Sep
28
2010
Wednesday, October 6, 7PM
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington, Manhattan
Free, donations accepted and appreciated
Three years ago, the indigenous municipality of San Juan Copala, in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, declared itself autonomous from the government. Since that time they have faced severe repression, with community members being kidnapped, raped and assassinated by two state-backed paramilitary groups in an attempt to destroy the autonomous project. Join Friends of Brad Will along with guests from Movement for Justice in El Barrio, to learn more about San Juan Copala, including a short documentary and video-message from residents of the autonomous municipality.
Friends of Brad Will is a national network working for justice for Brad Will, an independent journalist murdered by state paramilitaries in Oaxaca in 2006, and to fighting U.S. military aid to Latin America. Movement for Justice in El Barrio is an East Harlem-based organization of immigrants and low-income people of color fighting gentrification in Manhattan and a member of the Other Campaign.
For more information contact Scott Campbell from Friends of Brad Will at soupshow@hotmail.com or 510-295-8843
Sep
27
2010
Oaxaca, September 24, 2010
Urgent Action
Fear for the physical and psychological well-being of Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno and his family, freed last February after being imprisoned for 14 months accused of the murder of Brad Will.
Today, at approximately 10:30am, Mr. Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno left his home, together with his wife, in the municipality of Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan. At 2:30pm, they returned to their house and noticed that the door was open, and upon entering saw that all their belongings were out of place and that the lock on the door had been broken.
After briefly looking over everything, they noticed that no items of value were missing, ruling out that what happened was a robbery. They also saw that their important documents had been gone through, as well as their personal photographs. While they are unsure if any of their personal documents or photos have been taken, they are awaiting the arrival of the expert’s report from the Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR), which will be added to case file PGR 723/2009, previously opened as a result of earlier threats and harassment.
Minutes after arriving at their home, they called the Federal Preventive Police (PFP), speaking with Guillermo Romero. The police arrived at 4:35pm to inspect the site. These actions are part of the preventive measures adopted by the Mexican state as a result of the petition for protective measures, number MC-92-10, which is currently pending before the Interamerican Human Rights Commission (CIDH), in response to the various aggressions that Mr. Martínez Moreno and his family have been subjected to.
We call to your attention that once free, Juan Manuel Martínez and his family have been subjected to various acts of intimidation that have caused them to change their residence three times since leaving jail (February 2010). These acts have been reported to the PGR and have brought about the appeal for protective measures. Continue Reading »
Sep
9
2010
By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
MEXICO CITY — A debate about legalizing marijuana and possibly other drugs — once a taboo suggestion — is percolating in Mexico, a nation exhausted by runaway violence and a deadly drug war.
Read the entire article here.
Don’t miss some great comments on this article on the McClatchy site either.
Aug
27
2010
Written by Emilio Godoy
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
(IPS) – The Jenpoj (”winds of fire) community radio station in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, which plays an important role in keeping the Mixe indigenous community informed, has had its equipment confiscated and has fought and won a court case to get a broadcast license.
“Things are still lagging, and freedom of expression continues to be violated,” Sócrates Vásquez, the director of the tiny 1000-watt radio station, which broadcasts from the Mixe indigenous community of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, told IPS. “They treat us as if we were the same thing as a university or commercial station.”
The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) in Mexico delivered a report Monday to special rapporteurs on freedom of expression Frank La Rue, of the United Nations, and Catalina Botero, of the Organisation of American States (OAS), outlining the difficulties faced by community stations.
The two carried out an Aug. 9-24 visit to Mexico to investigate violence against journalists. Eight reporters have been killed in Mexico so far this year, and seven media outlets have been attacked.
See more here.
Aug
11
2010
This seems a fair and useful assessment of the current run-up to the Mexican presidential elections and Obrador’s position in it. I wonder why Obrador’s position on the militarization of Mexico under Calderon was overlooked (I can’t believe he is ambivalent about this extreme transformation of Mexico).
Rob
López Obrador’s Alternative Plans for Mexico
Written by Daniel McCool
Thursday, 29 July 2010 00:00
Mexico’s poor performance both politically and economically over the past few years cannot only be blamed on external factors, according to López Obrador. He is critical of the neo-liberal model being followed by the National Action Party of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa and has an alternative plan which he presented to the nation on July 25th in the main plaza of Mexico City.
