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.

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

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.

Approximately 100 kilometers before reaching La Sabana, the road was blocked with rocks, and that is where the cowardly armed attack began, by about 15 paramilitaries in the service of the murderer Ulises Ruiz Ortiz’s government (the type of weapon is unknown), leaving vehicles destroyed, wounding a comrade, and leaving two people dead.

During the attack, some comrades escaped, hiding in the hill, and of those who don’t know their way we are worried that they have been captured by the paramilitaries. Those comrades who as of now are disappeared are NOE BAUTISTA JIMENEZ, DAVID VENEGAS REYES, and DANIEL ARELLANO CHAVEZ, all of them members of VOCAL.

Regrettably, as information is coming in we know that two comrades lost their lives in this paramilitary attack; they are BEATRÍZ ALBERTA CARIÑO TRUJILLO, a member of CACTUS, and TYRI ANTERO JAAKKOLA, an international observer comrade from Finland.  Both died as a result of gunshots.

During the events, comrade MONICA CITLALI SANTIAGO ORTIZ was wounded in the back by a gunshot and was attended to by medics in Juxtlahuaca.

Those who stayed in the area of the shooting were taken from the vehicles and brought to the hill to be interrogated; some were threatened with death and later were released on the highway. Comrade RUBÉN VALENCIA NUÑEZ, a member of VOCAL, was detained by paramilitaries who took his I.D., his cell phone, and threatened him with death, then let him go.

An ambulance came to the site of the events to attend to the wounded, but was also cowardly shot at by the paramilitaries, which forced it to leave. While they were leaving, they found a wounded comrade who they attended to, and to whom they confirmed the death of the comrades previously mentioned.

As a result of the confusion and uncertainty of the events, the location of the previously mentioned comrades is unknown, as is their physical and psychological condition.

That this armed attack is a product of the conditions of institutional violence and impunity that paramilitary groups enjoy in this region of our state. Institutional violence directed at the different manifestations of social struggle in Oaxaca, and specifically against the construction of autonomous processes.

This attack occurred in the context of the isolation and state of siege that the municipality of San Juan Copala lives under, where since January the children have not had classes, where the community does not have electricity, potable water, doctors, and lives under permanent paramilitary harassment as a result of the blockade they have established there.

That the murderer Ulises Ruiz’s government end the paramilitary attacks in the Triqui region.  As well, that he end the financing, arming and impunity that these paramilitary groups enjoy in our state.

The immediate return of our disappeared comrades.

To the people of Oaxaca, of Mexico, to the international community and the different social organizations, collectives, and groups, to visibly show your solidarity and support with the demand for the return, alive, of our disappeared brothers and for the punishing of those responsible. Also, we fraternally call on you to demand an end to the violent conditions facing the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala.

The live return of the disappeared comrades!

End the paramilitary blockade that encircles this autonomous Triqui community!

Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy and Freedom

(VOCAL)

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.

To bolster their fallacious claims, the PGR requested assistance from the Canadian Embassy in Mexico. In response, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) recommended three individuals, including two former RCMP officers, to carry out an “independent” investigation.

The Canadians’ report, released in July of 2009, supported the fallacious claims of the PGR that Will was shot at close range by a protester.  Physicians for Human Rights, Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission and the Will family dismissed the report, pointing to the well documented facts that ballistic, sound, and photographic evidence point to a shot fired from a distance and from the direction from which police and local PRI party officials were firing at the protesters.

As well, the Canadian investigators, former RCMP officers recommended by the Canadian embassy, did not speak or read Spanish, so they had to rely on the PGR for translation and access to information; they did not reconstruct the murder scene or conduct witness interviews; their report displayed significant bias against Brad Will and the protesters; and it was riddled with inaccuracies.

After 16 months in prison, under false charges of murdering Brad Will, Juan Manuel Martínez was released on February 18, 2010, due to lack of evidence.

WE ARE ASKING YOU TO CONTACT THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT AND PRESS IT TO EXPLAIN:

1. The process by which they recommended former RCMP officers who assisted the Mexican government in attempting to cover-up of the murder of a journalist and if, as news reports state, the PGR “turned to Canada…to bolster their case,” if the Canadian embassy in Mexico recommended individuals knowing they would support the PGR version? [1]

2. Why the Canadian government has not publicly condemned the manipulated report, done by former RCMP officers, on the murder of U.S. journalist Brad Will?

3. What is the Canadian government’s policy regarding the use by retired RCMP officers of their former RCMP affiliations in authoring reports at the request of a foreign government?

4. Will the Canadian government make public the information provided by the Canadian Embassy to the Mexican government regarding the investigators it proposed?

USING THE ABOVE TALKING POINTS, PLEASE SEND EMAILS TO THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS:

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada: enqserv@international.gc.ca, bcm@international.gc.ca

Canadian Embassy in Mexico: mxico@international.gc.ca

Royal Canadian Mounted Police: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cont/comment-eng.htm

* * *
[1] http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:2U4-kJik-kwJ:www.canada.com/business/Victim%2Bfamily%2Bquestions%2BRCMP%2Bpart%2BMexican%2Bmurder%2Bprobe/2072833/story.html

FOR MORE INFORMATION: or to get involved in the case of Brad Will and the social movement in Oaxaca,
visit: www.friendsofbradwill.org;
join the Friends of Brad Will listserv: http://lists.interactivist.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/justiceforbrad;
contact Scott Campbell: soupshow@hotmail.com.

* * *
www.rightsaction.org / info@rightsaction.org

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.

