Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2004 - Mexico

Investigation into the assassination of Mrs. Digna Ochoa y Plácido¹⁷⁸

On 19 October 2001, Mrs. Digna Ochoa y Plácido, head of the legal department of the Miguel Agustín Pro-Juárez Centre for Human Rights (Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro-Juárez – PRODH) and eminent human rights defender, was killed by an unidentified person in her office in Mexico City. In 2003, the official investigation, led by the State Public Prosecutor of Mexico City (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Distrito Federal), concluded that it was a case of suicide. In June 2003, the IACHR presented the authorities with a report that revealed several irregularities in the investigation. The report particularly pointed out the lack of precision with which the first autopsy was performed, in addition to irregularities in the gathering, treatment and preservation of evidence, as well as the strange appearance, eighteen months after the events, of new determining information. The report also highlighted the lack of attention given to all the different investigative leads. Despite this criticism, the case was closed, apparently without any resolution of these shortcomings.

On 15 November 2004, the Counsel for the Law and Human Rights (Consejo para la Ley y los Derechos Humanos), a Mexican NGO, published a report on Mrs. Ochoa's murder after having conducted an independent investigation. This report stated that the official investigation was carried out in the non-respect of the national law and of the human rights of the victim and her family. It is also likely that the criminal investigation was manipulated. The NGO filed a complaint with the federal district Commission for Human Rights in order to prove that Mrs. Digna Ochoa y Plácido was indeed assassinated.

Threats against Mr. Arturo Solís¹⁷⁹

On 4 February 2004, Mr. Arturo Solís, chairman of the Centre for Border Studies and the Promotion of Human Rights (Centro de Estudios Fronterizos de Promoción de los Derechos Humanos – CEFPRODHAC), received death threats over the telephone. He had previously received similar threats in January 2004, after having made public statements on the presumed responsibility of the Mexican police in the December 2003 assassination of businessman Mr. José Antonio Cervantes Ezpeleta.

Threats and harassment against a member of the Human Rights Committee¹⁸⁰

The Human Rights Committee, an affiliate of the Mexican League for the Defence of Human Rights (Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos – LIMEDDH), received threats aimed particularly at Mr. Fray Blas Alvarado, secretary of the Tenosique section of the Committee in the state of Tabasco, on the Guatemalan border. On 6 February 2004, Mr. Alvarado received a threatening letter tied to an iguana's tail that was hidden in a plastic bag. Mr. Alvarado has been threatened since 2002 because of his activities in favour of illegal migrants, to whom he provides legal and social support.

Harassment of women's rights defenders in the State of Chihuahua¹⁸¹

Women's rights defenders in the State of Chihuahua, and particularly lawyer Mrs. Luz Esthela Castro, Mrs. Guadalupe Ramos, Mr. Gabino Gómez, husband of lawyer Mrs. Alma Gómez, all three members of "Justice for our Daughters" (Justicia para Nuestras Hijas), were harassed by the public Prosecutor of the State of Chihuahua.

On 13 February 2004, the day before the celebration of "V-Day" (global movement "Against violence against women"), in which Mrs. Luz Esthela Castro, Mrs. Alma Gomez and Mr. Gabingo Gomez were to participate, the Prosecutor decided to open an investigation into serious crimes supposedly committed by Mrs. Castro, Mr. Gómez, and Mrs. Guadalupe Ramos, including acts of rebellion, individual resistance to authority, and denial of freedom, whereas none of the parties was aware of such incidents.

These incidents seem to be related to the activity of Mrs. Esthela Castro, Mrs. Alma Gómez and Mr. Gabino Gómez, and of members of organisations such as "El Barzon," an NGO that regroups numerous Mexicans affected by the fall of the peso in 1994, particularly farmers, peasants, and manual labourers. They occurred just a few weeks before the Chihuahua Court opened on 6 March 2004, for the judgment of government employees suspected of involvement in the assassination of women in the region. Mrs. Luz Esthela Castro and Mrs. Alma Gomez are lawyers known for their fight in favour of women's rights in Chihuahua and who closely work with the defence of women assassinated both in Ciudad Juarez and in Chihuahua.¹⁸²

Arbitrary detention of the environmental activist Mr. Felipe Arreaga Sánchez¹⁸³

On 3 November 2004, Mr. Felipe Arreaga Sánchez, secretary of the Sierra de Petatlán Environmental Organisation (Organización Ecologista de la Sierra de Petatlán – OESP), in the State of Guerrero, was arrested by the ministerial police of the State of Guerrero in Petatlán while he was returning from the "Sierra". He was accompanied by the Parazal city commissioner, Mr. Damián Ruiz. Mr. Felipe Arreaga Sánchez is a known human rights defender involved in the fight against the deforestation of the Guerrero Sierra. In the past, he had already been the victim of harassment by military and police authorities because of his activities.

Mr. Arreaga Sánchez's detention is founded on the charge of the homicide of Mr. Abel Bautista Guillén. Mr. Guillén was the son of Nino Bautista, known as the "Cacique" (someone who holds a lot of power in a region, sometimes including power over the region's authorities) and who worked in the region's wood business. The homicide occurred on 30 May 1998, near the village of Mameyal. Mr. Arreaga Sánchez was also accused of "criminal association." Yet six years ago, on the date of the crime, Mr. Sánchez was in the village of Las Mesas, recovering from a spinal column injury that prevented him from walking. According to the evidence produced, this accusation and the detention that followed are unfounded and seem to represent the beginning of a new surge in the repression of environmental defenders. On 9 November 2004, Mr. Sánchez was officially informed by the main criminal secretary, Mr. Alberto Gómez Ramírez, of the warrant issued against him and decreed by the main criminal judge, Mr. José Jacobo Orostieta Pérez. Later, on 15 November 2004, evidence proving Sánchez's innocence was presented. Yet the judge considered to be insufficient the statements by witnesses saying they had seen and aided Mr. Sánchez in the village of Las Mesas at the time Mr. Guillén was assassinated. The criminal judge, who issued the warrant, considered that the accused is responsible for providing the evidence.

In late 2004, Mr. Sánchez shared his cell with 15 other inmates in the prison of Zihuatanejo, and the extremely precarious detention conditions somewhat worsened his back pain.

The members of the Sierra de Petatlán environmental organisation have on several occasions been the victims of accusations, threats, persecutions, and even assassinations. Environmentalists Messrs. and Mrs. Aniceto Martínez, Elena Barajas, Romualdo Gómez García, Salomé Sánchez Ortíz, Jesús Cabrera González, Sergio Cabrera Gonzï¿¡les, members of the organisation, were assassinated between May 1998 and May 1999.

[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.]

178. See Annual Report 2001.

179. See Urgent Appeal MEX 001/0204/OBS 012.

180. See Urgent Appeal MEX 003/0304/OBS 015.

181. See Open Letter to the Mexican authorities, 19 March 2004.

182. Since 1993, more than 400 women and girls have disappeared and have been assassinated in Ciudad Juárez and in Chihuahua. These cases have gone unpunished, particularly because of corruption among police and legal authorities.

183. See Urgent Appeal MEX 004/1204/OBS 094.