Whereas the political left in Mexico has apparently self destructed over the 2006 election results and differences over whether to recognize the “victory” of Felipe Calderon or not, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or “AMLO,” his nickname derived from his initial, is proclaiming a new alternative political program for the country, and apparently intends to participate in the 2012 presidential elections.
To read the entire article published at UpsideDownWorld, go here.
Jul
17
2010
Under the guise of ‘war on drugs’
“After receiving a diplomatic request from the US Embassy, on July 1 the Costa Rican legislative assembly approved a measure to grant unprecedented access to a U.S. military fleet in Costa Rica’s waters. The vessels will arrive for at least six months to assist counter-narcotics operations by Costa Rican authorities. Costa Rica has long been used a stopping point of entry for drugs coming from Colombia and Panama on their way further north.
. . .
Critics say that a massive foreign military landing at their shores not only directly violates that constitution as it stands today, but tears at the moral fabric of a nation which constitutionally abolished its own army in 1949.”
WOLA nor Adam Isaacson working with them add wishy-washy comments (not condemnation) adding to their terrible record defending the ‘drug war’.
To learn more about expanded U.S. militarization (and WOLA’s nonchalant response to it), read full July 15, 2010, article, “Fear, Suspicion as US Military En Route to Costa Rica”, by Joseph Shansky here.
Jun
21
2010
Quote from NY Times article by Marc Lacey:
“Activists working on cases connected to the drug war are particularly vulnerable because drug trafficking organizations, and their many accomplices in police forces and governments, show little tolerance for criticism.”
is this the government with which the US is seeking law-enforcement cooperation in the so-called ‘drug war’?! Besides the complete impracticability of the ‘war on drugs’ as a narco-trafficking reduction method, the continued provision of lethal aid by the US Government (including the Obama Administration which is increasing it) is deeply immoral given the systemic abuses, corruption and impunity Mexicans face at the hands of their own government officials.
Contact your elected officials (Representatives and Senators) to let them know you oppose the Merida Initiative (Plan Mexico) and that you demand that the murder of Brad Will be resolved.
The author should have mentioned Brad Will.
Human Rights Defenders Seek Protection in Mexico
By MARC LACEY, Published: June 19, 2010
MEXICO CITY — With a drug war raging around them and an unreliable judicial system in place, Mexico’s human rights activists have their hands full as they grapple with a growing new class of victims: themselves.
“I’m not going to be silenced,” insisted Silvia Vázquez Camacho, an activist from Tijuana, who is now in hiding after receiving a series of threats on her life in recent months. Despite her bold declaration, the fear in her voice was palpable, and she acknowledged that she had been forced to take a respite from her activism.
Mexico has a long history of cases in which the authorities, whether they wear badges or business suits, trample on the rights of the powerless. Acknowledging that, the government 20 years ago created a formal commission to officially identify violations and recommend — but not order — remedies. Citizens groups also rose up, however, to level the playing field and represent victims of wrongful arrests, torture, illegal land grabs and numerous other transgressions.
But the system is being severely tested by what human rights activists say is a concerted attack on their rights. Continue Reading »
Jun
18
2010
Written by Conn Hallinan
Thursday, 17 June 2010 12:10
Source: Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF) published at Upside Down World.
It is hard to find words that quite describe U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s performance at the June 7 meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Lima, Peru. Cluelessness certainly comes to mind, but leavened with a goodly dash of arrogance and historical amnesia.
Clinton leaned on the 35-member grouping “to move forward and welcome Honduras back into the inter-American community,” urged the OAS to step up the fight against drug trafficking, and scolded the organization for a “proliferation of priorities and mandates that dilute its efforts, drain its budget, and diminish its capacity.” She added that the OAS should “refocus” on such tasks as monitoring elections.
Where does one begin? Well, Honduras and elections for starters. Continue Reading »
Jun
4
2010
And Plan Mexico is modeled on Plan Colombia except there are no benchmarks to allow the public (or the GAO) to measure its failure. Great.