Estimado ___,

Le escribo hoy para exigir que cede el acoso y las amenazas contra Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno y su familia de forma inmediata. Desde que Martínez Moreno fue liberado de la carcel, donde fue detenido sin prueba ninguna por el asesinato del periodista estadounidense, Brad Will, él y su familia han recibido amenazas y otras formas de acoso constante. Han recibido amenazas de muerte y los funcionarios locales que fueron grabados en 2006 disparando contra Brad Will se han visto en frente de la casa de la familia Martínez Moreno en varias ocasiones.

Exigimos que tomen las medidas necesarias para asegurar el bienestar y seguridad de Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno y su familia, ya que su seguridad es responsabilidad del gobierno estatal de Oaxaca tanto como el gobierno federal; cualquier ataque que ocurra contra ellos se verá como falla del gobierno mexicano, por no haber actuado.

Exigimos que los verdaderos asesinos de Brad Will – y de los 25 oaxaqueños asesinados por los paramilitares vinculados al estado en 2006 – se lleven a la justicia. Una investigación sobre las acciones de la policía municipal y los miembros del PRI, Santiago Zárate, Orlando Manuel Aguilar Coello, Pedro Carmona, Juan Carlos Soriano, y Juan Sumano, quienes se ven disparando contra Brad Will en fotografías, debe empezar de una vez. No aceptamos que se eche la culpa de las crímenes del gobierno a activistas de la APPO.

Atentamente,

English translation – Please send the Spanish version

I am writing to demand that the harassment and threats against Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno and his family cease immediately.  Since Martínez Moreno was released from prison where he was falsely accused of the murder of U.S. journalist Brad Will, he and his family have faced constant harassment. They have received death threats and the local government officials filmed in 2006 firing at Brad Will have been standing in front of their home.

We demand you take all action necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno and his family.  Should anything happen to them, we will hold the state government of Oaxaca and the federal government fully responsible, as they are either complicit in the harassment or capable of stopping it and instead are doing nothing.

We also demand that the true killers of Brad Will – and the 25 Oaxacans killed by government-backed paramilitaries in 2006 – be brought to justice. An investigation should begin immediately into the actions of municipal police and PRI members Santiago Zárate, Orlando Manuel Aguilar Coello, Pedro Carmona, Juan Carlos Soriano and Juan Sumano, who were documented firing at Brad Will.  It is imperative justice is served.  We will not accept the scapegoating of APPO activists for the government’s crimes.

Sincerely,

Send to:

Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont Urueta
Minister of the Interior
secretario@segob.gob.mx

Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana
Ambassador of Mexico to the United States
mexembusa@sre.gov.mx

Ulises Ruiz Ortiz
Governor of Oaxaca
gobernador@oaxaca.gob.mx

Felipe Calderón
President of Mexico
felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx

Evencio Nicolás Martínez Ramírez,
Oaxaca State Attorney General
buzonciudadano@pgj.net

RAUL PLASCENCIA VILLANUEVA
President of the National Human Rights Commission

correo@cndh.gob.mx

LIC. EDUARDO MEDINA-MORA ICAZA
Federal Attorney General

ofproc@pgr.gob.mx

MAG. LIC. HECTOR ANUAR MAFUD MAFUD
President of the Superior State Court
oaxtsj@infosel.net.mx

Head of the Mexican Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
oacnudh@hchr.org.mx

————————
Acción Urgente de Amigos de Brad Will (Friends of Brad Will)

Estimados Amigos y Apoyantes,

Favor de leer el reporte, tomar acción y correr la voz!

Como muchos de ustedes ya saben, el 18 de febrero de 2010, Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno – activista social oaxaqueño falsamente acusado de haber dado muerte al reportero de Indymedia, Brad Will, en 2006 – fue liberado después de estar encarcelado 16 meses. Es una victoria importante, pero Martinez Moreno, su familia, y otros activistas siguen enfrentan riesgos significativos.

Desde que fue libertado, Martínez Moreno y su familia han sido acosados constantemente. Han recibido amenazas de muerte y los paramilitares con enlaces al gobierno, a quienes los testigos oculares han vinculado con el asesinato de Brad Will, con corroboración fotográfica, se han visto varias veces parados en frente de la casa de los Martínez Moreno.

En vez de correr el riesgo de ser arrestado de nuevo, o ser asesinado, Martínez Moreno ha tenido que esconderse. Muchos temen la posibilidad de que el Ministerio Público puede tratar de echar la culpa a otros miembros del movimiento social por el asesinato de Will.

Por favor, únete a nosotros en exigir que ceda el acoso y las amenazas contra Martínez Moreno y su familia, y que los verdaderos responsables por el asesinato de Brad Will se lleven a la justicia.

Por favor, envíen la siguiente carta en español o en su propio idioma a los correos a continuación.

Estimado ___,

Le escribo hoy para exigir que cede el acoso y las amenazas contra Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno y su familia de forma inmediata. Desde que Martínez Moreno fue liberado de la carcel, donde fue detenido sin prueba ninguna por el asesinato del periodista estadounidense, Brad Will, él y su familia han recibido amenazas y otras formas de acoso constante. Han recibido amenazas de muerte y los funcionarios locales que fueron grabados en 2006 disparando contra Brad Will se han visto en frente de la casa de la familia Martínez Moreno en varias ocasiones.

Exigimos que tomen las medidas necesarias para asegurar el bienestar y seguridad de Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno y su familia, ya que su seguridad es responsabilidad del gobierno estatal de Oaxaca tanto como el gobierno federal; cualquier ataque que ocurra contra ellos se verá como falla del gobierno mexicano, por no haber actuado.

