August 15th, 2003
We have received information from the Union Hidalgo Citizens Committee informing us that Francisco de la Rosa was released from prison on July 11th 2003. In response to his legal appeal, the Oaxaca Superior Court of Justice had ordered his release, following their ruling that he was innocent of the crime of which he was accused. This decision also has important positive implications for the cases of the imprisoned Union Hidalgo Citizens Committee members Carlos Manzo and Luis Alberto Marín. All three men were arrested in mid–May.
(Our earlier message to you, dated June 23rd and based on the reported remarks of a state government official, stating that Francisco de la Rosa and Luis Alberto Marín were at that time on the point of being released, turned out – as you will have realized – to be erroneous.)
In an August 13th message, the Union Hidalgo Citizens Committee state that their two members who are still in prison are being held in very poor conditions. Carlos Manzo, in particular, has a serious cold, which they ascribe to his not having even been assigned a prison cell and therefore being obliged to sleep on the floor. It must also be remembered that two members of Francisco de la Rosa's family died in a car accident; they were driving to Oaxaca City to take part in a protest against the imprisonment of the three men – as well as against the state government's failure to give a proper response to the political crisis in Union Hidalgo.
According to the Citizens Committee, the state government has still not carried out an audit of the Union Hidalgo municipal government, and no steps have been taken to bring about the formal destitution of the municipal government. (The municipal government has been very closely associated with illegal attempts to build an industrial shrimp farm on communal lands in Union Hidalgo. It is also suspected of having misused public funds. The municipal president, Armando Sánchez Ruíz, is allegedly responsible for ordering the municipal police to shoot into a crowd of protesting citizens, one of whom, Manuel Salinas Santiago, was killed by gunfire. See urgent action May 22nd, 2003.)
In their August 13th 2003 message, which commemorated the six–months annniversary of the death of Manuel Salinas Santiago, the Citizens Committee state that they are determined to continue their political struggle. They and the Council of Elders are proud to be working to keep alive the local economy; they report that they have organized more than five local markets where the products of local fishermen and farmers are sold. Through their voluntary efforts, the Citizens Committee, the Council of Elders, and various community groups have organized important community events and even worked at the neighbourhood level in the resolution of social conflicts. Together, the people of Union Hidalgo have managed to resist the constant threats of the police and the local PRI politicians and to prevent the allegedly corrupt municipal officials, whose destitution the Citizens Committee have requested, from returning to the Municipal Hall.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please write to the Mexican government and to the government of Oaxaca to express your satisfaction at learning of the release from prison of Francisco de la Rosa and your hope that Carlos Manzo and Luis Alberto Marín will be released in the near future.
Please urge the government to take immediate steps to respond to the requests of the citizens of Hidalgo for the destitution of the present municipal government and the naming of an interim administration pending the election of a new government, and that this measure be accompanied by a complete auditing of the municipality's finances.
Please send a copy of your letters to the Canadian government with a brief covering message. You may wish to point out to the Canadian government that social and political conflicts in rural Mexico are all too often exacerbated by the ill–chosen and environmentally–destructive projects, such as the proposed shrimp farm in Union Hidalgo, that characterize the neoliberal development model.
ADDRESSES:
For Mexico:
Lic. Ricardo Sepúlveda
Director General de Derechos Humanos
Secretaria de Gobernación (Ministry of the Interior)
Reforma 99, Colonia Tabacalera
CP 006030, Mexico D.F., MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 51 28 02 34
rsepulveda@segob.gob.mx
Lic. José Murat Casab
Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, México
Fax: 011–52–951–516–3737 (If possible, please send your messge by fax)
gobernador@oaxaca.gob.mx
Please send copies of your letters to:
Her Excellency María Teresa García
Ambassador for Mexico
45 O'Connor Street, suite 1500
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4
FAX: 613 235 9123
info@embamexcan.com
FOR CANADA:
Ms. Susan Gregson, Director
Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs and International Women's Equality Division (AGH)
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive, B4
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G2
FAX: 613 943 0606
susan.gregson.agh@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
If possible, please also send copies of your letters to the CCU at sonseluna@hotmail.com and to the Miguel Agustín Pro Human Rights Centre at prodh@sjsocial.org
One imprisoned member of the union Hidalgo citizens committee is released; two others remain in prison; the government has not yet taken steps to address the political crisis in the municipality of union Hidalgo in the state of Oaxaca.
