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URGENT ACTION: Death threats against members of the human rights organization, Comité Cerezo México.

Sunday 1 July 2007, by Comité Cerezo México

Send letters in Spanish, English or your own language by fax or e-mail with the code number AU-016-2007 DF CEREZO to:

Solidarity organizations and citizens:
To make this Urgent Action effective, compose a message and send it to the e-mail addresses listed below urging authorities to:

+ Take all necessary measures to put an end to the harassment and threats and to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Francisco, Emiliana and Alejandro CEREZO CONTRERAS, and all the members of the Comité Cerezo México, a human rights organization.
+ Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Héctor and Antonio CEREZO CONTRERAS imprisoned in the Federal Social Rehabilitation Center #1 (CEFERESO #1), the "Altiplano" Maximum Security Prison.
+ Carry out a thorough, immediate, impartial investigation into the threats received by the human rights organization, Comité Cerezo México; the results of this investigation should be made public and those responsible for the acts, brought to trial.

felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx, frjramirez@segob.gob.mx, ofproc@pgr.gob.mx, correo@fmdh.cndh.org.mx, mlgutierrezo@segob.gob.mx, emilio.gamboa@congreso.gob.mx, screel@senado.gob.mx, tb-petitions@ohchr.org , cidhoea@oas.org, Appeals@fidh-omct.org , ahurt@amnesty.org, enlace.limeddh@gmail.com, comitecerezo@nodo50.org


2005-2015 "Decade of the struggle against impunity"
AU- 016-2007 – DF – CEREZO
URGENT ACTION: Death threats against members of the human rights organization, Comité Cerezo México.
Mexico City, June 29, 2007

Lic. Felipe Calderón Hinojosa Presidente de la República
Lic. Francisco Ramírez Acuña Secretario de Gobernación
Lic. Eduardo Medina Mora Procurador General de la República
Lic. José Luis Soberanes Fernández Presidente de la CNDH
Dr. Estuardo Mario Bermúdez Molina Unidad de Derechos Humanos SEGOB
Dip. Emilio Gamboa Patrón Presidente de la Junta de Coordinación Política de la Cámara de Diputados
Sen. Santiago Creel Miranda Presidente de la Junta de Coordinación Política de la Cámara de Senadores
Santiago Cantón Secretario Ejecutivo de la CIDH
Louise Arbour High Commissioner of the United Nations
Sr. Amerigo Incalcaterra, Representante en México de la Oficina del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos

La Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (LIMEDDH), la Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos y Victimas de Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos en México (AFADEM-FEDEFAM), la Fundación Diego Lucero, el Comité de Derechos Humanos de las Huastecas y Sierra Oriental (CODHSSO), la Asociación de Derechos Humanos del Estado de México (ADHEM), la Comisión Magisterial de Derechos Humanos (COMADH), el Centro de Derechos Humanos y Asesoría a Pueblos Indígenas (CEDAPHI), La Asociación Mexicana de Asesores en Derechos Humanos (AMADH), la Asociación Nacional de Abogados Democráticos (ANAD), el Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social (CENCOS), with the backing of the undersigned organizations, at the mailing address Avenida Azcapotzalco No. 275, Colonia Clavería, Delegación Azcapotzalco, C.P. 02090, México, D. F., with the telephone number: 53990592 and Fax: 55991336, enlace.limeddh@gmail.com, request your urgent intervention in the face of death threats against members of the human rights organization, Comité Cerezo México.

THE FACTS

On June 26, 2007, around 9:00 p.m., Alejandro Cerezo Contreras noticed that there was an e-mail in the account of the Comité Cerezo México, comitecerezo@nodo50.org, with the following death threat:

"From: tiburcio loxicha
To: ,
Subject: FROM DAD
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:42:22 -0500

how are you? steamed up? what’s going on with the disappeared? family? beloved uncle? fabulous father?
That’s the way it goes, family shit again, what can I say, we’ve got our eye on you three, the others at la palma and your dear family, and your asshole face uncle and your blabbermouth little friend that never shuts up and the other guy who rattles on and on, but maybe they won’t be talking anymore, maybe they’ll never talk again, maybe they’re fucked up for good. . God only knows and your dear little marx and lenin, too, asshole. Tell daddy and mommy not to be gutless, to start some shit, then they’ll see how we’re going to leave you there naked after we fuck you good. Your poor uncle and zapatito thought they were really hot shit and they went down like little southern doves.
We’ll be seeing you,

From the southern sierra.

Your true parents."

The disappeared people alluded to could well refer to Raymundo Rivera Bravo or Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez and Edmundo Reyes Amaya, disappeared in Oaxaca on May 25, and to Gabino Flores Cruz from Ixhuatlán de Madero, Veracruz, linked to adherents to the Other Campaign, which makes the threat even more serious.

The Limeddh hereby expresses our concern in the face of the dangerous climate of attacks against human rights defenders that is worsening in the country, especially in the state of Oaxaca, where there are constant press reports that seek to tie the non-governmental human rights organizations, as well as members and leaders of the social movements, to insurgent groups.

BACKGROUND

On Tuesday, June 12, 2007, Alejandro CEREZO CONTRERAS went to a morphofunctional test at the Sports Medicine Department at one side of the Olympic Stadium of the National Autonomous University of Mexico at 9:00 a.m. The appointment was made by telephone a month ahead of time (from the office telephone of the Comité Cerezo México).
He finished the test and the examinations at 10:30 a.m. While he was waiting for the results, a man sat down in front of him wearing a suit, tie, and dress shoes; he was approximately 6 feet tall, fat, with short hair and a round face. This person did not say a word to anyone. He took out a cell phone with a camera and pointed the camera at Alejandro for about 5 to 7 minutes. When Alejandro left the cubicle where they gave him the results, the person was no longer seated there; he was outside the reception area on the other side of a glass wall, leaning up against the wall.

