Urgent Action 2-11-10

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

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http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa03310.pdf

11 February 2010

UA 33/10 - Prisoner of conscience

MEXICO
Alberta Alcantara Juan (f)
Teresa Gonzalez Cornelio (f)

Two Indigenous women from Mexico, detained for three years for a crime they did not commit, will learn within the next few weeks whether their sentences will be confirmed or overturned. They are prisoners of conscience and should be released immediately.

Alberta Alcantara Juan and Teresa Gonzalez Cornelio, Otomi Indigenous women from the community of Santiago Mexquititlan, Queretaro state, have been detained since 3 August 2006. They were arrested with a third Indigenous woman, Jacinta Francisco Marcial, and charged with kidnapping six Federal Investigation Agency (AFI) agents.

On 26 March 2006, the six AFI agents entered the main market in Santiago Mexquititlan. They claimed to be trying to locate drugs and illegal DVDs, but failed to provide a warrant or identify themselves, and damaged stallholders' merchandise. The agents tried to confiscate goods, and as tensions rose, vendors punctured some of the agents' car tires. According to members of the community, the incident ended peacefully later that day. However, that evening, the agents filed a complaint with the Federal Attorney General's Office, alleging that they had been kidnapped for several hours by the protestors. Local lawyers believe there are no grounds to allege a kidnapping took place.

More than four months later, the three women were arrested and charged with the kidnapping. They were each sentenced to 21 years in prison. The only evidence against them was a photograph published in a local newspaper in which the three women are seen standing next to the AFI agents. Amnesty International believes that the imprisonment of the three women was in retaliation for the way the local market stallholders reacted on 26 March 2006. The organization considers that the charges against the three were fabricated and that they were framed as convenient targets simply because of their marginal status in society as poor Indigenous women. All three women won an appeal against their conviction in April 2009, prompting a retrial, at which no new evidence was presented. Jacinta Francisco Marcial was released in September 2009, when the Federal Attorney General's Office decided to drop the case during the retrial due to a lack of evidence. However, the Federal Attorney General's Office decided to continue to press charges against Teresa and Alberta and seek their reconviction, even though their case relied on the same evidence. The final hearing of the women's retrial was held on 3 February. The judge was given 30 working days from 3 February to issue a verdict.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Alberta Alcantara Juan and Teresa Gonzalez Cornelio stating the belief that they are prisoners of conscience


APPEALS TO:

President
Lic. Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa
Presidente de la Republica Mexicana
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos
Casa Miguel Aleman,
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, Mexico DF.
11850, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 50934900
Email: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx
Salutation: Estimado Presidente / Dear President

Minister of the Interior
Lic. Fernando Francisco Gomez-Mont Urueta
Secretario de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez,
Delegacion Cuauhtemoc, Mexico D.F.,
06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/ Dear Minister

Governor of Queretaro
Lic. Jose E. Calzada Rovirosa
Gobernador del Estado de Queretaro
Palacio de la Corregidora
Pasteur esq. 5 de Mayo, Centro Historico.
Queretaro, Qro.
76000 MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 442 238 5008

COPIES TO:

Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20006
Fax: 1 202 728 1698
Email: mexembusa@sre.gob.mx


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 15 March 2010.

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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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