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PUBLIC TRIAL in Mexico City for crimes against humanity
International support needed to stop repression in Oaxaca ! |
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See below for background & call from Oaxaca organizers
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International Women’s Day |
An extraordinary community-teacher movement has been unfolding in Oaxaca , one of Mexico ’s poorest, mostly Indigenous states. For months, 1.5 million people out of a population of 3.7 million have been on strike, have marched, held sit-ins and occupied radio and TV stations, to protest electoral fraud and the most violent repression Oaxaca state has ever seen. Women – teachers, housewives, students and others – have been prominent throughout. All sectors – priests, nuns, vendors, nurses, environmentalists and other professionals … are involved. Violence on 16 July
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What you can do
¨ Send international observers and support messages to the Public Trial. Write as an individual and/or get your organization, church, elected official to write. Statements should be sent to CODEP (Comite de Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo - the Committee for the Defense of People’s Rights) codep_cnpp_oax@yahoo.com.mx and copy to the Global Women’s Strike womenstrike8m@server101.com.
Organize a local action on Aug 3/4. Call a demonstration or protest in your area. Circulate this leaflet. Please let us know what you are doing so we can let people in Oaxaca know.
Write or call your Representative/Member of Parliament and ask them to issue a resolution against human rights violations in Oaxaca . In Britain , MPs have issued Early Day Motion 1828 (see below). If you live in Britain , ask your MP to sign the EDM so it continues to circulate.
In Europe, sign the Letter to the European Parliament which we hope to present in September (see below).
Raise it with your trade union, women’s or other organization and ask them to pass a resolution and/or send money to support the teachers and the indigenous communities they work with.
Make a donation. Money for the injured and imprisoned is desperately needed. The hospital and other costs arising from the repression are very great. In February we sent $1000 to the family of a compañero Marcos who had been shot by police and was fighting for his life. Many more have been injured since and we want to be able to send money every month. You can donate online via the Global Women's Strike click here (Under "Payment For", please enter "Women in Oaxaca ”) To send a donation in pound sterling send cheques to Global Women's Strike, Crossroads Women's Centre, 230a Kentish Town Road, London NW5 2AB, England ; US dollars make checks payable to Global Women´s Strike, PO Box 11795, Philadelphia, PA 19101, USA; in Euros send cheques to Centro Las Mujeres Cuentan, Radas 27 Local, 08004 Barcelona, España or to the account of Huelga Mundial de Mujeres, Caixa Penedes, IBAN: ES94 2081 0249 50, 3300003442, Barcelona. Please write Oaxaca in the memo line of the check. All the money will go directly to women in Oaxaca .
¨ Circulate this information as widely as possible. Please forward this email to your networks. The 30 min. DVD Oaxaca: March for Justice, produced by the Global Women’s Strike, will be available shortly.
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Background |
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Oaxaca is one of the areas of the world where agriculture began. One of the poorest states in Mexico , its 3.7m population is mostly Indigenous. The people of Oaxaca are up against Plan Puebla Panama , the US expansion of Nafta, the free trade agreement, to Central America , which would bring expropriation of land, environmental devastation, sweatshops and destitution.
Since 2004, communities and teachers in Oaxaca have been organizing against electoral fraud and repression by the governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz as well as for drinking water, electricity, roads, healthcare, school buildings; meals, shoes and uniforms for pupils; and decent wages for teachers.
Ulises Ruiz refused to recognize established Indigenous authorities, replacing them with people from his own party (the PRI), denied constitutional rights such as freedom of speech, movement and assembly, and closed Noticias , the only independent newspaper. He also attacked historical landmarks: the Zocalo city centre, monuments, hundred-year-old trees…in order to claim money for “reconstruction” which was then used for the PRI’s electoral campaign. Opposition has been met with assassinations, disappearances, imprisonment, rape and other torture. |
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In May 2006 teachers went on strike with the support of the communities and occupied the city center, but their demands were met with violence – 3,000 police attacked their encampment in the middle of the night with tear gas, injuring many people and causing pregnant women to miscarry. Outraged, they forced the police to retreat, and the population mobilized to demand the removal of Ulises Ruiz. The Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca – Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) was formed, which began to exercise some state functions: 1.5 million people have taken part in mega-marches and sit-ins, occupied government buildings and TV and radio stations in order to counteract government lies, and set up hundreds of barricades to protect themselves from police raids and assassinations attempts.
