Guerrero: National and international organizations demand an investigation into the killing of the two human rights defenders March 2, 2009

Social organizations from all over the country are alarmed and have condemned the killing of human rights defenders Raúl Lucas Lucía and Manuel Ponce Rosas, members of the Organization for the Future of the Mixteco People in Ayutla, Guererro. They demand a thorough and impartial investigation to bring the guilty to justice and to prevent future crimes.

• Absent and irresponsible attitudes by state authorities led to the failure to protect the physical safety and the lives of the tortured and murdered human rights defenders.
• 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.
• The killing took place within a context of hostility and persecution of social movements in Guererro, in which state authorities are complicit; this must stop immediately.
• These events show the inability of the state to guarantee the safety and the lives of activists and human rights defenders in Guerrero and Mexico as a whole.

On February 13, three armed men, indentifying themselves as ministerial police, abducted Raúl Lucas Lucía and Manuel Ponce Rosas at a public event. Hours later, Guadalupe Castro Morales, the wife of Raúl Lucas, received a telephone call from the cell phone of Manuel Ponce. The speaker’s threat was direct: “Don’t fuck around, be quiet or we will hurt your husband. This is what happens when you defend Indians”. At that time she denounced the forced disappearance, even though no authorities would acknowledge the forced detention.

Immediately after these events, many organizations from the civil society expressed their concern for the physical and psychological safety of Raúl and Manuel. They asked for precautionary measures to be taken, demanding that the defenders be presented alive. Sadly, Friday February 20, the bodies of the two indigenous mixtecos were found in Las Cazuelas, municipality of Tecoanapa, in the Costa Chica of Guerrero. The two activists were brutally tortured. Raúl Lucas died of a shot to the head and Manuel Ponce died of head trauma.

Raúl was president and Manuel was secretary of the Organization for the Future of the Mixteco People, which collaborated on projects with the Organization of the Indigenous Tlapaneco People (OPIM) promoting development in the communities of the region. The two organizations have denounced cases of illegal searches, detentions, and illegal interrogations on the part of members of the Mexican Army.

The killing occurred in an atmosphere of general hostility. The Organization of the Indigenous Tlapaneco People relies on precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR) because its members have been subjected to threats, intimidations, and hostilities by federal authorities for denouncing human rights violations. Just four days ago, during a visit to the mountains of Guerrero, a delegation of the UN High Commission for Human Rights recommended that crimes against human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers be investigated and processed judicially in an effective manner, and that those responsible be punished.

The disappearance and execution of Raúl Lucas Lucía and Manuel Ponce Rosas is particularly serious because of their position as human rights defenders, for the lack of interest and the inefficiency of the State to show that they were alive after their forced disappearance was denounced, and because the case could set a disastrous precedent in which concrete actions are not taken in order to prevent grave violations like this in the immediate future.

In light of this, the organizations that sign this communiqué demand that the State begin using all necessary measures to investigate, identify, and punish those responsible for these executions. We request, in addition, that they refrain from making statements and pronouncements until the investigation of the murders has been completed. The use of statements and expressions downplaying the events, on the part of the authorities leads to an environment of uncertainty and impunity and could lead to a growing progression of violence against human rights defenders. The fact that the authorities make value judgments could affect the course of the investigation, the right to judicial process, and the good image and reputation of those affected and their families. Only if the circumstances of the event are brought to light, and those responsible are punished through legal processes, then the State will have provided the victims families with the truth of what happened. Only if the investigation is conducted in an impartial and fair manner to punish those responsible, will the people affected and the society as a whole regain confidence in the state institutions.

By demanding a swift response by the Federal and State authorities in accordance with the seriousness of the events, we show our concern for the conditions and the security of organizations of the civil society, social movements, and indigenous peoples in the state of Guerrero. In particular, we express concern for the members of the Organization for the Future of the Mixteco People (OFPM), and the members of the Organization of the Indigenous Tlapaneco Peoples (OPIM). Consequently we demand that the Mexican State fully comply with the recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Council made during the Universal Periodic Review on February 10:

• Increase the effectiveness of the measures to protect human rights defenders.
• Recognize publically the important role that human rights defenders and NGOs play in the protection of human rights in Mexico.
• Guarantee that crimes against human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers are investigated effectively and that those responsible are punished.
•  Widen federal entities, the categorization of the crime of forced disappearance, and the process of compensation for the victims and their families.
• Continue the reforms dealing with Public Security and the Criminal Judicial Process, and guarantee that violations of human rights committed by security forces be investigated, those responsible brought to justice, and the victims are compensated.
• Reform the Code of Military Justice in order to adapt it to international human rights obligations.
• Recognize the central importance of human rights in improving the public security situation.