Exigimos que los verdaderos asesinos de Brad Will – y de los 25 oaxaqueños asesinados por los paramilitares vinculados al estado en 2006 – se lleven a la justicia. Una investigación sobre las acciones de la policía municipal y los miembros del PRI, Santiago Zárate, Orlando Manuel Aguilar Coello, Pedro Carmona, Juan Carlos Soriano, y Juan Sumano, quienes se ven disparando contra Brad Will en fotografías, debe empezar de una vez. No aceptamos que se eche la culpa de las crímenes del gobierno a activistas de la APPO.

Atentamente,

Envia a:

Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont Urueta
Secretario de Gobernación
secretario@segob.gob.mx

Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana
Embajador Mexicano a EE.UU.
mexembusa@sre.gov.mx

Ulises Ruiz Ortiz
Gobernador del Estado de Oaxaca
gobernador@oaxaca.gob.mx

Felipe Calderón
Presidente de México
felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx

Evencio Nicolás Martínez Ramírez
Procurador General, Estado de Oaxaca
buzonciudadano@pgj.net

RAUL PLASCENCIA VILLANUEVA
PRESIDENTE DE LA COMISIÓN NACIONAL DE DERECHOS HUMANOS
correo@cndh.gob.mx

LIC. EDUARDO MEDINA-MORA ICAZA
PROCADURIA GENERAL DE LA REPUBLICA
ofproc@pgr.gob.mx

MAG. LIC. HECTOR ANUAR MAFUD MAFUD
PRESIDENTE DEL HONORABLE TRIBUNAL SUPERIOR DE JUSTICIA DEL ESTADO
oaxtsj@infosel.net.mx

JEFE DE LA OFICINA EN MEXICO DEL ALTO COMISIONADO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS DE LA ONU
oacnudh@hchr.org.mx

Amenazas y hostigamiento contra Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno y su familia.

Drohungen und Einschüchterungen gegen Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno und seine Familie.

Threats and harassments against Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno and his family

12 de enero 2010

Aproximadamente a las 15h una persona que Juan Manuel nunca había visto entra en la área de visita del penal de Ixcotel en Oaxaca y lo pregunta cuánto dinero quiere para confesarse culpable. El desconocido también le ofrece la presidencia del municipio de Santa Lucia del Camino. Juan Manuel le responde que él no se vende y que tarde o temprano iba a salir porque es inocente. Seguido el hombre le dice en tono amenazante: acuérdate que tienes esposa y tres hijos.

12. Januar 2010

Ca. um 15h betritt ein Mann, den Juan Manuel noch nie gesehen hat, den Besuchsraum des Gefängnisses Ixcotel in Oaxaca und sagt zu ihm: Wie viel Geld willst du, um dich schuldig zu bekennen? Ausserdem bietet der Unbekannte Juan Manuel die Präsidentschaft im Bezirk Santa Lucia de Camino an. Juan Manuel antwortet, dass er sich nicht verkaufen lässt und dass er früher oder später das Gefängnis verlassen wird, weil er unschuldig ist. Worauf der Mann in drohendem Ton sagt: Vergiss nicht, dass du eine Frau und drei Kinder hast.

January 12,  2010

At approximately 3 pm a person Juan Manuel had never seen before came to the visiting area of the Ixcotel prison and asked him how much money he wanted to declare his guilt.  This unknown man also offered him the presidency of municipality of Santa Lucia (where Juan Manuel lives).   Juan Manuel responded that he was not selling himself and that sooner or later he would be freed because he is innocent.  Then the man said to him in a threatening tone:  remember you have a wife and 3 children.

15 de enero 2010

Aproximadamente a las 13h20 los tres niños de Juan Manuel se percatan que un hombre desconocido  (posiblemente un agente de la afi) en un auto volkswagon golf color café con placas del distrito federal les está tomando abiertamente fotos con una buena camera con teleobjetivo.

15. Januar 2010

Ca. Um 13Uhr20 bemerken die drei Kinder Juan Manuels, dass sie von einem unbekannten Mann aus einem Auto heraus fotografiert werden. Der Mann hat eine moderne Kamera mit einem Teleobjektiv. Sie vermuten, dass es sich um einen Agenten des Bundeskriminalsamts Mexikos handelt.

January 15, 2010

At approximately 3:20 pm Juan Manuel’s 3 children realized that an unknown man (possibly a federal investigative agent, afi)  in a brown volkswagon model golf car with Mexico City license plates was openly taking photos of them with a good camera with telephoto lens.

18 de enero 2010

Aproximadamente a las 8h la esposa de Juan Manuel recibe una llamada en su celular con un número del distrito federal. La persona dice: Si no te callas lo vas a pagar con lo que más quieres. Además dice cosas muy feas y groseras. Desde ese día los niños ya no van a la escuela ni juegan afuera.

18. Januar 2010

Ca. um 8Uhr erhält die Frau von Juan Manuel auf ihrem Mobiltelefon einen Anruf mit einer Nummer des Bundesdistrikts Mexiko. Die Person sagt: Wenn du nicht schweigst wirst du mit dem bezahlen was du am meisten liebst. Ausserdem sagt er ihr sehr hässliche und ordinäre Sachen. Seit jenem Tag gehen die Kinder nicht mehr in die Schule und spielen auch nicht mehr draussen.

January 18, 2010

At about 8 am Juan Manuel’s wife received a cell phone call from a Mexico City number.  The caller said  if you don’t keep quiet you’ll pay with what you love the most, along with other vulgar comments.  Since then the 3 children have not attended school or played outside.

8 de febrero 2010

Aproximadamente a las 19h la  esposa de Juan Manuel sale junto con su hija más pequeña de la casa para ir a una tienda que queda a unas tres cuadras. La niña anda unos metros adelante en bicicleta. De repente desde una esquina sale un carro camioneta blazer color negro con vidrios polarizados con alta velocidad. Casi atropella a la mama. Ella grita a la niña para que salte al lado. El carro sigue con la misma velocidad. Vecinos salen en auxilio.

