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50 signatures so far! Petition created by: EdinChiapas Solidarity Group To the Ministers of the First Chamber of the Supreme Court: Jose de Jesus Gudino Pelayo, Olga María del Carmen Sánchez Cordero de García Villegas, Juan N. Silva Meza, Arturo Zaldivar Lelo De Larrea, Jose Ramon Cossio Diaz. To the National and International Public Opinion. We know the serious Human Rights violations that the Mexican government committed on May 3rd and 4th, in 2006 in San Salvador Atenco. Following these events 12 people are still in prison. We are concerned that the legal process followed was full of irregularities, it did not respected the principle of presumption of innocence or the guarantees of due process, and the evidence on which their convictions were founded was illegally obtained. We believe that these irregularities negated their right to a fair trial. It is a grave concern that the offence of "kidnapping" which we believe is unconstitutional, can be used to criminalize social demands, and that the justice system and administration was manipulated to criminalise members of the Peoples Front for Land Defence. We also know that there is a legal precedent issued by a judicial organ of the Federation, which held that the acts for which Ignacio del Valle, Felipe Álvarez and Héctor Galindo were sentenced do not constitute the crime of kidnapping; we believe that even though such norms are not legally-binding for the Ministers, this precedent, in the interests of legal safety and consistency as well as regarding the wider implications of the case, can not be ignored. Therefore, we call the First Chamber of the Supreme Court to release the 12 prisoners of Atenco. Sign the petition! Details, Impact and Progress The Peoples Front for Land Defence (FPDT in Spanish) brings together a number of villages and farming communities on the outskirts of Mexico City, including San Salvador Atenco. In 2002 they commenced a process of peasant resistance to the plan for a new airport that would expel them from their land. After an intense process of social mobilization, the airport project was cancelled. After its struggle The FPDT became a national and international reference for Mexican social movements defending their land. On May 3rd and 4th, 2006 the residents of San Salvador Atenco suffered Mexican state repression that prompted one of the most violent police operations in the country's history, resulting in the death of two young men, more than 200 arbitrary arrests, gross human rights violations of detainees involving police brutality, torture and sexual abuse of thirty female detainees, and irregularities in the legal process. The repression in the case of San Salvador Atenco has become emblematic as many different human rights documented the violations and disseminated their reports. Even Mexican state agencies such as the Supreme Court have recognized that such violations took place. More than four years after the events, 12 people are still unjustly imprisoned. They are political prisoners of the Mexican state. As part of a national and international campaign called Freedom and Justice for Atenco an ad was posted in a national newspaper in June, to demand their freedom. Before the end of June the Supreme Court's Office will decide on the release of these 12 prisoners. It is their last legal recourse. It is a turning point. This legal battle is a fight to throw out sentences ranging from 31 to up to 112 years in prison. This is an urgent request for signatures from numerous individuals and organizations, national and international. The legal elements integrated in the text have been endorsed and supported by leading human rights centres such as the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center and the Fray Francisco de Vitoria Human Rights Center, as well as specialists from the community of expertise in human rights and democracy in the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences Mexico (FLACSO Mexico). That is why we invite you to sign the text attached below. We hope you can support this process for freedom and justice, and in defence of those fighting for the land. COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM AND JUSTICE ATENCO: The People's Front in Defence of the Land, Relatives of Prisoners and Persecuted, Legal Services, Legal Research, Services and Advice for Peace (Serapaz), Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Centre, Women Without Fear, Fray Francisco de Vitoria Human Rights Centre, Cerezo Committee, Romero Committee, Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity, National Centre for Social Communication (CENCOS), Youth in Alternative Resistance, Bishop Emeritus Samuel Ruiz Garcia of the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas, actress Ofelia Medina, musician Manu Chao, actress Julieta Egurrola, Raul Vera Bishop of the Diocese of Saltillo, Coahuila, academic Adolfo Gilly, actor Daniel Gimenez Cacho, philosopher Luis Villoro, singer Ruben Albarran, rock band Cafe Tacvba, actor Bruno Bichir, Dominican friar Fray Miguel Concha Malo, director of the Center for Human Rights Fray Francisco de Vitoria, Roco Pachukote vocalist of the rock band Maldita Vecindad and children of Quinto Patio, Gilberto López y Rivas, anthropologist, journalist Luis Hernández Navarro, Carlos Fazio, academic Guillermo Almeyra, Los de Abajo ska and rock band, actresses The Queens of Chulas. Comments Note: This service is provided as a service to TakingITGlobal Members. This petition does not necessarily represent the views of TakingITGlobal as an organization. |
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