Here’s a quote:
“If Colombians are victims of this regime, indeed of this State, one has to ask who the beneficiaries are. The answer has to be sought. This is an International Criminal Legal issue. Amongst many other facts that require volumes to be exposed, Colombia is the largest recipient of US military aid and cooperation in the continent. The Colombian regime is the closest ally of transnational corporate interests (pharmaceutical, tourism, mining, oil, agribusiness, food, energy, biopiracy, infrastructure projects such as dams, the arms trade and almost anyone involved in anything and everything from the legal and illegal organized global crime networks). Through FTAs, the Colombian regime has delivered national sovereignty, freedoms, resources, labour, nature and more to foreign interests at an intolerable expense for Colombians. Investors are attracted to put money into the Colombian economy for guaranteed profit in exchange for absolutely nothing for the Colombian population: No jobs, no transfer of technologies, no profit for the Colombian economy. The Colombian criminal regime promised Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on November 21 2008, to deliver 50% of Colombian territory to mining and other transnational corporate interests [iii]. Every crime of the Colombian State revolves around corporate profit.”
May
24
2010
Mexican President Comes to Washington: What will come of President Calderøn’s visit to Washington?
by COHA Research Associates Elizabeth Sahner, Carl Patchen, & Kyle Tana along with Research Fellow Dan Boscov-Ellen
• It no longer is just Mexico’s drug war as violence and corruption begins to engulf the U.S.
• No prospect that the U.S. will adequately fund the anti-drug war.
• Drug battle places a crushing strain on Mexican economy.
• If and when barriers to Mexico’s ground transports to the U.S. are entirely lifted, a crisis arising from the smuggling of drugs and migrants into the U.S. is sure to follow.
more here.
May
17
2010
By MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press Writer Martha Mendoza, Associated Press Writer – Fri May 14, 12:02 am ET
MEXICO CITY – After 40 years, the United States’ war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread. Continue Reading »
May
2
2010
On March 24, 2010, approximately one month after he was released, Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno sat down with Friends of Brad Will member Mark Read in Oaxaca for a twenty-minute interview. This is the second half of that interview, in which he addresses the friends and family of Brad Will. Please take a look, share it with others and take action on his behalf.
Apr
29
2010
Friday, April 30
1 PM
Mexican Consulate
27 East 39th Street (btwn Madison and Park Aves.), NYC
LIVE PRESENTATION OF THE DISAPPEARED
JUSTICE FOR MURDERED COMRADES BETY CARIÑO AND JYRI JAAKKOLA
END THE ATTACKS AND SIEGE ON THE AUTONOMOUS MUNICIPALITY OF SAN JUAN COPALA
On Tuesday, April 27, an solidarity caravan made up of Oaxacan civil society organizations and international solidarity activists was ambushed by state-backed paramilitaries. They were bringing much-needed supplies and attempting to break the siege of San Juan Copala, an autonomous Triqui community encircled and accosted by the same paramilitaries. Around 15 armed men from the paramilitary organization UBISORT ambushed the convoy, killing Bety Cariño, director of the Center of Community Support Working Together (CACTUS), and Jyri Jaakkola, an international solidarity observer from Finland.
Two reporters accompanying the caravan, Érika Ramírez and David Cilia, remain disappeared. Just before the ambush, two Triqui women from San Juan Copala were disappeared by UBISORT. At the scene, several surviving caravan members received death threats from UBISORT.
Join us in standing in solidarity with the autonomous project of San Juan Copala, to demand justice for Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola, and that the disappeared are returned alive, immediately.
For more information see El Enemigo Común: http://elenemigocomun.net.
Called for by Friends of Brad Will. For more information, contact Scott Campbell, soupshow@hotmail.com.
Tags: ambush, APPO, bety carino, jyri jaakkola, Mexican-Consulate, mexico, nyc, oaxaca, paramilitaries, Protest, san juan copala, ubisort | 
Comments (1)
Comments (1) Apr
28
2010
Reposted from Angry White Kid:
Beatríz Alberta Cariño – Rest in Peace (source)
Jyri Jaakkola – Rest in Peace (source)
UPDATE 8PM: The two individuals whose deaths have been confirmed are Beatríz Alberta Cariño, the director of CACTUS and member of the Southeast Mexican Indigenous Community Radios Network, and Jyri Jaakkola, an international solidarity observer from Finland.
Four people have been confirmed disappeared: David Venegas Reyes and Noe Bautista Jimenez, from VOCAL, and Érika Ramírez and David Cilia, reporters from Contralínea.