8. Februar 2010

Ca. Um 19h verlässt die Frau von Juan Manuel zusammen mit ihrer jüngsten Tochter das Haus, um sich zu einem Laden zu begeben, der sich drei Strassen weiter befindet. Das Mädchen fährt auf dem Fahrrad voraus. Plötzlich nähert sich ein Auto Marke Blazer Farbe schwarz mit verdunkelten Scheiben mit hoher Geschwindigkeit. Die Mutter wird beinahe überfahren. Sie schreit damit ihre Tochter auf die Seite springen kann. Das Auto fährt mit der gleichen Geschwindigkeit davon. Verschiedene Nachbarn eilen zu Hilfe.

February 8, 2010

At about 7 pm Juan Manuel’s wife left her home with her youngest child to go to a store 3 blocks away.  The child had her bicycle and was ahead of her.  Suddenly a black Blazer pick-up with polarized windows sped from the corner at top speed almost running over the mother, who yelled out to her child to jump aside while the pick-up continued at high speed.  Neighbors came out to help.

18 de febrero 2010

Aproximadamente  a las 12h al término del mitin en el  zócalo (después de la liberación de Juan Manuel) se percatan que uno de los responsables de los hechos del 27 de octubre 2006 está sentado en el zócalo. La gente de la sección 22 se acerca y lo preguntan que hace aquí. El dice: Estoy observando. Finalmente se aleja con una risa burlona e intimidatoria.

18. Februar 2010

Ca. um 12 Uhr nach Beendigung der Kundgebung nach der Freilassung Juan Manuel bemerkt die Familie, dass einer der Verantwortlichen für die Ereignisse am 27.Oktober 2006 sich am Zocalo aufhält. Verschiedene Leute der Lehrergewerkschaft nähern sich und fragen ihn was er hier mache.. Er antwortet: ich beobachte. Schlussendlich entfernt er sich mit spoettischem Lachen.

February 18, 2010

About noon after the rally at the zocalo following Juan Manuel’s release from prison, one of the men shooting at the barricades on October 27, 2006 was sitting at the zocalo.  Some Section 22 (teacher’s union) members approached him to ask what he was doing there.  He responded I’m observing, and finally left with a mocking, intimidating sneer.

19 de febrero 2010

Aproximadamente a las 14h un día después de la salida de Juan Manuel el presidente Priista de Santa Lucia del camino se presenta junto con un grupo de gente que lo protege en un domicilio ubicado frente a la casa de Juan Manuel. Beben alcohol y con miradas burlonas miran hacia la casa.

19. Februar 2010

Ca. um 14 Uhr ,einen Tag nach der Freilassung Juan Manuels, erscheint der Pri-Präsident des Bezirkes Santa Lucia begleitet von Leuten, die ihn beschützen, in einer Liegenschaft gegenüber von Juan Manuels Haus. Sie trinken Alkohol und schauen immer wieder mit spöttischem Blick in Richtung des Hauses.

February 19, 2010

At about 2 pm on the day after Juan Manuel’s release, the PRI president of the municipality of Santa Lucia along with his bodyguards showed up at a house directly across the street from Juan Manuel’s.  They were drinking alcohol and looking at his house with  mocking sneers.

21 de febrero 2010

Aproximadamente a las 11h cuando la familia se moviliza en el auto del cuñado se fijan que son perseguidos por un carro marca surru color rojo sin placas con dos hombres en civil a bordo. Gracias al hecho que el cuñado conoce bien la ciudad logran escapar. El mismo auto fue visto dos meses antes cerca de la casa.

21. Februar 2010

Ca. um 11Uhr, als die Familie im Auto des Schwagers von Juan Manuel unterwegs ist bemerken sie, wie sie von einem  Auto Marke Surru Farbe Rot  ohne Nummernschilder verfolgt werden. Im Auto sitzen zwei zivil gekleidete Männer. Dank der Tatsache, dass der Schwager die Stadt ziemlich gut kennt gelingt es ihnen die Verfolger abzuhängen. Das gleiche Auto wurde bereits zwei Monate zuvor in der Naehe des Hauses gesehen.

February 21, 2010

At around 11 am when the family was riding in a car driven by a brother-in-law they realized they were being followed by a red surrru without license plates with 2 men inside in civilian clothes.  Fortunately the brother-in-law knows the city very well and was able to elude the pursuers.  The same car had been seen 2 months earlier near their house.

1 de marzo 2010

Juan Manuel tiene que esconderse después que hay peligro que sea encarcelado nuevamente. Eso después que el juez correspondiente el 17 de febrero 2010  realiza un dictamen sin la presencia de los abogados ni de Juan Manuel donde que dice tener pruebas que Juan Manuel disparo contra Brad Will.

1.März 2010

Juan Manuel muss sich verstecken, weil die Gefahr besteht, dass er erneut verhaftet wird. Die zuständigen Behörden behaupten Beweise zu haben, dass Juan Manuel auf Brad Will geschossen hat.

March 1, 2010

Juan Manuel goes into hiding after learning he could be reincarcerated.  The state criminal judge accepted new evidence that he says may show Juan Manuel’s presence at the site of the murder of Brad Will. (The first rumors were that it showed him shooting Brad Will, for which he had just been exonerated.)  The judge accepted this evidence without the presence of Juan Manuel or his attorneys.

2 de marzo 2010

Un  hombre joven más o menos 24 anos con corte militar esta a diez metros de la casa con un celular con camera. Cuando la esposa intenta tomarle una foto el hombre se pone nervioso y se aleja.

