a challenge.

For more information in Spanish:

Después de cuatro años la justicia no llega a Nochixtlán (La Jornada, 20 de junio 2020)

4 AÑOS SIN VERDAD, SIN JUSTICIA. ¡NOCHIXTLÁN VIVE!(Comunicado Covic 19 de junio 2020)

A 4 años de Nochixtlán, van por los altos funcionario que dieron la orden de atacar tras desalojo. (El Universal Oaxaca,19 de junio 2020).

Mensaje del Secretario General de la Sección XXII a 4 años del crimen de lesa humanidad en Asunción Nochixtlán (CNTE, 19 de junio 2020)

Con divisiones, afectados conmemoran cuarto aniversario del fallido desalojo en Nochixtlán(El Proceso, 19 de junio 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ. 

Oaxaca: amenazan de muerte a la presidente municipal de Nochixtlán y a integrantes del Covic (May 13, 2020)

Oaxaca : Citados a comparecer ex gobernador de Oaxaca y ex comisionado nacional de Seguridad por represión en Nochixtlán (February 20, 2020)

Oaxaca: Nochixtlan Victims Say FGR Refuses to Call Chain of Command of Violent Eviction (July 20, 2019)

Oaxaca: Third Anniversary of Nochixtlan (June 21, 2019)

Oaxaca: “Under Attack, Human Rights in Oaxaca” Report Launched; Nochixtlan Case ”Not Clarified”, UNHCHR(October 9, 2018)

Oaxaca/National: CNDH Issues Recommendation for Seroius Human Rights Violations during Events in Nochixtlan on June 16th, 2016 (October 28, 2017)

 

Oaxaca: Death Threat at Door of Oaxaca Consortium Office

On June 15th, a black bag with pieces of meat, apparently an animal’s head, with the message: yours sincerely, CJNG. ”(SIC) was found outside the doors of the organization Oaxaca Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity.

That same day the feminist organization published a press release about the event, noting that it is evident that it is a death threat related to its work. It recalled that the Consortium has a recognized history of 17 years promoting women’s rights and the protection of human rights defenders in Oaxaca, Mexico and the Mesoamerican region. It indicated that the threat could be related to the questions they have raised with Murat’s government about femicides, disappearances of women and attacks on defenders. It mentioned in particular the campaign that has been going on for weeks “Until Justice Arrives” that “revealed the impunity and complicity of the different levels of the Government of Oaxaca in the case of Maria del Sol Cruz Jarquin”, a 2018 case of femincide.

In its statement, the Consortium blamed the Government of Alejandro Murat for the death threat: “It is evident that the Government of Alejandro Murat intends to disguise the matter as an issue of Organized Crime, a situation that is perverse, as is his regime. From this moment on, we hold Governor Alejandro Murat, Prosecutor Ruben Vasconcelos Mendez and Raul Ernesto Salcedo Rosales, head of the Ministry of Public Security, responsible for the life and safety of Soledad Jarquin, her family and each of the members. Oaxaca Consortium. ”

Several organizations have spoken out in solidarity with the Consortium, such as the National Network of Human Rights Defenders in Mexico (RNDDHM), the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), Communication and Information for Women AC (CIMAC), the SOS Tortute Network, the  World Organization Against Torture (WOAT) and Inmujeres, to mention but a few.

UN Women Mexico on their Twitter condemned “the threat received by the feminist organization @consorciooaxaca. An appeal is made to the Government of Oaxaca and to all state authorities to guarantee the safety and integrity of the human rights defenders of said organization.”

For more information in Spanish:

Comunicado de Prensa (Consorcio Oaxaca, 15 de junio)

Consorcio Oaxaca responsabiliza a Murat Hinojosa por amenaza de muerte en su oficina(EDUCA Oaxaca, 16 de junio)

Denuncia Consorcio Oaxaca amenaza de muerte y ataques por seguimiento a caso de María del Sol (El Universal, 16 de junio)

Feministas de Oaxaca responsabilizan a Murat Hinojosa por amenaza de muerte. (Proceso, 15 de junio)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: “Femicidal Violence, The Endless Pandemic”, Oaxaca Consortium (June 8, 2020)

National: Reform Of Law for Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists Debated in Context of Greater Vulnerability in Pandemic (May 26, 2020)

Oaxaca/Nacional: Nuevas agresiones a periodistas; se modificará mecanismo de protección, Encinas (December 19, 2019)

Oaxaca: 126 Femicides One Year after Declaration of Gender Violence Alert (September 2, 2019)

 

Oaxaca: AMLO Inaugurates Trans-Isthmus Corridor; Civil Organizations Say “He’s Taking Advantage of Pandemic”

@lopez.obrador.mx

From June 5th to 7th, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) made a visit to the south of Veracruz to inaugurate the works of the Trans-Isthmus Corridor in the midst of the health emergency due to the pandemic.

