The Friends of Brad Will attended the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere Oversight Hearing Overview of U.S. Policy Toward Latin America on March 1st to press for the appropriate investigation of the murder of US journalist Brad Will in Oaxaca, Mexico in October of 2006. The Friends of Brad Will is a national network working with the Will family for justice and accountability in his murder, and for an end to the impunity of human rights
violations in Oaxaca, Mexico.

March 2nd, 2007

Photos at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/87705136@N00/

Contact: Robert Jereski mutualaid at earthlink dot net
www.friendsofbradwill.org

Advocates with FoBW met with all of the members of the influential Sub-Committee that guides American policy in Central and Latin America, and spoke directly to the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of State, Thomas A. Shannon, Jr..

The Sub Committee was a wide ranging question and answer session with a great deal of focus on US policy and financial leverage to end the impunity of human rights abuses throughout the region.

Congress Member Gregory Meeks, (Dem, Brooklyn) indicated the presence of Friends of Brad Will from New York City in the capacity crowd and used his limited time to ask the Assistant Secretary directly about the status of the investigation into the murder of Brad Will. Mr. Shannon indicated that he had just spoken with representatives from FoBW and unfortunatley did not
have current information, but committed to getting back to the Congress Member and the Sub Committee as well as FoBW.

This was an important watershed in the ongoing effort to hold accountable the responsible parties for the murder of US journalist and activist Brad Will, and to draw further attention to the ongoing situation in Oaxaca, Mexico that Mr. Will was reprting on.

Friends of Brad Will advocate, Robert Jereski stated, “We are encouraged by our reception on Capital Hill and the great interest in the Brad Will case, following the recent visit by the Will family here. It is imperative that we build on this momentum and continue to contact our Representatives in Washington DC, Congress members and Senators alike, from both sides of the
aisle.”

Another Friends of Brad Will advocate from New York City, Harry Bubbins noted, “Justice is sometimes not swift. Now we have a unique opening to shine the spotlight from Washington DC to Oaxaca, Mexico, which is what Brad was interested in.” Bubbins encouraged the national network to stay focused on Brad’s case and to reach out to their Washington DC elected officials.

Friends of Brad Will also met with human rights activists from a variety of organizations all involved in pressing for justice in the Oaxaca, Mexcio region.

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Background Weblink: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19564

As Reporters without Borders has noted, two officials who had been arrested in relation to the murder were released, despite witness accounts and other evidence that they fired in Will’s direction.

“The findings of the autopsies carried out on Will were rigged by the authorities in order to blame his murder on activists … whose protests Will was covering,” Reporters Without Borders said.

1) SAVE THE DATE!
Next NYC Oaxaca Solidarity Network General Meeting
Sunday, January 7th, 6pm – 8:pm
St. Marks Church, 10th St and 2nd Ave

*********

2) DEC 14 MTG — KEY DECISIONS RECAP

___We will organize NYC actions on December 22, in response to the
Zapatista call for global solidarity in support of Oaxaca that day.

December 22
4:30pm — Mexican Consulate, Rally then March to Rockefeller Plaza
27 E. 39th St btw Park and Avenue of the Americas

6:00pm — Rockefeller Plaza, Rally and Public Outreach/Education
W. 50th btw 5th and 6th Aves

___We’ll have a Dec 22nd Action Planning Meeting and Art/Props Making on
Saturday, December 16th (tomorrow)

2:00-3:00pm Action Planning Meeting
3:00-7:00pm Arts/Prop Making

Both at The Change You Want To See Gallery
84 Havemeyer St at Metropolitan Ave in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

___We’ll have another working meeting to make final plans and make more
visuals – signs, props, etc. on Thursday, December 21st at Hunter College

7:30-9:30pm — Dec 22 Planning and Art-making
Hunter College, 69th St btw Lexington and Park Avenues

___Next General Mtg is Sunday, January 7, 6pm at St. Marks Church on 2nd
Ave at 10th St

___We will establish a listserv for the NYC Oaxaca Solidarity Network, and
hold regular meetings.

___Folks interested in helping to do coalition-building with other
NYC-area groups are invited to contact rj@riseup.net

___Folks who can help distribute videos from Oaxaca collections that have
just been translated with subtitles (post to websites, etc) are invited to
contact mingamedia@gmail.com

___Education, Media, Actions, and Coalition-building Working Groups met
and will meet again at the general mtg on Jan 7. Other working groups,
including Fundraising and Grassroots Pressure will meet then too.

********

3) DECEMBER 14th MEETING AGENDA

I. Intros/Goals of Meeting and Network (5 min)

Meeting Goals: assemble those concerned about the situation in Oaxaca to
1) learn/share info, 2) coordinate efforts.

Desired Outcomes: listserv created, working groups established, next
meeting set, Dec 22nd plan?

Network Goals:
– Network should be as wide as possible and we should organize our work
and activities to incorporate people with many interests.
– We should try to balance most immediate/urgent needs and activities
with long term actions and organizing.
– Participants should be organized around concrete tasks/actions.

II. Oaxaca situation: background/context, current situation (15 min)

Oaxaca social-political context, background on the last 7 months, current
situation

III. Existing efforts in NYC: recap/overview (30 min)

–Grassroots pressure (emails, phone calls, sign-on letters)
–Actions (vigils, demos, etc)
–Education (screenings, panels, speaking tours, etc)
–Fundraising for Oaxaca (materials, support, events, etc)
–Coalition work (connect with other groups, statements, etc)
–Media (outreach, accountability, letters to the editor, editorial board
mtgs)
–Online Communication (listservs, website)

IV. Dec 22nd Call to Action (20 min)

Goals:
– Decide if we want to coordinate something together
– If yes, determine flavor
– Set follow-up meeting time/place

V. Working Group Break-Outs (25 min)

Divide into working groups to make concrete plans, get sign-up sheet for
working group, set time/place for working group meeting (public space,
central to subway).

VI. Report-backs and Announcements (10 min)

–Announce time/place for working group meetings, hear key highlights from
break-outs.
–Set next general network meeting time/place.