2. März 2010

Ein junger Mann, ca. 24 Jahre alt, mit einem Militärhaarschnitt befindet sich zehn Meter  vor dem Haus von Juan Manuel. In den Händen hält er ein Mobiltelefon mit Kamera. Als die Frau von Juan Manuel versucht ihn zu fotografieren wird er nervös und entfernt sich.

March 2, 2010

A man about 24 years old with a military-style hair cut was standing about 10 meters from the front entrance to Juan Manuel’s house with a cell phone with camera.  When his wife tried to photograph the young man he seemed visibly nervous and left.

March 8, 2010

During the night a group of drunk men were outside the house of Juan Manuel’s sister’s house shouting we are going to kill your brother.

March 15, 2010

At about 10 am there was a man outside Juan Manuel’s house taking photos of the house.  His wife went out to ask him why he was taking the photos and he said he is an employee of Santa Lucia.  She then photographed him with her cell phone camera and  went to the office of the teachers’ union, Section 22, and denounced this legally with her attorney from Section 22.

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.”

Full Article

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.

Full Story

June 13, 2009

This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won.

“We’ve spent a trillion dollars prosecuting the war on drugs,” Norm Stamper, a former police chief of Seattle, told me. “What do we have to show for it? Drugs are more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency. It’s a dismal failure.”

(Read on here)

The agencies in charge of Mexico’s drug war have high-ranking officials who protect the cartels

By Ricardo Ravelo, Proceso
Translation from the original Spanish and notes by Kristin Bricker

The animosity between the heads of Federal Attorney General’s Office and the Public Security Ministry don’t just immobilize the federal government and make its crusade against drug traffickers and organized crime futile. It also shows that both institutions are so porous that the gangsters have already positioned themselves in them. The infiltration is of such magnitude that even Eduardo Medina Mora and Genaro Garcia Luna have become suspect.

The disagreements between the heads of the Public Security Ministry (SSP in its Spanish initials) and the Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) keep Felipe Calderon’s government practically submerged in a lack of credibility and without an effective strategy in its fight against organized crime.

In the almost two years that Calderon has been in office, the leaking of information, the alleged protection of drug traffickers, the power struggles, and the vices in both agencies have been exacerbated, which impedes the success of the crusade against the drug cartels.

Combined with that, within the past couple of days in multiple states, narcobanners appeared in which the head of the SSP, Genaro Garcia Luna, and multiple agents from that ministry are referred to as protectors of the Sinaloa cartel, which is led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera.

After the capture of Jesus “El Rey” Zambada Garcia, his son Jesus Zambada, and other Sinaloa cartel members, two of Garcia Luna’s colleagues, Victor Gerardo Garay Cadena and Luis Cardenas Palominos, the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) internal commissioner and the intelligence coordinator of the SSP, respectively, were interrogated by agents from the Assistant Attorney General’s Office for Specialized Investigation of Organized Crime (SIEDO) for allegedly protecting the Sinaloa cartel’s hitmen.

On October 30, three days after the interrogation, when all indications were that they would be detained, Garcia Luna “strongly pressured” the PGR so that they would be freed, according to a source inside the PGR. Likewise, federal police, particularly from the Federal Investigation Agency (AFI), accuse Garcia Luna of being in collusion with the Sinaloa cartel since the last administration, when he served as director of the AFI. On October 31 Garay Cadena resigned from his position.

And for the same reasons—protecting the Sinaloa cartel hitmen and the messages on the narcobanners—about 70 federal agents, many from the PFP’s Special Operations Group, which operated under Garay Cadena’s orders, were subpoenaed to make statements to the SIEDO.

Commissioner Javier Herrera Valle, the ex-commissioner of the PFP who was recently fired from the SSP, says that Garcia Luna has become an untouchable official, despite his dark past and the signs that link him to drug trafficking.

“Garcia Luna, at least according to what Juan de Dios Castro Lozano (the PGR’s assistant attorney general for human rights) tells me, is President Calderon’s spoiled official. I think that’s why he can’t be touched,” says Herrera Valle.

This reporter asked Herrera, “Do you think Garcia Luna is the spoiled man in the Cabinet, or are there dark complicities that unite him with the president?”

“I don’t know what to think or say anymore. I haven’t received responses to my letters in which I denounce corruption. But I don’t doubt that Garcia Luna is untouchable, and that is very dangerous for the country.”

Immovable

The signs that Garcia Luna is allegedly in league with the Sinaloa cartel aren’t new. According to information from the PGR, his alleged relationships with narcos date back to 2005 and he hasn’t even been investigated for that.

The criminal investigation PGR/SIEDO/UEIDCS/106/2005 against the Beltran Leyva brothers’ cell—when they maintained a solid alliance with the Sinaloa cartel and controlled Guerrero state—contains revelations that implicate the head of the SSP in the alleged protection of this criminal group.

It has to do with transcriptions of telephone calls, emails sent by people who identify themselves as members of the Gulf cartel—in 2005 there was a serious fight between Los Zetas and the Beltran Leyva family for control of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, two important narco turfs—in which they report that Garcia Luna was receiving million-peso payments from the Beltran Leyvas.