Prior to this, more than 100 civil organizations from Oaxaca and Veracruz released a statement in which they expressed their rejection of the modernization works of the Trans-Isthmus Train tracks and the other projects that the federal government is proposing with the megaproject. Its plans include wind and hydroelectric parks, mining and fracking activities, as well as the installation of ten industrial complexes.

The organizations of the Isthmus emphasized what they have been saying since the announcement of the project in the summer of 2018: “We consider that this project of the interoceanic corridor […] will be the destruction of the great diversity of the original cultures and Afro-descendants that coexist in the region of the Isthmus and that represent a true treasure for the peoples and for all humanity.”

They highlighted that the consultations made in March 2019 did not comply with the international standards established in ILO Convention 169 and therefore cannot be considered valid. In addition, they mentioned that new indigenous consultations had been announced, which were suspended due to the spread of coronavirus in Mexico.

Despite strong criticism, the President of the Republic inaugurated the Trans-Isthmus Corridor on the 7th. “The intention is to contain migration in these communities so that people do not abandon them in search of work in the north. That there is a job offer – I stress – so that whoever wants to leave does so for pleasure”, he said.

The AMLO government is not the first government to propose the industrialization of the Tehuantepec Isthmus area. Alejandro Murat, governor of the state of Oaxaca, stated during the event that “the great difference of this project that the president is leading today is that it goes from the bottom up, and comes from consensus with the indigenous peoples.”

For more information in Spanish:

Generará cortina de empleos el tren transístmico: AMLO (La Jornada el 8 de junio de 2020)

Cierra filas Murat con AMLO en banderazo del Transístmico; no es momento de mezquindades, dice (El Universal el 7 de junio de 2020)

AMLO aprovecha confinamiento para imponer de manera “autoritaria” el corredor interoceánico: ONG (El Proceso el 4 de junio de 2020)

Comunicado de denuncia sobre el proyecto del Corredor Transístmico (el 3 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca/Nacional: Más de 100 OSC rechazan proyecto del Corredor Transístmico a unos día de visita de AMLO (June 5th, 2020)

Oaxaca: “The Isthmus is Ours” Campaign Rejects Integration of “Tehuantepec Isthmus Interoceanic Corridor Regional Committee for Social Attention” (May 19, 2020)

Oaxaca: Organizations, Communities and Movements Demand Suspension of Trans-Isthmus Project (May 2, 2020)

Oaxaca: Illegal Start on Trans-Isthmus Corridor without EIR Denounced (April 28, 2020)

 

Oaxaca: COVID-19 Cases Rising in Prisons; Civil Organizations Denounce Lack of Access to Health Services

© Primera Línea

On June 3rd, the government of Oaxaca through the Secretariat of Public Security (SSPO) reported the case of six inmates of the Ixcotel Central Penitentiary, who were Covid-19 positive. The agency reported that since the first symptoms were recorded, “people have been kept in isolation, under surveillance and observation, with due sanitary precautions”, and also the staff and other inmates who had contact with them. These cases are added to the other seven registered in the Tanivet Penitentiary Center, Tlacolula on May 23rd, who are in recovery, as reported by the same institution.

However, in a statement from the Coordination for the Freedom of Criminalized Defenders in Oaxaca, they denounced the lack of medical care for Fredy García Ramírez, spokesperson for the Committee for the Defense of Indigenous Peoples (CODEDI) and a group of other prisoners who present various symptoms: “On May 31st, Fredy García informs us what he has symptoms such as high body temperature, intense body aches, the defender denounces that there are a significant number of inmates who are presenting similar symptoms and that on several occasions they have gone to request medical attention, however, he denounces that since May 15th there has been no plant doctor assigned in the health area who can provide the service, and that only twice a week a doctor arrives to meet the needs of the entire prison population, to be cared for, they must request it and wait their turn as requested. On June 1st, a doctor came to review a group of 80 inmates, including the defender, he pointed out that they had only an hour and a half to be see to all the applicants, such that the basic vital signs such as temperature, pressure or oxygenation were not taken, but he only asked about the recurring symptoms and supplying four paracetamol pills, we did not receive any diagnosis and no prescription to continue treatment, and this situation was repeated with the other inmates” [sic]. In addition, the organization warned that, since the beginning of the year, the prison’s sanitary and health measures did not guarantee the life and integrity of the inmates.

