Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2003 - Mexico

Director of the CAPISE threatened and harassed¹³⁶

On 1st January 2003, Mr. Ernesto Ledesma Arronte, director and founder of the Centre for Political Analysis and Social and Economic Research (CAPISE, Centro de Análisis Político de Investigaciones Sociales y Económicas), received death threats by telephone. A male voice said "We are going to kill you, son of a bitch" after which the caller immediately hung up.

On 3rd January, when Mr. Ledesma arrived at the office of CAPISE, he noticed that the door was open, even though none of his colleagues had arrived yet. No documents were stolen, suggesting that the sole purpose of the break-in was to intimidate members of the centre. A complaint, number AL40/026/03-01 was filed with the Public Prosecutor's Office for Altos Zone and with the Office of the General Prosecutor of Chiapas State, but there has been no progress on the enquiry. CAPISE also requested provisional measures, but these were denied.

Mr. Ledesma had already been harassed in 2002. On 18th November 2002, when returning home, he had smelled a strong odour of gas and noticed that two gas taps were on. CAPISE is active in denouncing human rights abuses committed by the armed forces and paramilitary groups against indigenous communities in Chiapas State.

A member of the LIMEDDH threatened and harassed¹³⁷

On 20th January 2003, Mr. Arturo López Magaña, who works for the Mexican League for the Defence of Human Rights (LIMEDDH, Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos), was arrested close to his home by officers of the national police of Playa del Carmen, in Quintana Roo State. The officers did not show a warrant for his arrest. They confiscated his vehicle, informing him that they were acting on higher orders. A complaint was filed with the Public Justice Ministry of Quintana Roo State for theft and abuse of authority. However, in December 2003, the vehicle has still not been returned to its owner.

On the next day, 21st January 2003, Mr. López Magaña received a message from Henry Boldo Osorio, chief of police and municipal traffic, asking him to "calm down" because of "instructions to harm him". A patrol of police vehicles parked close to Mr. López Magaña's home was also reported.

It seems that these threats are linked to Mr. López Magaña's environmental activism, in particular advice and support he provided to prevent the construction of a port in Playa del Carmen. In December 2002, before the incident, Mr. López Magaña had received several threats from the State judicial police because of his intervention to help the residents of Colonia Colosio legalise their land and avoid being evicted.

Members of ACAT threatened in Oaxaca¹³⁸

On 1st March 2003, an anonymous letter was found at the office of Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT, Acción Cristiana para la Abolición de la Tortura) in Oaxaca, apparently from a member of Santiago Xochiltepec community, containing death threats against Mr. Samuel Alfonso Castellanos Pinon, a lawyer, unless he ceased representing the detainees from Teojomulco in the Agua Fría case. The letter also contained insults and threats directed at Mr. Castellanos Pinon, Mrs. Béatrice Casas Arellanes, a volunteer, and Mr. Carlos Cruz Mozo and Mr. Inocencio López Michel, members of the Indigenous Organisation for Human Rights in Oaxaca (OIDHO, Organización Indígena de Derechos Humanos de Oaxaca).

On the same day, at around 8 p.m. when he returned home, Mr. Castellanos noticed that he was being followed by a man who walked very close to him and carried something bulky at his belt. When he came close to the bus stop, he was joined by two other men who drew attention to themselves by showing something at their belts, probably firearms.

In the Agua Fría case, in May 2002, 26 indigenous people were massacred, sparking an outcry. On the next day, the authorities arbitrarily arrested 26 members from the neighbouring communities. Since October 2002, Mr. Castellanos and Mrs. Casas have represented the defendants in the Agua Fría case. They obtained the conditional release of six detainees and appealed for ten detainees who received formal confirmation of their detention.

On 24th February 2003, five days before the threats, the appeal process reached a conclusion. On 26th February, Mr. Castellanos stated to the press that the appeal rulings did not go far enough, because the trial was full of irregularities and violations of individual guarantees. He added that he hoped the detainees would be released on those grounds.

Mr. Castellanos and Mrs. Casas denounced the acts of harassment of which they were victims to the General Prosecutor for the State of Oaxaca and to the State Human Rights Commission.

On 31st March, Alfonso Castellanos received another death threat. On the front door of ACAT's office, an anonymous message to Mr. Castellanos was found, asking him to withdraw from the defence of the detainees from Tejomulco within one month, and threatening to kill him if he did not. The message also named other people who work to defend detainees, in particular members of the OIDHO. Apparently the wording was more aggressive than the message received on 1st March and suggested that the authors knew the daily habits of the persons threatened.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

136. See Urgent Appeal MEX 001/0103/OBS 001.

137. See Urgent Appeal MEX 001/0103/OBS 003.

138. See Urgent Appeal MEX 003/0303/OBS 011 and MEX 003/0303/OBS 011.1.