Complying fully with these recommendations is the first indispensable step in rebuilding society’s confidence in the capability of these institutions to provide for the security and well-being of the people. Meanwhile, we who make this demand unite with the widows, relatives, family, and friends of Raúl Lucas and Manuel Ponce in order to demand that the state and federal government immediately begin an exhaustive and impartial investigation to reveal the truth behind the killing and bring those responsible to justice.

Signatures:

Mexican Organizations

1. Artículo XIX
2. Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad
3. DECA-Equipo Pueblo, A. C.
4. Iniciativa Ciudadana para la Promoción de la Cultura del Diálogo, A.C.
5. Academia Mexicana de Derechos Humanos
6. Alianza Cívica
7. Alianza Cívica, A.C.
8. Asamblea de Migrantes Indígenas de la Ciudad de México
9. Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos A.C. (ASILEGAL)
10. Cencos (Centro de Nacional de Comunicación Social)
11. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Francisco de Vitoria O.P.“ A.C.,
12. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez”, A.C.
13. Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas A.C.,
14. Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos A.C.
15. Comité de Derechos Humanos Ajusco
16. Consejo Ciudadano del Premio Nacional de Periodismo, A. C.
17. El Caracol A.C.
18. El Instituto para la Seguridad y la Democracia (Insyde),
19. ENLACE Comunicación y Capacitación
20. Fundar Centro de Análisis e Investigación,
21. GESOC, Gestión Social y Cooperación, A.C.
22. Iniciativas para la Identidad y la Inclusión, A.C.
23. La Coalición Internacional para el Hábitat-Oficina para América Latina (HIC-AL)
24. Organización Indígena Fotzi ñaño
25. Promotores de la Autogestion para el Desarrollo Social (PADS)
26. Salud Integral para la Mujer, A. C. (SIPAM)
27. Sonora Ciudadana, A.C.
28. Unión de Pueblos de la Region Oriente de Coyuca de Benitez y Poniente de Acapulco
29. Universidad Campesina del Sur, AC

Mexican networks

1. Colectivo por la Transparencia

Organizations in other countries

1. El Movimiento Manuela Ramos. Perú.
2. Estudio para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer – DEMUS, Perú;
3. Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil por la Paz de Colombia, APSCP-Colombia
4. Asociación de Mujeres Flor de Piedra - San Salvador,
5. Asociación Humanidad Libre – Arequipa, Perú; 
6. Centro de Derechos de Mujeres – Tegucigalpa, Honduras
7. Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos. Perú
8. Federación de Mujeres de Ica-Perú
9. Los 16 capítulos del CLADEM: CLADEM Argentina; CLADEM Bolivia; CLADEM Brasil; CLADEM Chile; CLADEM Colombia; CLADEM Ecuador; CLADEM El Salvador; El Salvador; CLADEM Guatemala ; CLADEM Honduras; CLADEM México CLADEM Panamá; CLADEM Paraguay;  CLADEM Perú; CLADEM Puerto Rico; CLADEM Rep. Dominicana;  CLADEM Uruguay
10. Milena Radio. Perú.

International Organizations

1. Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (CEJIL),
2. Comité de América Latina y del Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos la Mujer. CLADEM Regional.
3. La Coalición Internacional para el Hábitat-Oficina para América Latina (HIC-AL)

Individuals

1. Oscar Guerra Ford. México.
2. Oscar Banda González. México.
3. Norma Enríquez Riascos. Colombia.
4. Juan Pablo Guerrero Amparán, México.
5. Helena Hofbauer. México.
6. Guadalupe Ramos. México.
7. Andrea Medina Rosas México
8. Andrea De La Barrera México
9. Alejandra Rios Cazares. México.