Other information: Protests have been held in the city of Oaxaca, where individuals blockaded a major highway with commandeered buses, and Mexico City. Numerous organizations and collectives have denounced the attack. A survivor of the attack held a press conference earlier today, where, as Kristin Bricker notes, she stated the paramilitaries identified themselves as UBISORT and said they have the governor’s support. Contralínea reports that the State Investigation Agency did not look for the disappeared today. Photos of the ambushed vehicles can be seen here. Here is an article written by a friend of Bety Cariño. Here is an article about Jyri Jaakkola before he left for Mexico.
If people have more updates or news, please leave a comment.
———————–
[See previous entry for more info on the paramilitary ambush of the solidarity caravan in Oaxaca]
My translation of the VOCAL communique. Along with the three disappeared people mentioned, the the two reporters from Contralínea remain disappeared. According to Oaxaca en Pie de Lucha, it was the press vehicle which was attacked in which Beatriz and Tyri (some say Yuri) were riding. They also mention a fourth disappeared, an international whose name is not known. That would bring the disappeared to at least six, with many still unaccounted for.
————-
Oaxaca: Paramilitary attack leaves two dead and three disappeared
Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca
April 27, 2010
To the media
To the people of Mexico
To the people of the world
To the people of Oaxaca
Armed attack against the Caravan of Support and Solidarity with the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca
CONTEXT:
Yesterday the realization of this caravan to the Triqui region, inside of our state of Oaxaca, was announced to the media. In this caravan there are comrades from the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO), Section 22 of the teachers’ union, Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy and Freedom (VOCAL), CACTUS, members of MULTI (Independent Triqui Movement of Unification and Struggle), as well as international observer comrades.
As was already announced, the caravan left today, April 27, 2010, at approximately 11 AM from the city of Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca, with the goal of breaking the siege that the Autonomous Triqui Community finds itself in as a result of state and paramilitary repression against the process of autonomy which it is building inside this community. Violent paramilitary attacks have occurred at different moments during the autonomous process of San Juan Copala and have been directed by the paramilitary organization called UBISORT (Union for Social Well-Being in the Triqui Region) which in reality is presided over by Rufino Juárez Hernández and the MULT (Triqui Movement of Unification and Struggle Movement.)
Before the departure of the caravan, the autonomous president of San Juan Copala, Jesús Martínez Flores, placed responsibility for any attack on Evencio Nicolás Martínez, Oaxaca State Attorney General, Jorge Franco Vargas “El Chucky”, State Interior Minister, and Carlos Martínez, local PRI candidate for the state congress. Also, he urged UBISORT and MULT to behave responsibly and with earnestness towards the peace negotiations for the Triqui people.
Continue Reading »
Apr
27
2010
Paramilitaries Attack Caravan Headed to Oaxacan Autonomous Town, 15 Wounded, 1 Disappeared
*Phone Calls to Governor Urged So That He Orders State Police to Rescue the Wounded*
A solidarity caravan headed to the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, was attacked as it passed through La Sabana, a town controlled by UBISORT, a paramilitary organization that is allied with the ruling Institutional Revolution Party. One young woman managed to make it to a hospital where she is being treated. She reports that there are 15 wounded people. Alberta Cariño, the director of the community radio organization CACTUS, is reported as disappeared. No one saw what happened to her, but she is among neither the wounded nor the uninjured.
The Puebla-based human rights organization Nodo de Derechos Humanos reports that the Oaxacan State Police who are in the area refuse to rescue the wounded “because they don’t have orders to do so from the State.”
San Juan Copala declared itself autonomous following the 2006 uprising in Oaxaca, and the autonomous government declared itself adherent to the Zapatistas’ Other Campaign. The autonomous municipality has been the target of paramilitary violence ever since. Countless San Juan Copala residents have fallen victim to paramilitary violence. The most prominent case was the
execution of two young Triqui radio journalists.
This past November, paramilitaries opened fire on San Juan Copala’s town hall during a caravan that was traveling to San Juan Copala from San Salvador Atenco. UBISORT had put up a highway blockade to stop the caravan, which was comprised of People’s Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT) members. While the FPDT was trapped outside the town, paramilitaries attacked the town hall. They shot four children, killing one of them.
The official action alert from the Nodo de Derechos Humanos is reposted below. They request that people call Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz to demand that he orders the State Police to rescue the wounded. Here’s a quick line in Spanish: “Que manden la policia estatal a rescatar los heridos en San Juan Copala.” It means, “They need to send the state police to rescue the wounded in San Juan Copala.”