Women teachers, housewives, students and others have been prominent throughout, holding women marches and occupying the state TV channel 9 and two radios for 22 days.
For six months the teachers’ union, Section 22, voted to continue striking – despite repeated attempts by its General Secretary, Rueda Pacheco, known to be on Ulises Ruiz payroll, to split the teachers from the rest of the community by getting them back to work. Having failed, on October 26th, Rueda Pacheco signed a deal with the government behind the backs of union delegates who were due to meet the next day. The government announced that the teachers strike was over and that those who refused to go back would lose their jobs. It signaled the invasion by federal troops and the bloodiest repression in living memory.
Extensive and systematic human rights abuses have been documented by the International Civil Commission for Human Rights Observation, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and Amnesty International.
Hundreds of people have been arrested, tortured and raped (women and men) in high security prisons. More than 60 people have been murdered by police and paramilitaries, including US Indymedia journalist Brad Will, 50 have been disappeared, many more are still in jail and over 500 activists are being hounded with arrest warrants.
The military have carried out intimidating house-to-house searches, offering money for information on the whereabouts of activists. The latest violence was on July 16th during the traditional harvest festival – one person was beaten to death by police and another is fighting for his life; and on July 23rd a compañero on a demonstration was kidnapped. Fortunately, he was released after demonstrators stopped two of his kidnappers who turned out to be military in plain clothes, and traded them for the compañero.
Despite the repression, APPO continues the fight. It is holding a Public Trial in Mexico City against criminals Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, ex-President Vicente Fox Quezada, Carlos Abascal, illegitimate President Felipe Calderón (also guilty of electoral fraud) and all those who are responsible for crimes against the humanity of the people of Mexico .
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3 & 4 AUGUST 2007 PUBLIC POLITICAL TRIAL & JUDGEMENT OF THE CRIMINAL ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ
Seven months have passed since the deadly alliance of the fascist parties PRI & PAN unleashed the most ferocious and bloody repression within living memory in the state of Oaxaca . People are being punished for demanding the removal of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz who came to power through the most fraudulent elections in the recent history of the state. Having stolen the election, he then abolished constitutional rights and violated the human rights of the majority of the population, violations condemned by international human rights organizations whose findings have been ignored so far.
The 14th of June and 25th of November 2006 will remain engraved in the memory of the people of Oaxaca and Mexico as dates when the forces of repression of both state and federal governments tried to drown in blood an unarmed people demanding justice. 350 women and men, young and old, were arrested, then tortured and in many cases raped in high security prisons. More than 60 people were murdered, 50 were disappeared and 500 activists are now being hounded with arrest warrants.
Despite this brutality, the Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca (APPO) not only survives but is extending its power across the state. It is preparing to launch a new battle against the impunity of the governments of PRI and PAN behind which they are trying to hide their many crimes against the people of Mexico and their affront to the people of Oaxaca .
We call on - The people of Mexico - Our sisters and brothers in Agua Fría, Aguas Blancas, Acteal, Atenco, Sicartsa - The relatives of the miners of Pasta de Conchos, of the murdered women of Ciudad Juárez and of Ernestina Asensio who was gang-raped in Songolica Veracruz, The Other Campaign, the National Democratic Convention, APPM, the trade unions, international human rights observers … - The power of international solidarity
JOIN US ON 3 & 4 AUGUST 2007 for a GRASSROOTS TRIAL in the ZOCALO OF MEXICO CITY against CRIMINALS ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ, VICENTE FOX QUEZADA, CARLOS ABASCAL, illegitimate president FELIPE CALDERÓN and all those who are responsible for committing crimes against the humanity of the people of Mexico.
