URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa04610.pdf
3 March 2010
UA 46/10 - Fear for safety
MEXICO
Blanca Mesina Navarez (f)
Silvia Vazquez Camacho (f), lawyer
Blanca Mesina, the daughter of a Mexican torture victim in Tijuana, has received a death threat. The victim's lawyer, Silvia Vazquez Camacho, has also received a death threat and her family's van has been petrol bombed.
Miguel Angel Mesina Lopez was one of 25 police officers detained and tortured by the military in Tijuana, Baja California state, in March 2009. On 28 February 2010, his daughter, Blanca Mesina Navarez, received a telephone threat. Blanca Mesina has worked with human rights lawyer, Silvia Vazquez Camacho and the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, CMDPDH) to press for justice in her father's case, including appearing before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in October 2009.
On 2 February 2010, Silvia Vazquez Camacho's parents received a threatening phone call at home. On 17 February, her parents heard sounds from outside their house and went to investigate. They saw the family's van on fire and two men fleeing. After extinguishing the fire, they saw that the window had been smashed and they found the remains of a Molotov cocktail inside, which had been used to set the fire.
As well as Miguel Angel Mesina Lopez's case, Silvia Vazquez Camacho and CMDPDH have been documenting human rights violations of other criminal suspects held in the military base in Tijuana, including torture or other ill-treatment.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In Blanca Mesina Navarez's telephone threat, she was told to "drop the police case now bitch or it is going to go badly for you" (hija de tu chingada madre, ya deja el asunto de los policias o te va a ir mal).
In the threatening phone call that Silvia Vazquez Camacho's parents received, the caller said: "I know who you are and I now know where you live...you are going around denouncing many things...the Zetas (a notorious criminal gang) are looking for you to kill you" ("ya se quien eres, te tengo ubicada...tu andas denunciando muchas cosas... los zetas te estan buscando para matarte"). The caller then identified himself as belonging to the Baja California State Attorney General's Office and said "they are going to kill her if she carries on denouncing, they are already after her" ("se van a chingar a esta vieja si sigue denunciando,ya la estan buscando").
Human rights defenders in Mexico face threats, attacks, politically motivated criminal charges and imprisonment for leading protests or promoting respect for human rights. The government has agreed to provide protection measures to defenders at risk, but has yet to develop a mechanism for delivering effective and credible protection in many cases. In particular, the investigations into those behind threats and attacks rarely result in the prosecution of perpetrators; impunity is the general rule in these cases, leaving open the possibility of further attacks.
In November 2009 Amnesty International issued a report, Mexico: New reports of human rights violations by the military, which documented several cases of arbitrary detention and torture at the military base in Tijuana, Baja California state and the efforts of victims, relatives and human rights defenders to file complaints. These cases are routinely investigated and tried by the military justice system, which does not guarantee an impartial and independent investigation, resulting in impunity for the vast majority of perpetrators.
The CMDPDH has submitted a request to the Inter American Commission of Human Rights to issue medidas cautelares (protection measures) requiring the Mexican authorities to guarantee Silvia Vazquez Camacho's safety.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for Blanca Mesina Navarez, Silvia Vazquez Camacho and her family to receive effective protection, in line with their wishes;
- Calling for a full, prompt and impartial investigation of the telephone threats against both women and the attack on the vehicle of Silvia Vazquez' family;
- Urging that possible links between public officials and those behind the threats are fully investigated;
- Reminding the authorities of their commitment to uphold the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders and their right to carry out their activities without obstacles or fear of reprisals.
APPEALS TO:
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 Baja California State
Lic. Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan
Gobernador del Estado de Baja California
Edificio del Poder Ejecutivo 3er Piso,
Calzada Independencia No. 994,
Mexicali B.C. CP 21000
Fax: (686) 558-1178
Email: gobernador@baja.gob.mx
Salutation: Sr Gobernador/Dear Governor
Attorney General of the Republic
Arturo Chavez Chavez
Procurador General de la Republica
Procuraduria General de la Republica
Av. Paseo de la Reforma no. 211-213,
Col. Cuauhtemoc, Del. Cuauhtemoc
Mexico D.F., C.P. 06500, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5346 0908
Email: ofproc@pgr.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Attorney General/Senor Procurador General
Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights
(Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos ),
Tehuantepec 142, Col. Roma Sur
06760 Mexico, DF
MEXICO
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 14 April 2010.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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