****
*URGENT:* The solidarity caravan that was en route to the Autonomous Municipality San Juan Copala in the Triqui region, which was made up of international observers, members of CACTUS, VOCAL, Section 22 of the teachers union, the the APPO, was attacked with firearms in the La Sabana community, which is controled by the organization Unidad de Bienestar Social de la Region Triqui (UBISORT). This organization is impeding the rescue of the wounded. Reports indicate that there are at least 15 wounded, it is unknown if there are any deaths. It is reported that Alberta Cariño, director of CACTUS, is disappeared. We fear that this action constitutes a provocation that could be used to justify the militarization of the Triqui region.
*Requested Action*
Call the Government of Oaxaca and demand that the necessary conditions be established so that the State Police and rescue teams can rescue them and provide them with medical attention.
Governor of Oaxaca
*Ulises Ruiz Ortiz*
Tel. +52 951 5015000 ext. 13005
Fax. +52 951 5015000 ext. 13018
–
Kristin Bricker
Freelance journalist / periodista freelance
http://mywordismyweapon.blogspot.com
Apr
12
2010
Friday, April 23
6:30 PM
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street, between Aves. B and C, NYC
Free – donations gratefully accepted
Join Friends of Brad Will for a public talk, discussion, video screening and photo exhibit with:
John Ross, Mexico City-based author, poet and rebel journalist. John will discuss the manipulation of the case of Brad Will in U.S.- Mexico relations, the broader attacks against journalists in Mexico, and the lethal U.S. ‘drug war’ aid package to Mexico known as Plan Mexico.
Mark Read, from Friends of Brad Will. Mark will discuss his March trip to Oaxaca, where he met with Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno, the Oaxacan activist falsely charged for the murder of Brad Will, and will screen footage of his interview with him.
Hinrich Schultze, Hamburg, Germany-based photographer with the Ya Basta Zapatista Solidarity Network and Cafe Libertad. Hinrich was with Brad in Oaxaca in 2006 and will be displaying photos of the 2006 protests and street art. The photo exhibit will be opening Tuesday, April 20 at 8pm and run through Friday evening of April 23.
Brad Will was an Indymedia journalist killed by government paramilitaries in the Mexican state of Oaxaca in 2006, while documenting a teachers’ strike and popular uprising against corruption and impunity and for democratic change.
For more information contact Scott Campbell: soupshow@hotmail.com.
Note: At the exhibit opening on Tuesday, April 20, people can join the Sixth Street Community Center for dinner at Organic Soul Café which serves from 6:30pm – 9:30pm. Veggie dinners are $11 and with wild Alaskan salmon option $15.
Mar
23
2010
Thanks to Rights Action for spreading the word on this.
FORMER RCMP OFFICERS PREPARE MISLEADING REPORT CONCERNING KILLING OF AMERICAN JOURNALIST, BRAD WILL, IN OAXACA, MEXICO
MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: www.friendsofbradwill.org; Scott Campbell: soupshow@hotmail.com
* * *
On October 27, 2006, Brad Will, an independent journalist from the U.S., was shot and killed while documenting a protest in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.
Since June of 2006, there had been a massive popular mobilization in Oaxaca, calling for democratic change and rallying against corruption, impunity and poverty in a state long dominated by the PRI (Institutional Party of the Revolution) headed by the regime of Ulises Ruiz.
In response to the people’s pro-democracy movement, the state and federal governments unleashed a wave of repression against the movement, killing at least 26 people and violating the human rights of hundreds of others. Brad Will was one of those 26 killed.
One year later, in 2007, the Bush Administration announced a three-year international agreement known as the Mérida Initiative, authorizing the disbursement of $1.4 billion to Mexico, Central American countries and the Dominican Republic, with the vast majority of funds going to Mexico. A major focus of the Merida Initiative was to be the so-called “war on drugs”.
Original release of the funds was accompanied by a U.S. State Department call for a “thorough, credible and transparent investigation” into Brad Will’s murder. While those who shot him have been clearly identified by eyewitnesses as police and local PRI party officials, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office (PGR) charged pro-democracy protester Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno for Brad’s murder in 2008. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Physicians for Human Rights, Reporters Without Borders, and the Committee to Protect Journalists, as well as the Mexican government’s own National Human Rights Commission and the Will family, vigorously disputed the Attorney General’s claims.
Mar
17
2010
Friends of Brad Will Action Alert
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Please read, take action, and spread the word!
