Archive for March, 2007

APPO criticizes CNDH report

Published
by
Jennifer
on March 19, 2007
in APPO and Oaxaca, Mexico
. 0 Comments

From a Mexico Solidarity News bulletin:

CNDH REPORT ON OAXACA CRITICIZED
The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), a federal government agency, released a report Thursday on human rights abuses in Oaxaca that was attacked as a farce by the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). The report justifies acts by police and state authorities that violated thefundamental guarantees of Oaxacan citizens, according to the APPO. While the report recognizes a number of grave human rights violations, it ignores the dozens of people who were disappeared during the popular uprising in Oaxaca late last year, as well as over 60 people who remain in prison. The report failed to fix responsibility for at least 20 assassinations and acts of torture, disappearance and arbitrary arrest by authorities. The 181-page report calls for investigation of armed paramilitary groups, but stops short of defining links between paramilitaries and Governor Ulises Ruiz. The report censured ex-President Vicente Fox but left Felipe Calderon blameless, even though the sitting administration has responsibility for investigating human rights abuses. The report also defended Governor Ruiz, claiming his removal would not resolve the tense situation that remains in the state.

Oaxacan Human Rights Delegation

Published
by
Jennifer
on March 17, 2007
in APPO, Activism and Oaxaca, Mexico
. 0 Comments

I just received this notification:

HUMAN RIGHTS/HUMANITARIAN DELEGATION TO OAXACA

VICTIMS OF ONGOING AND WIDESPREAD GOVERNMENT REPRESSION IN OAXACA, MEXICO ASK FOR CONTINUED INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION

WHEN: April 22-April 28

WHERE: Oaxaca, Mexico

CONTACT: Oaxaca Solidarity Network, info@oaxacasolidarity.org

U.S. phone: 303-800-4453.

COST: $80 per day, which includes lodging, transportation during the delegation, all meals, guiding and translation.

WHAT: The Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos (Oaxacan Human Rights Network) http://www.rodh.org.mx/spip/ has extended a formal invitation to the Oaxaca Solidarity Network www.oaxacasolidarity.org and Rights Action www.rightsaction.org to continue with its work in increasing the international presence and awareness by organizing human rights delegations to Oaxaca to observe the current, ongoing government repression in the city, and to develop international solidarity efforts.

This delegation is a follow up to the December 16-22, 2006 and the February 10-16, 2007 emergency human rights delegations organized by the Oaxacan Solidarity Network and sponsored by Rights Action. Delegates—including human rights lawyers, journalists, authors, investigators, graduate students and activists—met with Oaxacan human rights organizations, victims of repression, leaders of grassroots non-governmental organizations and government officials. The reports, articles, documentaries, testimonies, photographs, and other materials produced by members of our delegation will soon be available at www.oaxacasolidarity.org (at present they are available at http://web.mac.com/oaxacasolidarity).

WHY: October 30 this year marked the arrival of some 4000 Federal Preventative Police (PFP), whose goal was to break up a non-violent popular movement calling for true participatory democracy and an end to widespread government corruption and grinding poverty. Since the PFP arrived in Oaxaca, there have at least 20 murders, more than 350 arbitrary detentions, hundreds of wounded and searches without warrants of homes of many popular leaders. There are many documented reports of torture and disappearances. (For background information and delegation goals, see below)

In spite of the government’s recent campaign to promote tourism in Oaxaca, repression against members of the popular movement continues…

-There are 51 political prisoners still being held in various jails throughout Oaxaca.
-Many leaders of the popular movement are openly threatened with pending arrests warrants to discourage continued dissent.
-Arbitrary arrests continue, including the arrest, interrogation and strip-search last week of a well-respected German artist and Columbia University professor for a benefit event for Oaxacan political prisoners.
-More than 100 schools have been taken over by supporters of the Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortega (URO), and there have been violent confrontations at several. The state teachers union is again threatening a general strike if the situation remains unresolved.
-Streets are constantly patrolled by members of various police/military units—often in camouflage with bullet-proof vests, carrying sub-machine guns.

Due to the ongoing repression and violence in Oaxaca, continued international presence is critical, as is the urgent need to learn and spread the word about the grave, ongoing violations of human rights in Oaxaca. This human rights/humanitarian delegation will continue the work of demonstrating solidarity, and of international education and activism.

ITINERARY: During the 6 days in Oaxaca, delegates will have a series of meetings with families of the murdered, detained and disappeared, leaders of the popular movement, human rights activists, journalists, local grassroots indigenous rights organizations, victims of repression, and possibly government officials, representatives of the business community, and representatives of police forces. The itinerary also includes a day-long trip to a community outside of Oaxaca that has experienced repression due to their involvement in the non-violent popular movement for social justice, human rights and true democracy.

WHO: Our trip is being sponsored by Rights Action and the Oaxaca Solidarity Network, in collaboration with various human rights organizations. The Oaxaca Solidarity Network is a collective of concerned U.S. and Mexican citizens working to raise international awareness of the non-violent popular social movement here, and create international pressure to end the widespread human rights violations throughout the city and state of Oaxaca.

We invite ANY interested persons or organization to join our delegation. The Oaxacan Solidarity Network and the Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos have specifically asked for solidarity and for human rights observers, so we are particularly interested in the participation of activists, journalists, lawyers, professors, students and others who, upon return to the U.S. or Canada, can work effectively to put the current abuses into the internationa spotlight.

