NOTE: A partner
organization of CPT’s Chiapas, Mexico project (closed nine years ago) has
requested that we share the following communiqué and appeal for action after recent
death threats directed against workers in two other partner organizations.
On 24 November 2010, Ms Margarita Guadalupe Martínez Martínez,
the wife of human rights defender Mr. Adolfo Guzmán Ordaz, again received death
threats from unknown individuals after being intercepted on a public street in
the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas as she walked unaccompanied by her
security guard.
Further
Information
Adolfo Guzmán Ordaz is a member of the organization Enlace,
Comunicación, y Capacitación (“Connection, Communication and Training”), a grassroots
organization based in Chiapas that works for sustainable development, human
rights and gender equality for indigenous peoples and rural workers in central
and southern Mexico.
Martínez and her family had previously received death threats on
1 March 2010 and 23 December 2009. The threats also made reference to human rights organization
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas A.C. -Frayba, an
independent organization defending the rights of indigenous peoples in Chiapas.
On 24 November 2010, Margarita Martínez Martínez visited a café in
the center of the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas after attending a meeting
with a representative of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human
Rights. Upon leaving the café she noticed that her security guard, a policeman who
has been assigned to her as a precautionary measure upon recommendation of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, was not waiting for her outside.
She proceeded to leave the café
and walked one block away, where she was intercepted by two individuals. One
was in a white Ranger van; the other, on foot, told her to walk two blocks
where she would be met by another person who would give her further
instructions. They threatened to kill her if she did not do as instructed.
Upon meeting the third individual, she was handed a piece of
paper with a message written in letters cut from a newspaper saying (in
Spanish), “Diego, the life of this family
is in your hands, you will face charges, (expletive) defenders.”
She was ordered to bring the note to the offices of Frayba,
whose Director is Diego Cadenas Gordillo, because “they are pieces of (expletive), they are just trying to destabilize the
State, they justify their spending by saying it is to help the most needy
access justice, what justice, not even the mother of justice, (expletive).”
After demanding that she deliver those and other threats to the
staff at Frayba, the individual told her to walk a couple of blocks and then
take a taxi to the municipal cemetery “to
chat with your little dead friends because soon you will find yourself with
them” before then taking the taxi to the market “without doing anything stupid because you’re a dead person.”
Martínez was followed by the people in the white van to ensure
that she carried out the full instructions, but once in the city center she
managed to lose the vehicle in traffic. She went immediately to the offices of
Frayba. The police officer responsible for her security reported that he never left
the café where Martínez had been and that at no point had he seen her leave the
premises.
On 23 November 2010, there was an electrical failure at
Martínez’s home following which her security cameras failed to work. Front Line, an organization for the
protection of human rights defenders, believes that Margarita Martínez
Martínez, her family and Frayba are being targeted because of their activities
in defense of human rights, in particular the rights of indigenous peoples in
Mexico. Front Line is deeply concerned for the physical and psychological
integrity of Martínez, her family and all those working with Frayba. Front Line
views these incidents as part of an ongoing campaign of harassment, intimidation,
stigmatization and threats in the context of a hostile and dangerous environment
for human rights defenders in Mexico, especially in Chiapas.
Please take
action on behalf of Mexican human rights defender Margarita Martínez Martínez.
Copy the enclosed letter (below)
and send it to the addresses below.
Alternatively, you may go to www.redtdt.org.mx/d_acciones/d_visual.php?id_accion=114
to send a similar letter to the same recipients in Spanish through Mexico’s
National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations.
Thank you for taking action on behalf of human rights defender
Margarita Martínez Martínez.
Letter:
Your Excellency,
On 24 November 2010, Ms Margarita Guadalupe Martínez Martínez,
the wife of human rights defender Mr. Adolfo Guzmán Ordaz, again received
death threats from unknown individuals after being intercepted on a public street
in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas as she walked unaccompanied by her
security guard. Adolfo Guzmán Ordaz is a member of the organization Enlace,
Comunicación yCapacitación – Enlace CC (“Connection, Communication and
Training”). Enlace CC is a civil organization based in Chiapas which works for
sustainable development for indigenous peoples and rural workers in central and
southern Mexico, incorporating human rights and gender equality as its guiding
principles. An appeal was
previously issued in relation to death threats against Margarita Martínez
Martínez and her family on 1 March 2010 and 23 December 2009.
The threats also made reference to human rights organization
Centro de DerechosHumanos Fray Bartolomé de Las
Casas A.C. -Frayba, an independent organization working to promote and defend the rights of indigenous peoples
in the State of
Chiapas.
I urge the Mexican authorities to:
1. Carry out an immediate, impartial and thorough investigation
into the death threats against Margarita Martínez Martínez, and the
members of Frayba, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those
responsible to justice in accordance with international standards; 2. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of
Margarita Martínez Martínez, her family and all members of Frayba, particularly
by ensuring that adequate and effective security measures are provided to protect
human rights defenders at risk; 3. Ensure that all human rights defenders in Chiapas, carrying
out their legitimate work in the defense of human rights, are able to operate
free of restrictions and reprisals.
Yours sincerely,
Target addresses:
Dr. José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez
Unidad de Defensores
Comisión Interamericana de
Derechos Humanos
1889 F Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
USA
Fax 1-202-458-3992
cidhdenuncias@oas.org, cidhdefensores@oas.org
Lic. Felipe de Jesús Calderón
Hinojosa
Presidente de la República
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos
Casa Miguel Alemán
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec,
C.P. 11850, México DF
Tel: (52.55) 2789.1100 Fax: (52.55
) 5277.2376
Correo: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx
Lic. José Francisco Blake Mora
Secretario de Gobernación
Bucareli 99, 1er. Piso, Col.
Juárez,
Del. Cuauhtémoc,
C.P. 06600 México D.F.
Fax: (52.55) 50933414
Correo: secretario@segob.gob.mx, contacto@segob.gob.mx
Lic. Juan José Sabines Guerrero
Gobernador Constitucional del
Estado de Chiapas
Palacio de Gobierno del Estado de
Chiapas
Av. Central y Primera Oriente,
Colonia Centro, C.P. 29009
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Fax: +52 961 61 88088 ? + 52 961
6188056
Correo: secparticular@chiapas.gob.mx
Dr. Noé Castañón León
Secretario General de Gobierno del
Estado de Chiapas
Palacio de Gobierno, 2o. piso,
Colonia Centro, C.P. 29000
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Conmutador: + 52 (961) 61 2-90-47,
61 8-74-60
Correo: secretario@secgobierno.chiapas.gob.mx
Lic. Raciel López Salazar
Procuraduría General de Justicia
de Chiapas
Libramiento Norte Y Rosa Del
Oriente, No. 2010, Col. El Bosque
C.P. 29049 Tuxtla Gutiérrez,
Chiapas
Conmutador: 01 (961) 6-17-23-00.
Teléfono: + 52 (961) 61 6-53-74, 616-53-76,
61 6-57-24, 61 6-34-50
Correo: raciel.lopez@pgje.chiapas.gob.mx
Send a copy to: —
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray
Bartolomé de Las Casas A.C.
Calle Brasil #14, Barrio
Mexicanos,
San Cristóbal de Las Casas,
Chiapas, México
Código Postal: 29240
Tel +52 (967) 6787395, 6787396,
6783548
Fax +52 (967) 6783551