As you may know, on February 18, 2010, Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno – the Oaxacan social activist falsely accused of the 2006 murder of Indymedia reporter Brad Will – was released after 16 months in prison. This is an important victory, but Martínez Moreno, his family, and other activists remain at risk.
Since his release, Martínez Moreno and his family have been subjected to constant harassment. They have received death threats and the government-linked paramilitaries which eyewitnesses and photographic evidence tie to the murder of Brad Will have frequently been seen standing outside the Martínez Moreno home.
For fear of being killed or rearrested, Martínez Moreno has gone into hiding. There is also fear that the Attorney General may attempt to scapegoat other members of the social movement for Will’s murder.
Please join us in demanding the harassment and threats against Martínez Moreno and his family cease and that those truly responsible for the murder of Brad Will be brought to justice.
Please send the below sample letter in Spanish – or your own – to the email addresses provided.
Feb
25
2010
By Monica Campbell/Guest Blogger
For those following the case of Bradley Roland Will, left, a U.S. activist-journalist killed while reporting on a protest movement in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca in 2006, a long wait ended on February 18. After 16 months in prison, Juan Manuel Martínez, a grassroots activist from an impoverished neighborhood in Oaxaca, left his cell after a federal appeals tribunal exonerated him of murdering Will.
Speaking on the phone from his home in Oaxaca, Martínez said: “It was easier to implicate somebody like me than the real killers.”
Feb
23
2010
Juan Manuel Martinez, the political activist wrongly accused of killing US video journalist Brad Will, has been released. Although this is welcome news, his accusation and detention constitute a miscarriage of justice that has ensured that the real perpetrator of Brad Will’s killing is still at large.
Feb
19
2010
By ELISABETH MALKIN
Published: February 18, 2010
MEXICO CITY — The man accused of killing a New York City journalist as he videotaped street clashes in Oaxaca in 2006 was released from jail on Thursday after an appeals tribunal declared that there was no evidence against him.
The ruling was congruent with what the victim’s family and human rights groups have long asserted, that the journalist, Bradley Roland Will, was not shot at close range by an antigovernment protester as the government has maintained.
But the decision now leaves the case open, more than three years after Mr. Will was shot during unrest between the Oaxaca State government and a coalition of unions and social groups.
“This was a distraction,” said Kathy Will, Mr. Will’s mother, from her home outside Milwaukee. “What can you say? Taking an innocent person that you have no evidence against. Now what happens?”
Feb
18
2010
18 February 2010
AI Index: PRE01/060/2010
Amnesty International today has urged an investigation into the death of US video journalist Brad Will after the political activist wrongly accused of the killing was released.
The organization welcomed the release of Juan Manuel Martinez after he won an appeal. It also demanded an investigation into the abuses committed by the security forces during violent political protests in the Mexican state of Oaxaca in 2006 when Brad Will and at least 17 others, most of them political activists, were killed.
“This release was long overdue,” said Kerrie Howard, Americas Deputy Director at Amnesty International. “Juan Manuel has been used as a scapegoat by the Mexican authorities to claim there has been progress in the investigation around Brad Will’s death.“
A Mexican Federal Court today ordered the release of Juan Manuel Martinez due to lack of evidence. He had been wrongly detained since 2008. Witnesses to Brad Will’s killing have also been falsely implicated and face criminal prosecution.
Amnesty International believes the arrest was the result of a deeply flawed investigation by the Office of the Federal Attorney General (PGR). It insisted Brad Will was shot at close range even though independent forensic tests showed the shot came from a distance.
The need to resolve the case became paramount after the US Congress made it a condition for the release of some of the funding to the Merida Initiative – a major regional bi-lateral security co-operation and assistance programme.
“The scape-goating of Juan Manuel amounts to a serious misuse of the criminal justice system which prevented a proper investigation and ensured the real perpetrator of Brad Will’s killing is still at large,” said Kerrie Howard. “Juan Manuel’s safety must be guaranteed and he must receive appropriate compensation for the unnecessary suffering he has experienced as a result of his wrongful imprisonment by the authorities.”
No one has been brought to justice for any of the killings that took place during the Oaxaca protests in 2006. The PGR looked into seven of these cases, but in February 2008, it informed the families of the victims that the investigations were to be shelved on grounds of lack of evidence.