Along with other messages, a call received on May 15, 2005, in the PGR became part of a body of evidence. The report says:

In the general affairs office during the night watch, an anonymous call was received at the number 5228618399 from a person who said he was a Gulf cartel member. He called to report that agents from the Federal Investigation Agency [in 2005 Garcia Luna served as the AFI's director] stationed in Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, detained five Zetas yesterday afternoon, May 4, (and) that instead of handing them over to the district attorney’s office and sending them to jail, they handed them over to Arturo Beltran Leyva’s cartel. He also said that it wasn’t good that AFI agents played narcopolice.
In another report in the criminal investigation, over which Garcia Luna was not bothered, let alone investigated, there is a blunt detail: that the current Secretary of Public Security was receiving money from the Sinaloa cartel:

We know that the AFI director, Genaro [Garcia] Luna is in collusion with Arturo Beltran Leyva’s organization. He has received great quantities of money through a director named Domingo Gonzalez (the same man to whom Edgar “La Barbie” Valdez Villareal paid a million dollars so that he would protect him and his boss Arturo Beltran Leyva), who is in the neighboring country of Belize as a fugitive from justice.
The message, allegedly sent to the PGR by Gulf cartel personnel, ends with a warning:

We are waiting for your intervention in this reproachable action as soon as possible and we demand [that] you free our five compañeros and return them to their families. If not, we will rain all our strength and anger upon those narcopolice. If there isn’t a reaction, in five days we will pass all of this information to the media, and two days later you will receive our personal message against those bandits or narcopolice.
In addition to the messages that President Felipe Calderon has received about the internal disintegration in the SSP and the corruption (selling positions within the ministry, “doubling up” on travel allowances [making business trips family vacations], and the police and high ranking PFP officials’ collusion with narcos), Garcia Luna continues to be immovable, and now his position seems to be reinforced by the reappearance of Jorge Tello Peon—his mentor—,who served as Undersecretary of Public Security during [former president] Ernesto Zedillo’s term and disappeared from the public stage shortly after El Chapo Guzman escaped from prison in January 2001.

The signs that Garcia Luna serves the narcos’ interests have come from many sources, but none of them have worked. He continues in his position, despite everything.

On August 1, 2007, for example, the Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora received a letter signed by a protected witness—whose name and code were omitted for fear of reprisal—which refers to the relationship Garcia Luna, while he was director of the AFI, maintained with Alberto Pliego (now deceased), who was allegedly linked to the ephedrine business.[1]

According to a source, Pliego Fuentes—to whom the capture of Daniel “El Mochaorejas” Arizmendi[2] is attributed, amongst others—had a relationship with the Amezcua Contreras brothers’ cartel, known as pioneers in the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs and, through their relationships with high-ranking AFI officials, obtained the chemical substance that is the base for so-called designer drugs.

The crisis recently hit inside the SSP when hundreds of federal agents from the AFI as well as the PFP hardened their positions and hit the streets in a protest against Garcia Luna for his bad decisions in the fight against drug trafficking.

The dissenters demanded a purge within the institution, the removal of “commanders,” and an end to the project to unify the AFI and the PFP under a single command, which, according to them, means “giving more power to Garcia Luna to serve dubious interests.”

This past October 20, new evidence emerged regarding the alleged protection AFI and PFP officials offer the Sinaloa cartel, particularly to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia and his family.

That day a shoot-out occurred in the vicinity of the Lindavista neighborhood in northern Mexico City, where El Mayo Zambada’s family members, including his brother Jesus Zambada, had rented a house. During the confrontation, which resulted from a supposed anonymous tip that alerted the authorities to the presense of the gangsters, four federal agents appeared who repelled the gunfire in defense of the alleged drug traffickers from the Pacific cartel.

According to information from the PGR, one of the agents that helped out the Zambada family is Ulises Rodriguez Rodriguez, who was presented as an ex-member of the now-defunct Federal Judicial Police. According to information from the SSP, this person is really named Marco Antonio Valadez Rico, an active PFP officer assigned to the Airports and Borders Division, under the orders of Oscar Moreno Villatoro.

The other three police, who also operate within Garcia Luna’s close circle, are: Carlos Gerardo Castillo Ramirez, assigned to the AFI’s Regional Deployment department; Jose Guillermo Baez Figueroa, who worked in the PFP’s Regional Deployment Division; and Francisco Montaño Ochoa, ministerial agent from the state of Mexico, a territory currently disputed by Los Zetas, La Familia, and the Sinaloa cartel.

Unfulfilled Promises

In the PGR the situation is even more critical. Over a period of decades there are few attorney generals who have not been implicated in corruption or for their links with drug trafficking.

Medina Mora’s two most recent predecessors, Rafael Macedo de la Concha and Daniel Cabeza de Vaca, promised to clean up the PGR with triumphant discourses. Both failed.

The first was caught up in various scandals, one in particular, according to the criminal investigation PGR/GRO/ACAAMA/413/2005, accused him of protecting Los Zetas; the second, who worked in the PGR during the last 20 months of the Fox administration, recognized his failure. He even stated before he quit that his agents were on the verge of capturing El Chapo Guzman, but that he managed to escape.

Medina Mora, upon being ratified by the Senate in December 2006, declared: “The PGR’s promise is to reclaim the spaces lost to organized crime. Mexicans can rest assured that they live in a country with laws, with absolute respect for human rights, with effective and transparent law enforcement.”

He added: “The great responsibility of this institution is to avoid fear and promote Mexicans’ confidence in the institutions responsible for carrying out justice…”

Almost two years after that discourse, in which he also promised to clean up the PGR, Medina Mora now faces one of the most serious conflicts: drug trafficking’s infiltration of the SIEDO, the most important assistant attorney general’s office in investigations against organized crime.

According to information from the PGR, the Beltran Leyvas’ cell managed to build a wide network of informants—secretaries, agents from the district attorney’s office, prosecutors, police—who notified them in advance of operations carried out against their organization.

Amongst the informants there are a little more than thirty agents from the district attorney’s office who passed information to the Beltran Leyva brothers, as well as confidential information about open investigations. In exchange for these favors, they received monthly rewards of between USD$350,0000 and USD$400,000.