For its part, the civil association Asiggal requested an investigation where it monitors, among other aspects, the care and subsequent results of the omissions or actions of the authorities in the face of the health crisis, the shielding of information or no transparency, and thus compile a series of testimonies that “make up a protest of minimum access to human rights that, by law, accessible persons deprived of freedom should have access to.”

“Oaxaca, to date, continues to be one of the states with the least transparency. In turn, as we were able to verify in the course of the interviews, it is a state where the worst practices or absence of medical, food and sanitary care were clearly seen during the pandemic”, they said.

Other organizations such as the Human Rights Defender of the People of Oaxaca (DDHPO) urged the SSPO “security policies under a rights approach, which guarantees the health, dignified life and personal integrity of people deprived of their liberty in the different state detention centers” and requested the implementation of measures to avoid the exacerbation of infections within the centers where cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed.

For more information in Spanish: 

“Solamente nos queda suplicar” : Así se vive la pandemia desde prisión (Asi Legal, 3 de junio 2020)

Aumenta brote de COVID-19 en penal de Tanivet; presos denuncian falta de atención médica(Educa Oaxaca, 3 de junio 2020)

Comunicado Consorcio Oaxaca (Consorcio Oaxaca, 3 de junio 2020)

Dan positivo a Covid-10 seis internos del penal Ixcotel; suman 13 casos en prisiones (El Universal, 3 de junio 2020)

Urge DDHPO reforzar acciones para mitigar contagios de Covid 19 en centros de reclusión(Consulta.com, 15 de junio 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ: 

Oaxaca: “Femicidal Violence, The Endless Pandemic”, Oaxaca Consortium (June 8, 2020)

Oaxaca : Pasaron 6 meses y gobernador sigue sin nombrar a titular de la Comisión de Búsqueda de Personas en el estado, denuncian; una “burla” cuando suman al menos 500 desaparecidos.

Oaxaca/National: No Truth nor Justice for Victims 13 Years after Forced Disappearance Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sanchez and Edmundo Reyes Amaya (May 28, 2020)

Chiapas: Women Prisoners in CERSS No. 5 Denounce Violence in COVID-19 Pandemic (June 8, 2020)

Guerrero: Confirman 51 contagiados por Covid-19 de 605 trabajadores en minera del Carrizalillo; riesgo para las comunidades cercanas

Chiapas: Cereza Collective Requests Release of Women Prisoners in San Cristobal de Las Casas (June 4, 2020)

Chiapas: Fear that Infected Prisoners in San Cristobal de Las Casas “Will only Come Out Dead” (May 26, 2020)

 

Oaxaca: “Femicidal Violence, The Endless Pandemic”, Oaxaca Consortium

On June 1st, the feminist organization Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity (Oaxaca Consortium) described femicidal violence in a bulletin as an “endless pandemic.”“Given the measure of staying at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, hundreds of girls and women are in contexts that were already dangerous in themselves due to the high rates of aggression to which they are exposed on a daily and systematic basis”, it denounced.

It explained that from March 21st to date, 16 femicides have occurred in Oaxaca (three of minors). With accumulated figures from December 1st, 2016 to date, there are 427 femicides that occurred in the state. This has occurred “without the State demonstrating the will to guarantee the security and access to justice of the victims and their families.”

It also stressed that family violence increased by 25% compared to the first two months of last year, with more than 80% of women being assaulted in their own homes with attacks that were threats, beatings and insults, and even knife attacks, suffocation and attempted femicide. Regarding sexual crimes, there were seven cases registered so far in the emergency.

However, the Oaxaca Consortium stated that these figures are far from representative of the real levels of violence when, according to the National Survey of the Dynamics of Household Relationships (2016), in Mexico eight out of ten women did not ask for support from any type of institution or file a complaint or claim.

It also recalled that according to data from the Lack of Judicial Protection Report at the time of COVID-19, it is observed that “one of the consequences of isolation is the reduction of support networks that women normally have to face violence ( …) the absence of the State is added to all this.” In this regard, it stressed that Oaxaca is among the 13 states that did not establish safeguards to issue protection orders in family matters in their Contingency Plan.