We call on all organizations in Oaxaca and nationally, and on people all over the world to participate in this grassroots trial to witness and to judge, or to hold actions wherever they are, so that this trial becomes an INTERNATIONAL ACTION AGAINST IMPUNITY ANYWHERE.
l TO CONVICT AND PUNISH ALL TYRANTS l IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS l THE DISAPPEARED TO BE RETURNED ALIVE l IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF ALL ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS l COMPENSATION FOR THE FAMILIES OF OUR MURDERED SISTERS AND BROTHERS
JUSTICE FOR OUR DEAD, DISAPPEARED, IMPRISONED AND PERSECUTED NI UN PASO ATRAS – FORWARD EVER, BACKWARD NEVER
Contact in Mexico : codep_cnpp_oax@yahoo.com.mx Contact in the UK: womenstrike8m@server101.com
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LATEST SPANISH CALL
La situación de violación a los derechos humanos es de preocupación internacional, en meses pasados durante el recorrido por Europa del ilegítimo presidente Felipe Calderón, fueron múltiples las expresiones de protesta que evidencian a las autoridades mexicanas por la represión que han ejercido hacia los movimientos sociales. La intensificación de las acciones represivas en contra de los movimientos sociales del país, se profundizan cada vez que avanza el neoliberalismo, en la aplicación de sus proyectos como el de las reformas estructurales, la privatización de los servicios públicos y las empresas estratégicas para el desarrollo del país, el saqueo de los recursos naturales, son algunos de los contenidos de un proyecto de explotación expresados en el Plan Puebla Panamá, el proyecto transístmico y otros.
Por un lado el aumento lacerante de la pobreza de millones de mexicanos mientras por el otro se constituye un polo del enriquecimiento de una minoría, expresados en las empresas trasnacionales y los ricos nacionales que han impuesto un gobierno que está deslegitimado por no haberse respetado la voluntad popular.
Como resultado opuesto al neoliberalismo el descontento popular se profundiza, surgen las resistencias populares en todas partes del país y del mundo; esta situación demuestra la deslegitimación de las instituciones del gobierno que está preparando a los cuerpos policíacos y el ejército para usarlos contra las luchas del pueblo.
Por estas razones, poco podemos esperar de las instituciones con relación a la justicia, para que sean castigados todos aquellos funcionarios de los diferentes niveles que usaron y usan la fuerza pública contra los diferentes movimientos sociales.
A hechos palpables de represión como los de Atenco, Acteal, Sicartsa, la Parota, y casos de falta de procuración de justicia, como el de Pasta de Conchos y el de las mujeres asesinadas en Ciudad Juárez, se sumó la represión sangrienta de Oaxaca, que se manifestó de manera escandalosa el 14 de junio y el 25 de noviembre y a través de la ocupación de la ciudad de Oaxaca por parte del ejército disfrazado de la PFP, intentando aplastar y ahogar en su propia sangre a un pueblo indefenso y a la APPO que clama justicia. El saldo fue más de 350 hombres, mujeres, jóvenes y ancianos detenid@s, l@s cuales fueron torturad@s y en muchos casos violad@s sexualmente, en los penales de máxima seguridad del país; más de 60 asesinatos políticos además de l@s desaparecid@s; alrededor de 500 órdenes de arresto liberadas con las que se persigue ferozmente a los activistas sociales. Esas son muestras claras del terrorismo de estado que han aplicado los gobiernos neoliberales, medida que pretenden fortalecer en todo el país.
Hay una impunidad y silencio que no condena los abusos que vivimos quienes nos organizamos para exigir justicia en sus diversos ámbitos y que han pasado a convertirse en un instrumento que el estado necesita para imponer el “orden”, usando los degradantes métodos fascistas e inhumanos. Ninguno de los funcionarios que han incurrido tanto material e intelectualmente en actos violatorios a los derechos humanos han sido castigados y en el peor de los casos, son protegidos por el sistema de “justicia”.
Ante esta impunidad que priva frente a los diferentes hechos consumados violatorios de los derechos humanos y la falta de aplicación de justicia para los pobres, rescatamos un derecho imprescindible amparado en el artículo 39 de la constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos: el de instituirnos instancias de justicia que retomen los casos del pueblo y lo lleven ante las instancias internacionales.