Of the SIEDO employees that worked for the Beltran Leyva brothers, a few stand out: Miguel Colorado and Fernando Rivera, who were allied with Antonio Mejia and Jorge Alberto Zavala. Today the four are imprisoned in the Puente Grante jail in Jalisco. Meanwhile, Javier “El Pinocho” Jimenez Sanchez, an AFI agent assigned to the SIEDO, and Jose Antonio Cueto Lopez, former Federal Judicial Police agent and alleged link between the Beltran Leyvas and high-ranking SIEDO officials, are fugitives.

When the conflict hit the SIEDO, which raised doubts about Medina Mora’s promise two years ago to clean up the agency, Medina Mora tried to defend himself by declaring that there was a relaxing of personnel control and the custody of the information contained in the SIEDO’s dossiers.

He added, “The standard recruiting and selection mechanisms have not been regularly practiced. Moreover, perhaps they haven’t been practiced with the rigor and thoroughness that’s required.”

This is not the first time that the Sinaloa cartel has infiltrated the power structure. The SIEDO scandal is similar to what occurred under the Vicente Fox administration, when the Beltran Leyvas “hooked” the chief of presidential tours, Nahum Acosta, who maintained an intimate relationship with Arturo Beltran.

This link was discovered by US DEA agents, as well as through recordings that were handed over to the SIEDO in which it was recommended that they investigate “what goes on in the number one house[3] in Mexico.”

In October 2001, shortly before the narcos’ infiltration into Los Pinos [the president's official residence] was discovered, the emblematic members of the Juarez cartel—Vicente Carrillo, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, Javier “El JT” Torres Felix, and Arturo “El Chaky” Gonzalez Hernandez, amongst others—created a network of informants in the PGR and in the National Defense Department (Sedena).

Amongst the informants there were prosecutors and soldiers. One of the group’s bosses was Francisco Tornez Castro or Victor Manuel Llamas Escobar, known as “Captain Tornez,” who was in charge of the collection and processing of substantive information provided by infiltrated cells in multiple government agencies, which was then handed over to the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels.

Those operations are similar to those that were recently discovered in the SIEDO.

Notes:
[1] Ephedrine is a precursor of methamphetamine.
[2] Daniel “El Mochaorejas” Arizmendi is a cop-turned-kidnapper. His trademark was to cut the ears off his victims and send them to their families with a ransom note. He’s responsible for at least three murders and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He is imprisoned in the same maximum-security prison as the Frente Popular en Defensa de la Tierra’s leader Ignacio “Nacho” del Valle, who was convicted of a crime he wasn’t anywhere near when it allegedly occurred. Nacho didn’t kill anyone (although at the protest he was imprisoned over, police murdered two people), but he’s in prison for 112 years.
[3] Nahum Acosta worked in Los Pinos, the president’s official residence. The DEA and the SIEDO have recordings of Hector Beltran Leyva, one of the leaders of the Beltran Leyva organization, calling Acosta at his Los Pinos office. In one recording, Beltran Leyva arranges to leave a “little gift” of USD$5 million with Acosta’s doorman at his home. Acosta was arrested, but later released for “lack of evidence.”

http://www.cndh.org.mx/recomen/2008/050.html
Recommendation 050/2008

National Human Rights Commission issued on September 26, 2008
Translated by Scott Campbell [Spanish original]

Summary: On October 27, 2006, Mr. Bradley Roland Will, video journalist for the business Indymedia, was deprived of life, and due to this, on the 28th of that month and year personnel from the National Commission went to the city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, to gather pertinent information and documentation, in respect to the beginnings of preliminary investigation 1247/C.R./2006 by the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Oaxaca.

From the analysis of the facts and evidence that make up case file 2006/4886/5/Q, it was verified that the public servants of the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Oaxaca who participated in compiling preliminary investigation 1247/C.R./2006, as well as those in the Federal Attorney General’s Office charged with compiling enquiry 11/FEADP/07, based in the Special Prosecutor for Attention to Crimes Committed Against Journalists, violated fundamental rights of legality, of judicial security, of access to justice, according to information contained in articles 6; 14, second paragraph; 16, first paragraph; 17, second paragraph; 20, subsection B; 21, first paragraph; and 102, subsection A, second paragraph, of the Constitution of the United Mexican States, as well as 21 of the Constitution of the state of Oaxaca.

Regarding preliminary investigation 1247/C.R./2006, is has been noted that the prosecution committed irregularities and omissions during its actions, since it did not allow for the intervention of a criminal specialist, nor did it immediately go to the scene to collect, preserve and package evidence, as well it did not dictate measures to preserve the scene, nor did it complete a chain of custody regarding the blanket the journalist’s body was wrapped in, failing to preserve and take into account the blanket; carrying out, in an inadequate manner, a visual inspection of the scene, as well as the description of the t-shirt worn by Mr. Bradley Roland Will.
Likewise, it failed to complete in-depth interrogations of the witnesses, as well as failing to summon other individuals who were associated with the events, in spite of the fact that they were mentioned in testimonies and newspaper reports, as well as in images that were shown on television.

Nor did the investigation delve into events that witnesses made reference to; that there were people shooting from a house on Juarez Avenue, the two people that were presented as the probable material authors of the homicide were not interrogated, the number of Municipal Police that turned out at the scene of the crime, the weapons they carried and the time they were in the area, nor did it carry out actions to investigate the names of the subjects who accompanied them, nor did it execute an investigation to identify the people who carried weapons and who appeared in various photographs and videos that were made public by various print and television media outlets.

On November 15, 2006, in the press conference given about the completed investigation, then-Attorney General of the state of Oaxaca indicated that the shots which killed the reporter came from a short distance by people who were near the reporter, or during his transport to the Red Cross, without the prosecution working diligently to obtain the greatest amount of evidence that would permit them to locate and subsequently present those people situated at the scene, concretely, near the victim, and therefore gather the corresponding testimonies and, in this case, to contribute to the elements of the enquiry in order to reinforce or distort the version that the offender was located near the journalist at the moment the events occurred.