For the same reason, the Oaxaca Consortium demanded, among other issues, that a sufficient budget be assigned and labeled to face all the impacts of femicidal violence and that family violence care units generate mechanisms to meet the needs of women who are requesting help.

For more information in Spanish:

El 30% de los feminicidios en Oaxaca se cometen en los hogares (NVI Noticias, 30 de mayo de 2020)

Violencia feminicida en Oaxaca: la pandemia que no cesa (Consorcio, 1ero de junio de 2020)

Documenta Consorcio aumento de violencia familiar en un 25 % (Quadratin Noticias, 1ero de junio de 2020)
Violencia de género irrefrenable en Oaxaca durante pandemia (El Imparcial de Oaxaca, 2 de junio de 2020)

Durante la pandemia en Oaxaca, incrementaron 25% los feminicidios (La prensa, 2 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: Declaraciones de AMLO con respecto a la violencia de género provoca reacciones de diversos actores. (May 19, 2020)

Oaxaca: Agudización de la violencia feminicida en este arranque de año, denuncian (February 4, 2020)

Oaxaca: 126 Femicides One Year after Declaration of Gender Violence Alert (September 2, 2019)

Oaxaca/National: No Truth nor Justice for Victims 13 Years after Forced Disappearance Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sanchez and Edmundo Reyes Amaya

May 25^th marked thirteen years since the enforced disappearance of the militants of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR), Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sanchez and Edmundo Reyes Amaya in Oaxaca.

In an online press conference, Nadin Reyes, daughter of Edmundo Reyes and representative of the Comite Hasta Encontrarlos (Until They Are Found Committee), declared that “these have been difficult years and, undoubtedly, today they are more difficult given the context that forces us this year to remain in the compulsory confinement given the COVID-19 pandemic that has paralyzed everything in the country and which is blamed for all the ills of this system, as if the virus were responsible for impunity.”

She claimed that in the case of Cruz Sanchez and Reyes Amaya three presidents passed without any significant progress, which, she considered, is “the evident proof that, regardless of who is ruling in the country, the policy of enforced disappearances is a State policy that is committed government after government and that the government headed by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has not changed and we say this because it has not fulfilled its commitment to find the thousands of disappeared detainees in the country, much less to prosecute and punish those responsible.”

She explained that in the case of the new administration “despite having endless documentation that confirms the crime that was committed against our relatives and having a legal resolution for more than six years which orders the search for both fighters in military barracks and the creation of a special search commission, among other points, to this day it has not been accomplished.” This, she stated is because “although it is said that this government is different, in fact, it maintains the same policy of covering up with impunity and giving greater power to those who for years have repressed and committed the worst crimes against the people: the army.”

For this reason, she considered that the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is “co-responsible for maintaining and expanding access to truth and justice more and more in the case of our relatives. During this last year, on repeated occasions, he was notified of the latest developments in the case, and of the recent request of the Second Court to the SCJN to take on the case and has done nothing to expedite and guarantee true access to Justice for the victims.”

In view of this, the Committee confirmed that “we will carry out all legal and human rights actions to firmly maintain our demand. Neither will this government be the one to bend us in this decision.” It extended the invitation to join the activities planned in the framework of the International Week of the Disappeared Detainee (#NOSFALTANENCASA).

For more information in Spanish:

Como Peña y Calderón, AMLO mantiene impunidad del ejército: Comité Hasta Encontrarlos (Proceso, 26 de mayo de 2020)

Continúan con incansable búsqueda de desaparecidos (NVI Noticias, 26 de mayo de 2020)

Reclaman a AMLO esclarecer desaparición de miembros del EPR (La Jornada, 25 de mayo de 2020)

Boletín de prensa : A 13 años de la Desaparición Forzada de Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez y Edmundo Reyes Amaya: sin verdad ni justicia para las víctimas (Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos Hasta Encontrarlos, 25 de mayo de 2020)

“4T”, sin noticias de los desaparecidos del EPR (Contralínea, 21 de mayo de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca/National : SCJN May Take On Case of Forced Disappearance of Two EPR Members in 2007 (January 31, 2020)

Oaxaca: FGR and SEDENA Dispute Search for EPR Disappeared (May 30, 2019)

Oaxaca: Order to Open Army Barracks in Search for EPR Members Disappeared in 2007 (May 16, 2019)

Oaxaca: Search for EPR Members Missing for 11 Years on State Properties (August 21, 2018)

Chiapas: National Day: “The Victims of State Terrorism are of the People, We will not Stop until We Find Them!” (March 15, 2017)