San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, September 24th, 2009

URGENT ACTION: Armed attack on human rights workers in Jotola, Chiapas

The International Service for Peace (SIPAZ) is calling for your urgent attention to a case that marks a serious deterioration in the current situation in Chiapas, which has escalated from harassment and media campaigns aimed to discredit human rights workers, to direct physical assault.

On September 18th the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center (FRAYBA) reported an armed attack by the Organization for the Defense and the Rights of Indigenous and Campesinos (OPDDIC). The attack took place against FRAYBA worker Ricardo Lagunes Gasca in Ejido Jotola, in the municipality of Chilon. While trying to help Ricardo, Carmen Aguilar Gomez the 2nd was also injured. Carmen had been attending a meeting with other cooperative landowners from San Sebastian Bachajon. The people from both Jotola and San Sebastian Bachajon are supporters of the Other Campaign, an initiative begun in 2006 by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). As such they are organized for the defense of their land and territory.

When Ricardo tried to leave Jotola in a vehicle belonging to FRAYBA, about 60 people armed with sticks, rocks, machetes and guns belonging to OPDDIC closed the road, forcing him to stop. They forced him out of his car, took away his keys and beat him despite Ricardo’s attempts to speak with his aggressors.

A few of the people who had attended the meeting tried to come to Ricardo’s rescue, but OPDDIC fired at them leading to Carmen Aguilar Gomez’s injury, and they were forced to disperse.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

On August 20th residents from Jotola and Bachajon held a press conference at FRAYBA to publicly denounce the climate of harassment and threats on the part of OPDDIC members, who are also from Jotola. Tensions rose even higher because of the location of a sign belonging to the residents declaring their support of the Other Campaign.

Shortly before the attack on September 18th, residents of Jotola witnessed officers from the Preventative State Police (PEP) interviewing members of OPDDIC. According to several testimonies they could hear OPDDIC members saying they were going to enter the main meeting hall to destroy the sign and attack the Other Campaign supporters. Of special note is the fact that since their inception OPDDIC has been identified as a paramilitary group linked with several attacks in the state of Chiapas that have gone unpunished.

The Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center had been working closely with the residents of San Sebastian Bachajon and Jotola and had already denounced the harassment of the past few months. This latest attack on the security of one of FRAYBA’s employee occurred within a context of hostility and smear campaigns against those working for the defense of human rights.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send letters of appeal that will arrive as quickly as possible, written in Spanish or in your own language:

    • asking authorities to guarantee they adopt immediate and adequate protective measures for Ricardo Lagunes Gasca and other members of the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center, taking into account the wishes of the affected parties
    • requesting that authorities carry out an immediate investigation into the attack on Ricardo Lagunes Gasca that is independent, thorough and impartial, and that those responsible are brought to justice
    • calling for an end to all types of harassment and smear campaigns against human rights defenders in Mexico
    • Ensuring the application of the Declaration on the Defenders of Human Rights, adopted by the UN’s General Assembly on December 9th, 1998, specifically in reference to the protection of the rights of any person “individually or collectively, to promote and seek the protection and fulfillment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on national and international levels.” (Art.1) and to “guarantee the protection […] of any person, individually or collectively, in the face of any violence, threat, reprisal, discrimination, denial of acts or rights, pressure or any other arbitrary act resulting in the legitimate practice of the rights mentioned in the […] Declaration.” (Art.12.2)

SEND LETTERS OF APPEALS TO:

Lic. Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa
President of Mexico
Official Residence “Los Pinos”
Casa Miguel Alemán
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec,
C.P. 11850, México DF
Tel: (52.55) 2789.1100 Fax: (52.55 ) 5277.2376
Correo: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx

Lic. Fernando Gómez Mont
Secretary of the Interior
Bucareli 99, 1er. Piso, Col. Juárez,
Del. Cuauhtémoc,
C.P. 06600 México D.F.
Fax: (52.55) 50933414
Correo:  secretario@segob.gob.mx

Lic. Mauricio E. Montes de Oca Durán,
Dept. for the promotion and defense of human rights SEGOB,
Av. Paseo de la Reforma 99 Piso 19 Tabacalera, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal, 06030,
Tel: (55) 51-28-00 Ext: 11863,
Email: mmontesdeoca@segob.gob.mx

Lic. Juan José Sabines Guerrero
Governor of the State of Chiapas
Palacio de Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas
Av. Central y Primera Oriente, Colonia Centro, C.P. 29009
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Correo-electrónico: secparticular@chiapas.gob.mx
Fax: +52 961 61 88088 – + 52 961 6188056

Dr. Noé Castañòn León
Secretary General of the state Chiapas
Government Secretary General
Palacio de Gobierno, 2o. piso, Colonia Centro, C.P. 29000
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Conmutador: + 52 (961) 61 2-90-47, 61 8-74-60

Alberto Brunori
Mexican Representative for the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights
Dirección: Alejandro Dumas #165
Col. Polanco Delegación Miguel Hidalgo
C.P 11560     México D.F
Tel: + 52 (01 55) 5061-6350 Fax: 5061-6358
Correo electrónico: oacnudh@ohchr.org  