Estas son las razones que nos convocan a todas las fuerzas democráticas del país, a todos aquellos que han sido agredidos en sus derechos humanos y todos los que hemos sufrido la guerra sucia del Estado. Sabemos que solos no lograremos triunfar en este esfuerzo, por lo que es necesario concretar la lucha unitaria nacional
Por las razones expuestas anteriormente:
CONVOCAMOS A TODO EL PUEBLO DE MÉXICO
A NUESTROS HERMANOS DE AGUA FRÍA, AGUAS BLANCAS, ACTEAL, ATENCO, SICARTSA, A LOS FAMILIARES DE LOS MINEROS DE PASTA DE CONCHOS, A LOS FAMILIARES DE LAS ASESINADAS DE CIUDAD JUÁREZ, A LOS FAMILIARES DE ERNESTINA ASCENCIO VIOLADA MULTITUDINARIAMENTE EN ZONGOLICA VERACRUZ, A LA OTRA CAMPAÑA, A LA CONVENCIÓN NACIONAL DEMOCRÁTICA, A LA ASAMBLEA POPULAR DE LOS PUEBLOS DE MÉXICO, AL DIÁLOGO NACIONAL, AL CONSEJO NACIONAL DE HUELGA, A LOS DIFERENTES SINDICATOS, SECTORES PROGRESISTAS, OBSERVADORES INTERNACIONALES EN MATERIA DE DERECHOS HUMANOS Y PERSONAS DEL MUNDO… A LA REALIZACION DE LA PRIMERA REUNION DE ACERCAMIENTO CON TODOS LOS ESFUERZOS DE LUCHA A NIVEL NACIONAL, el día 14 de Julio en el local que ocupa el edificio central de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, a las 10:00hrs (horario normal).
En esta reunión planteamos una agenda abierta, que tenga que ver con el proceso de unidad nacional, además proponemos como uno de los puntos a discutir, la realización del JUICIO POPULAR NACIONAL EN CONTRA DE TODOS LOS DELINCUENTES DE LESA HUMANIDAD, que han agredido diversos pueblos y movimientos en el país. LLAMAMOS ADEMÁS A LA SOLIDARIDAD INTERNACIONAL PARA IMPULSAR EL JUICIO POPULAR NACIONAL EN CONTRA DE: EL CRIMINAL ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ, VICENTE FOX QUEZADA, CARLOS ABASCAL, EL ILEGÍTIMO PRESIDENTE FELIPE CALDERÓN Y TODOS AQUELLOS QUE RESULTEN RESPONSABLES DE LOS CRÍMENES DE LESA HUMANIDAD COMETIDOS EN AGRAVIO DEL PUEBLO DE MÉXICO. A manera de propuesta, planteamos su realización en el zócalo de la ciudad de México, por representar el corazón político del país, actividad considerada a desarrollarse durante LOS DÍAS 3 Y 4 DE AGOSTO, DE 2007
¡CASTIGO
A LOS TIRANOS!
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British
Parliament, Early Day Motion
1828 HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN OAXACA , MEXICO 3:7:07
John McDonnell
Jeremy Corbyn
Peter Bottomley
Chris McCafferty
Martin Caton
Lynne Jones
* 32
Alan Meale David Drew Kelvin
Hopkins Andrew George Mr Brian Jenkins Karen Buck Rudi Vis Mark
Oaten Katy Clark, Ian McCartney, Mike Hancock, Andrew Stunell, Dai
Davies Colin Burgon Ronnie Campbell Harry Cohen Linda Riordan Alan
Simpson Ann Cryer Bill Etherington John Austin Alasdair McDonnell
Eric Illsley Angus MacNeil Jenny Willott David Heyes
That this House notes that Ulises Ruiz Ortiz is accused of having become governor of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico through fraudulent elections in 2004, and of being responsible for human rights abuses against a mainly indigenous population, against teachers on strike for food, shoes and school supplies for pupils and higher wages, and against anyone who speaks out against the repression; further notes that the International Civil Commission for Human Rights Observation in December 2006, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in October 2006 and Amnesty International in 2005 have reported extensive and systematic human rights violations, including assassinations, torture, rapes and arbitrary detention in Oaxaca state; further notes that one and a half million people, of a population of under four million, have marched to ask for the removal and prosecution of Ulises Ruiz, and in support of teachers' demands; recognises that Mexico's Supreme Court (June 2007) has ordered an investigation into Ulises Ruiz's human rights abuses; and therefore urges the Government to use its influence to press for these investigations to be carried out, and for the protection of those who have brought human rights violations to public attention, in particular Jaqueline Lopez Almazán, Leyla Centeno, Alejandro Cruz López, Samuel Hernández Morales and Ulises Reynosa Guerrero.
EUROPEAN CIVIL SOCIETY INITIATIVE
May 2007
Letter to the EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
We the undersigned hereby declare that:
We have discovered that Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO) was appointed as governor through the most expensive and scandalous electoral fraud in the recent history of Oaxaca State in Mexico .