In the same press conference she mentioned that expert investigations were conducted in audiometry, audiology, sound tests and audio and video examinations of the video recorded by Bradley Roland Will’s camera; however, in the evidence listed in preliminary investigation 1247/C.R./2006, there is no record of the experts she referred to, nor to the sound tests she said were performed on the video.

Also, is it considered that deficiencies existed in the performance of the public servants who involved themselves in the various reports produced for preliminary investigation 1247/C.R./2006, such as the medical lawyers who signed off on the external medical examination of the body, the autopsy report, the ballistics reports, of the comparative criminology report, of the criminology report, of the mechanics of injury and of the facts and position of the victim-offender.

The conduct and omissions by personnel in the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Oaxaca, violated the set standards in articles 2, part II; 12, parts II, III and V; 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 31, of the Code of Criminal Proceedings for the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, as well articles 49, 51, 53, 73, and 75 of the Constitution of the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Oaxaca, as well as the obligations laid out in part I of article 56 of the Public Servants of the State and Municipalities of Oaxaca Administrative Responsibilities Law.

It is pertinent to note that the irregular compilation of preliminary investigation 1247/C.R./2006 violates the right of the relatives of Mr. Bradley Roland Will, in their role as victims of a crime, of access to justice, provided for in articles 17, second paragraph; 20, subsection B, parts I, II, and VI, of the Constitution of the United Mexican States; 25, of the American Convention on Human Rights; and the beginning of the fourth article of the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.

Moreover, in relation to the expert investigations performed for preliminary investigation 11/FEADP/07, on behalf of the Federal Attorney General’s Office of the Special Prosecutor for Attention to Crimes Committed Against Journalists, it is noted that they were done in an isolated manner, that is, without taking into consideration the evidence gathered by each expert in particular and without informing, as well, a complete, coordinated, and detailed analysis of the corresponding evidence; nor was a convincing conclusion provided as to how the events occurred, principally, with respect to the circumstances in which Mr. Bradley Roland Will received the second gunshot and the distance from which the deadly shots were fired.

Likewise, the Federal Attorney General’s Office has avoided requesting an audio study of the gunshots, which would help to establish their rate and sequence, and assist in determining the number of shots fired at the scene, their sequence and which were fired at short, medium, and long distances.

Even though the actions of the Federal Prosecution, charged with compiling preliminary investigation 11/FEADP/07, based in the Federal Attorney General’s Office of the Special Prosecutor for Attention to Crimes Committed Against Journalists have continued, to date it has not issued the respective decision, it has not been able to identify those likely responsible for the wounds that caused the death of Mr. Bradley Roland Will, as well as the motive and causes of their aggression, or other relevant circumstances, because very likely the mentioned prosecution and the experts that have issued the questioned reports may have violated their duties outlined in articles 2, part II, of the Federal Code of Criminal Procedures, as well as articles 4, part I, subsection A), clause c) and part V; 54, parts I and II, of the Constitution of the Federal Attorney General’s Office, which establish that, in preliminary investigations, the Federal Prosecution has the obligation to order the completion of all necessary actions to certify the body of the crime and the likely responsibility of the accused, as well as to safeguard the principles of legality, efficiency, professionalism and respect for human rights in the fulfillment of their duties, in addition, their actions should be congruent, timely and proportional to the incident investigated.

Moreover, it is also noted the hindering and denial of the Municipal President of Santa Lucia del Camino, Oaxaca, in providing information that would allow this National Commission to complete its investigation of the case, which has still not received any answer to its requests for information, which is in violation of part XXXII of article 56 of the Public Servants of the State and Municipalities of Oaxaca Responsibilities Law.

As a result of the above, on September 26, 2008, this National Commission issued Recommendation 50/2008 which directs the Federal Attorney General’s Office, so that it instructs the Federal Prosecution, to expedite the investigation and complete it with due diligence in a manner that guarantees a comprehensive analysis of the clues, evidence and proofs that are relevant to the inquest, as well as the contents of this recommendation, along with considering what experts belonging to the International Forensic Program of Physicians for Human Rights have provided, the proposals of this National Commission, and those proposals that allow, in a clear, objective, comprehensive, and collegiate manner the determination of the mechanics and dynamics of the wounds that caused the death of Mr. Bradley Roland Will; likewise, that the head of the Internal Control Body of the Federal Attorney General’s Office hold a hearing to determine, from the beginning of the administrative proceedings, the public servants who could have been responsible for the delays and neglect in investigating the events that caused the death of Mr. Bradley Roland Will.

Likewise, it is asked that the Governor of the state of Oaxaca have the head of the Comptroller Department of the government of the state of Oaxaca hold a hearing in order to determine, from the beginning of the administrative proceedings, the police and prosecution officials who participated in compiling preliminary investigation 1247/C.R./2006, for the violations and deficiencies described in the “Observations” section, and that the Attorney General of the state of Oaxaca hold a hearing in order to determine the probable criminal accountability of the State Prosecution; as well as instruct the head of the Comptroller Department of the government of the state of Oaxaca to hold administrative accountability proceedings regarding the experts who participated in the various reports produced for the inquest and to hold a hearing on the State Prosecution to determine its probable criminal accountability.

Finally, it is asked that the President of the Great Commission of the Honorable Congress of the state of Oaxaca remit the respective instructions, to whom they correspond, in order to hold administrative accountability proceedings regarding the then-municipal president of Santa Lucia del Camino, Oaxaca, for the failure to provide information requested by this National Commission and for hindering its work in defense of human rights.

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