Sr. Santiago A. Cantón
Executive Secretary for the Inter American Human Rights Commission
Correo: cidhoea@oas.org

Mexican Permanent Mission before the United Nations in Geneva
16, Avenue du Budé. 1202, Ginebra, Case postale 433.
Fax: + 41 22 748 07 08
E-mail: mission.mexico@ties.itu.int;

Send a copy to:

International Service for Peace (SIPAZ)
Ave Chilon #8, Barrio El cerrillo, CP 29220 San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México
Tel/Fax: 967 63-160-55
Correo: chiapas@sipaz.org

Dr. José Luis Soberanes Fernández
President of the National Commission for Human Rights
Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, Edificio “Héctor Fix Zamudio”, 6° piso
Blvd. Adolfo López Mateos n° 1922, Col. Tlacopac San Ángel, Del. Álvaro Obregón
México D.F., C.P. 01040, MÉXICO
Fax: +52 55 5681 7199

 

Sample Letter

Date
Name of government department or representative

We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the case of Ricardo Lagunes Gasca, a human rights worker from the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center who was beaten and who’s life was threatened during an armed attack on September 18th in Ejido Jotola in the municipality of Chilon, Chiapas. We demand you adopt all of the necessary measures to guarantee Ricardo Lagunes Gasca’s safety, the safety of the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas workers, as well as the safety of the groups they work with.

The Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center has done important work for the defense and advancement of indigenous human rights in Chiapas. They denounced the harassment they had been subject to in recent months and the smear campaign against them that had put their ability to carry out their work in jeopardy. This latest attack sets a serious and unacceptable precedent that needs to be attended to immediately.

For this reason we ask:

FIRST: that authorities guarantee immediate and adequate protective measures for Ricardo Lagunes Gasca and other members of the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center, taking into account the wishes of the affected parties

SECOND: that authorities carry out an immediate investigation into the attack on Ricardo Lagunes Gasca that is independent, thorough and impartial, and that those responsible be brought to justice

THIRD: for an end to all types of harassment and smear campaigns against human rights defenders in Mexico

FOURTH: for an assurance that the Declaration on the Defenders of Human Rights, adopted by the UN’s General Assembly on December 9th, 1998, will be applied, specifically in reference to the protection of the rights of any person “individually or collectively, to promote and seek the protection and fulfillment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on national and international levels.” (Art.1) and to “guarantee the protection […] of any person, individually or collectively, in the face of any violence, threat, reprisal, discrimination, denial of acts or rights, pressure or any other arbitrary act resulting in the legitimate practice of the rights mentioned in the […] Declaration.” (Art.12.2)

Sincerely,

Name and/or organization

CARTA MODELO

Fecha
Autoridad

P R E S E N T E

Nos dirigimos a usted para expresarle nuestra preocupación por el caso de amenaza directa a la vida, seguridad e integridad física de Ricardo Lagunes Gasca, defensor de derechos humanos integrantes del Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas el pasado 18 de septiembre, en el Ejido Jotolá, municipio de Chilón, Chiapas; y para exigirle atentamente adopte todas las medidas necesarias para garantizar su protección, la de los otros miembros del Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, y la de los grupos que acompañan.

El Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas ha venido realizando una importante labor a favor de la defensa y promoción de los derechos humanos de los pueblos indígenas en la zona. Ha denunciado el hostigamiento al que ha sido sujeto en los últimos meses y una campaña de desprestigio por parte de diversos actores y medios de comunicación, vulnerando su capacidad de seguir llevando a cabo su trabajo. Esta última agresión sienta un grave e inacceptable precedente que debe atenderse inmediatamente.

Por ello solicitamos:

PRIMERO.- tomar de inmediato medidas constantes y adecuadas de protección para Ricardo Lagunes Gasca y otros miembros del Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, de acuerdo con los deseos de los propios afectados;

SEGUNDO.-  llevar a cabo una investigación inmediata, independiente, exhaustiva e imparcial sobre el ataque contra Ricardo Lagunes Gasca, hacer públicos sus resultados y llevar a los responsables ante la justicia.

TERCERO.- poner fin a todo tipo de hostigamiento y desprestigio en contra de los defensores de derechos humanos en México.

CUARTO.- asegurar la aplicación de lo dispuesto por la Declaración sobre los defensores de los Derechos Humanos, adoptada por la Asamblea general de la ONU el 9 de diciembre de 1998, en particular en lo referente a la protección del Derecho de toda persona “individual o colectivamente, a promover y procurar la protección y realización de los derechos humanos y las libertades fundamentales en los planos nacional e internacional” (Art.1) y a “garantizar la protección [...] de toda persona, individual y colectivamente, frente a toda violencia, amenaza, represalia, discriminación, negativa de hecho o de derecho, presión o cualquier otra acción arbitraria resultante del ejercicio legítimo de los derechos mencionados en la [...] Declaración” (Art. 12.2);

Atentamente,

Nombre y/u organización

jfj


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