He has endeavoured to cover up this departure from the law adopting a high-handed, anti-democratic attitude, the de facto annulment of constitutional guarantees regarding the freedom of movement, demonstration, organization and speech, and the systematic, continuous violation of fundamental human rights, as evidenced by dozens of pronouncements and recommendations given against him by state, national and international organizations for the defence of human rights, all of which he has invariably ignored. One of the most relevant cases of late is that presented by the International Civil Commission for Human Rights Observation (ICCHRO), which is composed of citizens from 12 countries of the European Community.
The URO administration has carried out numerous attacks against the people of Oaxaca: it has divided and brought hundreds of Indigenous communities into conflict; it has dismissed from office municipal authorities appointed by the communities themselves only to replace them with others so that his party the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) will continue to dominate; it has destroyed a large part of the cultural heritage of the state capital against the wishes of its inhabitants; the poorer Indigenous communities in the state have been steadfastly refused a solution for their basic living needs, such as clean drinking water, school buildings, electricity, roads, health centres and support for their income generating projects; the teachers who had been on strike with the support of the parents of their pupils, have been assaulted and arrested, their demands for wage increases to take account of Oaxaca’s high cost of living, and for free breakfast, shoes, uniforms and books for their pupils have been ignored; women who were involved in the teachers’ strike and the community-teacher demonstrations, have been assaulted despie being pregnant thus causing them to abort, and have been arrested, raped and even killed.
They closed “ Noticias ”, the only newspaper that refused to yield to their demands, and neither denunciations nor pronouncements of support from both national and international journalists’ and human rights’ organizations have been able to restore the right to information and freedom of press within the state of Oaxaca .
Indigenous communities and organizations, and other grassroots and teacher organizations that spoke out against this injustice have been silenced, their leaders persecuted and imprisoned, and the law artfully manipulated to invent and accuse them of crimes they never committed. Dozens of social activists have been arrested and still remain imprisoned today. In extreme cases, leading activists have been murdered by henchmen of the Ulises Ruiz administration, made deputies or been given posts within the state administration in reward for their actions.
As part of his reign of terror, Ulises Ruiz has formed groups of civil assassins to terrorize the communities and organizations that report the atrocities carried out by the administration.
On November 25, 2006 the state administration alongside the federal police and military forces unleashed the most brutal act of repression ever experienced in the history of Oaxaca, resulting in the arrest of more than 350 people, including children and older people, who were then transferred to "maximum security" prisons, which were actually official centres of torture. 63 defenceless people were murdered, women and men were raped, approximately 50 people have simply disappeared, and some 500 arrest warrants have been issued against social activists on political grounds. Furthermore, the leading spokespeople of the Indigenous communities, the teachers, women, and other sectors whose activities are public, have been subjected to vicious persecution, forcing them underground or into exile out of the state of Oaxaca .
Notwithstanding the democracy clause that regulates trade agreements between the European Community and other world economies, some EU countries are skirting the issue, and, hence, indirectly supporting the anti-democratic behaviour and violation of fundamental human rights that is being carried out by the government of México and of Oaxaca .
Faced with this situation, we respectfully request that:
1. The European Parliament appoint a special commission to collect, as soon as possible, the reports and recommendations that different Mexican and international human rights organizations have presented regarding the situation in México and in Oaxaca,
2. Once the abuses of human rights and therefore the existence of political prisoners and persecutions in México and, above all, in Oaxaca have been confirmed, trade relations with Mexico be suspended in accordance with the Democracy Clause of the European Union.
3. The European Parliament promotes the establishment of international legal instruments and associate measures necessary to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, such as Abraham Ramírez Vázquez, Juventino Garcia Cruz, Noel García Cruz and David Venegas; that those who have disappeared be returned alive; that the arrest warrants against social activists be cancelled; and that the personal, physical and psychological security of those suffering political persecution by the Ulises Ruiz Ortiz administration be guaranteed, more specifically Jaquelina López Almazán, Alejandro Cruz López, Samuel Hernández Morales, Ulises Reynosa Guerrero and Leyla Centeno.
4. In order to ensure the implementation of the above, we urge that a special commission of members of parliament and human righst organisations, be appointed.
Yours sincerely,
SIGNATURES
Return to: europa.oaxaca@gmail.com; womenstrike8m@server101.com