Urgent Action 3-4-10

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/uaa04810.pdf

4 March 2010

UA 48/10 Fear for safety

MEXICO Estela Angeles Mondragon (f)
Her daughter (f)

Lawyer Ernesto Rabago Martinez was shot and killed in his office in Chihuahua City, northern Mexico. He and his female partner, Estela Angeles Mondragon, had previously been threatened and attacked because of their legal work for an Indigenous community involved in a land dispute. Estela Angeles Mondragon and her daughter are in grave danger.

Ernesto Rabago was shot and killed on 2 March in the office he shares with his partner, Estela Mondragon. The two lawyers had been representing a group of Raramuri Indigenous People from the village of Bakeachi, in Carichi municipality, Chihuahua state. Part of the land the group live on is occupied illegally by ranchers. On 5 February, an Agrarian Tribunal, a court which rules on land disputes, ordered that the ranchers should leave the land and return it to the Indigenous community. Both Ernesto Rabago and Estela Mondragon have supported “Bowerasa”, a charity set up to deliver health, education and legal services to the Indigenous community of Bakeachi.

On 18 February, the daughter of Ernesto Rabago and Estela Mondragon was shot in the arm while she was sitting in her car parked in the garage of her home. According to Estela Mondragon, the authorities did not investigate the possibility that the attack may be linked to the work of the girl’s parents. Before then, Estela Mondragon had reported to the authorities that she had been threatened on several occasions in relation to her work and that on 28 March 2009, two homemade explosive devices were thrown at Ernesto Rabago and Estela Mondragon’s office, setting it on fire. However, no protection measures had been put in place.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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. For more information, please read Amnesty International’s latest report: “Standing up for justice and dignity. Human rights defenders in Mexico”, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR41/032/2009/en

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for Estela Mondragon and her daughter to receive effective protection, in consultation with them and in accordance with their wishes;
- Calling for a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the killing of Ernesto Rabago in Chihuahua on 2 March including all possible links to his professional activity;
- 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
Secretario de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez,
Delegacion Cuauhtemoc, Mexico D.F.,
06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
Email: secretario@segob.gob.mx
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/Dear Minister

Governor of Chihuahua State
Lic. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas
Gobernador del Estado de Chihuahua,
Palacio de Gobierno,
1er piso, C. Aldama #901, Col. Centro,
Chihuahua, Estado de Chihuahua, C.P. 31000, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 614 429 3300 (then dial extension 11066 when prompted)
Email: gobernador@chihuahua.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Governor/Senor Gobernador

Attorney General of Chihuahua state
Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez
Procuradora del Estado de Chihuahua
Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado
Vicente Guerrero 616, Col. Centro
Chihuahua 31000, MEXICO
Email: pagonzalez@buzon.chihuahua.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Attorney General/ Senora Procuradora General

COPIES TO:

Human rights organization
Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres,
Av. Juarez 4107/B,
Chihuahua, MEXICO
Email: accion@cedehm.org.mx

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 April 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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