The family of Brad Will, Physicians for Human Rights, and the National Human Rights Commission have all highlighted the flaws in the PGR investigation, including the use of incorrect forensic evidence, and the failure to conduct a full and impartial investigation.
Background Information
Juan Manuel Martinez was a sympathizer of the Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca (APPO) Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, an umbrella organization which led political protests in Oaxaca in 2006, and supported an opposition party during municipal elections in Santa Lucia del Camino, near Oaxaca City, in 2007.
US video journalist Brad Will was filming a confrontation between protesters and local police when he was shot.
Jan
31
2010
Press Release Oaxaca January 30, 2010
On Thursday January 28, at around 9 p.m. Andrea Caraballo, Guadalupe Rodriguez Lopez, James Wells and Jennifer Lawhorne were eating ice cream in the zocalo of Oaxaca. At that time, one of us recognized the face of the governor of Oaxaca who was about nine feet away from us. As a friend of Brad Will, a U.S. journalist who was killed in Oaxaca in 2006, one of us took advantage of the governor’s presence to ask him about the case of Mr. Will, which to this day remains unresolved. We didn’t receive a response from the governor who continued walking and we continued strolling in the zocalo with our ice creams. Five minutes later, between six and eight police agents, some in official uniform and others dressed in plainclothes, surrounded us, demanding to see our identifications and made us walk with them to a municipal police truck. While the police forced us to get into the back of the truck, we asked them why they were taking us away and to where they were going to take us. The police refused to give us any information. We were actually very afraid and worried for our safety.
After traveling for half an hour, we arrived at the police headquarters of Santa Maria Coyotepec, located outside of the Oaxaca city limits.. Once we entered, the police took photographs of us and asked us questions. We demanded the presence of an attorney, which was denied by the police officials. We spent an hour there surrounded by police, faces covered with ski masks, who humiliated and threatened us. Later, the police put us once again in the police truck and without telling us to where we were going, we left the headquarters. The truck stopped about half a block away from the state General Procuradaria of Justice (PGJO in its letters in Spanish), the police ordered us to leave our belongings in the darkness of the street and when we refused to do that, they insisted by threatening us for half an hour while recording us with video. After entering the offices of the PGJO, the police ordered us to leave our belongings with them and that we make a declaration one by one without the presence of an attorney. We remained firm that we weren’t going to do anything until our attorney arrived.
After waiting for more than an hour, we were taken to a room where we supposedly were going to make a call to our lawyer. While in the room, a police officer read to us a document explaining our charges and to our surprise we were accused of scuffling and causing harm to two police agents. In that document, our arrest was ordered and without making the call to our lawyer, we were pushed and dragged out of the room, while twisting the wrist of one of us. That’s how we were taken to the jail cells at 12:30 in the morning. At 1:30, we were allowed to see a lawyer, Jesus Alfredo Lopez Garcia, who we agreed to be our legal representative. From then on we knew that were going to spend the night in jail. Throughout the night, the police continued to intimidate us, asking us why we were there. We continued to state that we didn’t do anything to cause our incarceration because we never committed any crime. Confused, we did our best to sleep on the cold jail floor.
The next day, Friday January 29, we learned that the gravity of charges that had been filed against us had increased. One of us was taken to make a statement when she learned that we were being accused of assaulting two police officers and damaging a police radio valued at about $3000 (USD). We continued to demand our right to not make a statement. At around 4 p.m., our attorney informed us that for a lack of evidence, we were going to be set free without charges and without having to pay bail, under the provision of passing through a review with officials from National Immigration Institute. Upon arrival at the federal immigration offices located in the center of the city, we presented our passports and visas and shortly we were allowed to walk free.
After learning about the situation, the U.S. consul, Mark Leyes, invited us to visit him at his office the same evening and told us that he was sorry for what had happened to us. We would like to thank the attorney Jesus Alfredo Lopez Garcia from the Mexican Protectorate for Human Rights, our friends and family members for all of their support and care.
Andrea Caraballo, Guadalupe Rodriguez Lopez Jennifer Lawhorne and Jimmy Wells
http://unamalanocheenoaxaca.blogspot.com
Jan
21
2010
The last update on here about Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno, pictured above, was back in August 2009, when Mexico’s Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) released a report it claimed was by the RCMP supporting their case against him.