On Wednesday, June 20, 2007, at 5:30 p.m., Alejandro CEREZO CONTRERAS left a meeting with the Peace Brigades International (PBI) that took place in the office of the human rights organization, Comité Cerezo México. As he got into a taxi, he received a message on the cell phone given him by the Mexican government as part of the precautionary measures of the Interamerican Human Rights Commission (CIDH) with the reference number MC-246-06, saying that he had a voice mail and should press *86 and listen to the following message:

"starts with a shhhshuuuhhh sound, followed by the voice of Emiliana CEREZO CONTRERAS, saying: "he’s a damned dog"...(noise)..."he told me things are going to be done the way he wants them to"..... followed by the voice of Alejandro CEREZO CONTRERAS, which can’t be heard well, then the message ends."

It should be noted that the telephone number that the voice message came from is that of the cell phone also provided by the Mexican government as part of the CIDH precautionary measures, with a reference number MC-246-06. It is carried by Emiliana CEREZO CONTRERAS, who says that she never left a voice mail.

It’s important to mention that these numbers are confidential since they are part of the precautionary measures that certain Mexican government institutions are aware of, particularly those headed by the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB).

We remind you that on August 13, 2001, in Mexico City, the CEREZO CONTRERAS brothers, Alejandro, Héctor, and Antonio, students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM), along with the carpenter Sergio Galicia Max and the indigenous man, Pablo ALVARADO FLORES, were accused of terrorism by the federal Attorney General’s Office after some fireworks were set off at branch banks, and were imprisoned at the “Altiplano” Almoloya de Juárez Maximum Security Prison, formerly known as "La Palma."

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) opened the complaint file 2001 /21 24-1 , and on September 28, in document 017796, concluded that "This National Commission presumed the existence of human rights violations consisting of cruel treatment, especially upon noting the wound presented by Héctor CEREZO CONTRERAS...". Then, the lawyer who had taken charge of the defense, Digna Ochoa y Plácido, was killed on October 19, 2001.

Under these circumstances, and taking into account the threats and persecution of the members of the Comité Cerezo México, an Urgent Action was called for by Amnesty International: AMR 41/003/2002/s sent on January 11, 2002 and a petition was made by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, asking the Mexican government to take precautionary measures; then a second Urgent Action was called for by Amnesty International AMR 41/043/2006 sent on September 11, 2006, due to death threats against Francisco CEREZO CONTRERAS, Emiliana CEREZO CONTRERAS, his sister, members of the CEREZO CONTRERAS family, and members of the human rights organization Comité Cerezo.

We remind you that in view of this new incident, in the document MC-246-06, dated October 30, 2006, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission exhorted the Mexican government to adopt urgent measures in favor of the members of the Comité Cerezo.

With regards to the legal status of the case, we note that Alejandro CEREZO CONTRERAS was freed and exonerated on March 1, 2005, and Pablo ALVARADO FLORES was freed upon completing his sentence on August 13, 2006. Antonio and Héctor CEREZO CONTRERAS were exonerated of various offenses, including terrorism, which reduced their sentences; nevertheless, they are still in prison for the offenses of organized crime and possession of weapons, which were planted.
Héctor and Antonio CEREZO CONTRERAS continue to be imprisoned in the Federal Social Rehabilitation Center #1, "Altiplano" Maximum Security Prison, formerly "La Palma", with 7 ½ year sentences.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

Urge authorities to:

i.Reinforce compliance with precautionary measures in favor of the Cerezo Contreras brothers and members of the Comité Cerezo, which were granted in December of 2006 in an agreement between the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Mexican government, the Comité Cerezo, and the Limeddh, in the presence of the Peace Brigades International.

ii. Take all necessary measures to put an end to the harassment and threats and to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Francisco, Emiliana and Alejandro CEREZO CONTRERAS, and all the members of the human rights organization, Comité Cerezo México.

iii. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Héctor and Antonio CEREZO CONTRERAS imprisoned in the Federal Social Rehabilitation Center #1 (CEFERESO #1), the "Altiplano" Maximum Security Prison.

iv. Carry out a thorough, immediate, impartial investigation into the threats received by the human rights organization, Comité Cerezo México; the results of this investigation should be made public and those responsible for the acts, brought to trial.

v. Take urgent, concrete measures to implement the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, also known as the Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals, Groups, and Institutions to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms..

vi. Guarantee the application of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially in reference to the protection of the rights of all people”...individually or collectively, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels” (Art.1), and also in reference to the obligation of the State to guarantee...the protection by the corresponding authorities to of all people, individually or collectively, in the face of any kind of violence, threat, reprisal, discrimination, de facto or de jure denial, pressure, or any other arbitrary action resulting from the legitimate exercise of the rights mentioned in the present Declaration 8 art. 12.2) in the Resolution on Human Rights Defenders in the Americas AG/RES. 1671 (XXIX-O/99), adopted by the Organization of American States on June 7 1999.

vii. See that the international bodies for the protection of human rights, within their powers, express their concern for the gravity of the facts and urge the Mexican government to respond to the petitions.

viii. Act in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Pacts and Conventions on Human Rights with reference to the protection of Human Rights Defenders ratified by Mexico.

RESPECTFULLY YOURS

Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights
A flame that burns for the rights of the people!

Adrián Ramírez López, President, Limeddh

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