CONTACT: Oaxaca Solidarity Network, info@oaxacasolidarity.org U.S.
phone: 303-800-4453. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND BACKGROUND, VISIT THE WEBSITE THAT LISTS REPORTS, ARTICLES, TESTIMONIES, AND OTHER MATERIALS FROM THE FIRST OSN/RIGHTS ACTION DELEGATION:

http://web.mac.com/oaxacasolidarity

Goals of this delegation: This human rights/humanitarian delegation to Oaxaca is being offered to promote international awareness and solidarity. Participants will meet with:

-families of the murdered, detained and disappeared
-victims of repression
-leaders of the popular movement
-human rights activists
-journalists
-local grassroots indigenous rights organizations
-possibly representatives of the business community and local police forces/government
-others that have been closely tied with the movement (teachers, artists, etc)

Participants in the delegation will gain a detailed, balanced and informed glimpse into Oaxacan civil society today, and the dangerous crisis it is facing.

The goals of the delegation are twofold: to provide an in-depth understanding of the Oaxacan popular movement and the government’s response, and to spread that awareness widely upon the delegates’ return to the U.S. It is our hope that such knowledge and awareness can aid in the growing movement of international solidarity with the people of Oaxaca. The pressure of international solidarity can help curb the violence, arbitrary detentions and murders of Oaxacans involved in the movement for true democracy and a politics based on hope, respect and justice.

10th MegaMarcha

Published
by
Jennifer
on March 8, 2007
in APPO, Activism and Oaxaca, Mexico
. 0 Comments

megamarchaThe 10th APPO Megamarcha was reminiscent of those last year. Many of the same banners were scattered throughout the crowd of several thousand and anarchist youth spray painted “APPO,” “Fuera Ulises,” (Out with Governor Ulises) and “Libertad los Presos Politicos” (Free the Political Prisoners). The march started at 10am at the Benito Juarez monument on the outskirts of town and ended at Plaza de la Danza, the courtyard of a large church. Some in the crowd chanted “zocalo! zocalo!” as the march neared the historic center, but the majority continued to Plaza de la Danza. The zocalo (a site of much opposition for the last six months of 2006) was completely barricaded by Oaxacan Preventive Police behind large fences and barbed wire. I asked one of the members of COMO (Coordinadora de Mujeres Oaxaquenos, Primero de Agosto, APPO) what she thought of the march. She said that it was beautiful and quite a success, although the turn-out was less than expected, and that there were no incidences of violence. I know the person who takes care of maintenance at my apartment building would want to add that the graffiti is definitely a negative aspect. I’ve lost track of the number of times he has repainted the front face of the building. As we both stood on the roof of my building, I took pictures of the march and he frowned as the building was covered in graffiti.

Women spoke passionately at the rally about the need for women’s rights, the end to domestic and sexual abuse, the need for more female political representation, the protection of natural resources, and the need to free all political prisoners. Overall, the march was a sign that APPO continues, but it also visibly shows how it is injured. The APPO and the teachers of Section 22 continue their struggle, but many have gone underground or moved out of fear of imprisonment or a worse fate.

The newspaper Imparcial (which is known for being on the side of the government) stated that the march was a resurge in violence and vandalism. At the end of the article it stated that action is being taken against Radio Platnon which started their “clandestine” transmissions during the march.

Waiting for the Protestors…

Published
by
Jennifer
on March 8, 2007
in APPO, Activism and Oaxaca, Mexico
. 0 Comments

My apartment is a block from the destination point of today´s 10th MegaMarcha in Oaxaca. I am waiting for the march to arrive. A few blocks from Plaza de la Danza, the destination point, is the zócalo. Each entrance to the zocalo is blocked by police, barricades, and barbed wire. I took pictures (to be uploaded later) of the police checking bags as people squeezed through the fence. Some businesses around the zócalo are closed for the day, assumedly in anticipation for the march. This megamarcha lands on International Women´s Day and therefore hopes to bring awareness to indigenous women´s issues in Oaxaca. The women are also making the freedom of the 64 remaining political prisoners a central issue.

I´m listening to updates about the march on Radio Platon. Today, Radio Platon is officially back on the air at 92.1 after being removed from the airways by the government in August. Radio Platon´s station is located at the Education Worker´s Union office.

Women of APPO Demand Justice

Published
by
Jennifer
on March 5, 2007
in APPO, Activism and Oaxaca, Mexico
. 0 Comments

This afternoon I attended a forum on human rights abuses as part of a week long series of events sponsored by the Women of the First of August APPO group. Over sixty political prisoners remain in prison, primarily apprehended in November after the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) took over the capital. I have read many stories of the human rights abuses suffered by the prisoners and by others at the hands of the PFP, and I have reported some of those stories on this site. However, it is different to hear the testimonies of such abuses from the people and family members of those who suffered it–and continue to suffer. One after another, women and men told personal stories, many overcome by tears, of being beaten and detained by the PFP. They were also yelled at, humiliated, and terrified without given the basic rights of a lawyer or a phone call. For days, their family members did not know where they were. Others, like Alva Gomez discussed the major disruption of her family after three of her siblings were detained on November 25. Delfina Martinez Silva’s son was beaten and put in a coma for two months. Adrian Bautista Espinoza offered us a look into what it is like to have survived this ordeal. After his experiences of being beaten, detained, and flown to a prison in Tepit, he is bothered by the silence surrounding this issue. He sadly joked that the most common question people ask him is, “What was it like to ride in a helicopter?”

Families of the prisoners, ex-prisoners, and families of those missing demand that the silence be broken and that the government be held responsible for these crimes. A professor of economics at UNAM, who first spoke at the forum, claims that the victims have been criminalized whereas the government is the one going against the constitution.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the Women of the First of August will sponsor a forum on the role of women in the movement at 4pm at la Facultad de Derechos, UABJO (in the zocalo).