For those who don’t remember, Juan Manuel is a member of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca who is being scapegoated for the October 27, 2006, murder of Indymedia journalist Brad Will, actually carried out by paramilitaries linked to the governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. He has been in jail since September 2008.
In exciting news, on December 30, 2009, a state court ordered Juan Manuel released within ten business days for lack of evidence, citing that the testimonies against him had “lost all probative value.” Juan Manuel was to be released on January 16, barring an appeal by the PGR.
Everyone was skeptical, as the PGR has been pathologically pursuing its sham of a case against Juan Manuel for more than a year. Yet, things looked even brighter when the PGR communicated to Juan Manuel’s family that they would not be appealing the ruling.
And then, of course, on January 15, just before time ran out to appeal, the sick bastards at the PGR filed an appeal against his release. The case now must go to the Supreme Court, which will take several months at least, and all the while Juan Manuel remains in prison.
Tags: APPO, brad will, impunity, injustice, Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno, mexico, oaxaca, PGR, social movements |
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Comments (0) Jan
15
2010
from Free Speech Radio News
There’s a new development in the case of Brad Will, the Indymedia reporter fatally shot more than 3 years ago during an anti-government uprising in Oaxaca, Mexico. The man held without bail on charges of murdering Will may be released as early as tonight. Shannon Young reports from Oaxaca City.
Nov
22
2009
By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News
November 21, 2009
The article describes how President Obama’s administration is in discussions with his right-wing PAN counterpart, Mexican President Calderon, to extend lethal aid package to Mexico with a new emphasis on corruption. Of course, this worked so clearly not the outcome of 11 years of support for rule of law under Plan Colombia that many are rightly skeptical. It certainly does not instill confidence that the Democratic Congress-drafted legislation for Plan Mexico did not include any benchmarks to determine if the 100s of millions of taxpayer dollars were achieving their goals. Again, perhaps, this is because Plan Colombia included such benchmarks which allowed the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) to determine it had failed.
Nov
17
2009
By Monica Wooters / Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP)
November 17, 2009
Article excerpts:
Ulises Ruiz Ortiz
“After two days of deliberations, on Oct. 14 the Mexican Supreme Court made public its decision that Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (governor of the state of Oaxaca) is culpable for the human rights violations that occurred in Oaxaca as a result of teacher protests and political and social unrest in May 2006-January 2007 and July of 2008.”
On the Merida Intitiative
“This past summer, the U.S. State Department ignored ample evidence provided by Mexican and U.S. human rights organizations that the Mexican government has committed numerous human rights violations in Oaxaca and in the drug war, and authorized the release of remaining funds to the same security forces accused of perpetrating the violations. In addition, the impact that the drug war is having on social movements has also been largely ignored as more and more members of social movements are targeted with false claims of organized criminal activity that has the insidious result of criminalizing social protest throughout Mexico. The decision of the Mexican Supreme Court is yet another confirmation of the U.S. government’s deliberate refusal to recognize the reality of the human rights situation in Mexico.”
Oct
23
2009
Amnesty International calls on the Mexican authorities to review the investigation into Brad Will’s killing.
Ocober 23, 2009
“The tragedy and injustice of Brad Will’s death and Juan Manuel Martínez’s unfounded prosecution are part of the failure to investigate and hold to account those responsible for widespread human rights violations committed in Oaxaca in 2006 and 2007.”
“It is time for the killing of Brad Will to be impartially investigated and prosecuted on the basis of reliable evidence and according to international fair trial standards.”
Sep
1
2009
From: Reporters Without Borders
OAXACA NEWSPAPER EDITOR GOES INTO HIDING AFTER SHOOTING ATTACK ON HOME
Mexico, September 1, 2009
The police and judicial authorities investigating a shooting attack on the home of Guillermo Soto Bejarano, the regional weekly Nuevo Milenio’s editor and columnist, on 30 August in Salina Cruz (in the southern state of Oaxaca) should work on the assumption that it was linked to his journalist activities, Reporters Without Borders said today.
The press freedom organisation also urged the authorities to provide protection for Soto and his family, who left their home after the attack.
“Fortunately there were no victims, but this was the second attack in a short space of time on Soto and his newspaper, which also came under fire,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The lack of any reaction from the Salina Cruz authorities is incomprehensible. We hope the federal justice ministry office in the city of Oaxaca will carry out an appropriate investigation. The safety of Soto and his family must be guaranteed so that he can continue working.”