We have received information from the Union Hidalgo Citizens Committee informing us that Francisco de la Rosa was released from prison on July 11th 2003. In response to his legal appeal, the Oaxaca Superior Court of Justice had ordered his release, following their ruling that he was innocent of the crime of which he was accused. This decision also has important positive implications for the cases of the imprisoned Union Hidalgo Citizens Committee members Carlos Manzo and Luis Alberto Marín. All three men were arrested in mid–May.
(Our earlier message to you, dated June 23rd and based on the reported remarks of a state government official, stating that Francisco de la Rosa and Luis Alberto Marín were at that time on the point of being released, turned out – as you will have realized – to be erroneous.)
In an August 13th message, the Union Hidalgo Citizens Committee state that their two members who are still in prison are being held in very poor conditions. Carlos Manzo, in particular, has a serious cold, which they ascribe to his not having even been assigned a prison cell and therefore being obliged to sleep on the floor. It must also be remembered that two members of Francisco de la Rosa's family died in a car accident; they were driving to Oaxaca City to take part in a protest against the imprisonment of the three men – as well as against the state government's failure to give a proper response to the political crisis in Union Hidalgo.
According to the Citizens Committee, the state government has still not carried out an audit of the Union Hidalgo municipal government, and no steps have been taken to bring about the formal destitution of the municipal government. (The municipal government has been very closely associated with illegal attempts to build an industrial shrimp farm on communal lands in Union Hidalgo. It is also suspected of having misused public funds. The municipal president, Armando Sánchez Ruíz, is allegedly responsible for ordering the municipal police to shoot into a crowd of protesting citizens, one of whom, Manuel Salinas Santiago, was killed by gunfire. See urgent action May 22nd, 2003.)
In their August 13th 2003 message, which commemorated the six–months annniversary of the death of Manuel Salinas Santiago, the Citizens Committee state that they are determined to continue their political struggle. They and the Council of Elders are proud to be working to keep alive the local economy; they report that they have organized more than five local markets where the products of local fishermen and farmers are sold. Through their voluntary efforts, the Citizens Committee, the Council of Elders, and various community groups have organized important community events and even worked at the neighbourhood level in the resolution of social conflicts. Together, the people of Union Hidalgo have managed to resist the constant threats of the police and the local PRI politicians and to prevent the allegedly corrupt municipal officials, whose destitution the Citizens Committee have requested, from returning to the Municipal Hall.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please write to the Mexican government and to the government of Oaxaca to express your satisfaction at learning of the release from prison of Francisco de la Rosa and your hope that Carlos Manzo and Luis Alberto Marín will be released in the near future.
Please urge the government to take immediate steps to respond to the requests of the citizens of Hidalgo for the destitution of the present municipal government and the naming of an interim administration pending the election of a new government, and that this measure be accompanied by a complete auditing of the municipality's finances.
Please send a copy of your letters to the Canadian government with a brief covering message. You may wish to point out to the Canadian government that social and political conflicts in rural Mexico are all too often exacerbated by the ill–chosen and environmentally–destructive projects, such as the proposed shrimp farm in Union Hidalgo, that characterize the neoliberal development model.
ADDRESSES:
For Mexico:
Lic. Ricardo Sepúlveda
Director General de Derechos Humanos
Secretaria de Gobernación (Ministry of the Interior)
Reforma 99, Colonia Tabacalera
CP 006030, Mexico D.F., MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 51 28 02 34
rsepulveda@segob.gob.mx
Lic. José Murat Casab
Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, México
Fax: 011–52–951–516–3737 (If possible, please send your messge by fax)
gobernador@oaxaca.gob.mx
Please send copies of your letters to:
Her Excellency María Teresa García
Ambassador for Mexico
45 O'Connor Street, suite 1500
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4
FAX: 613 235 9123
info@embamexcan.com
FOR CANADA:
Ms. Susan Gregson, Director
Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs and International Women's Equality Division (AGH)
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive, B4
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G2
FAX: 613 943 0606
susan.gregson.agh@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
If possible, please also send copies of your letters to the CCU at sonseluna@hotmail.com and to the Miguel Agustín Pro Human Rights Centre at prodh@sjsocial.org