Urgent Action for Migrants’ Rights Defenders at Risk in Mexico
From: connie nash | Note: forwarded message attached. From: Rick Halperin Reply-To: humanrightsnews-owner@yahoogroups.com Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:34:47 -0500 (Central Daylight Time) To: Human Rights News Urgent Action for Migrants’ Rights Defenders at Risk in Mexico (UA 90/07)
URGENT ACTION APPEAL - From Amnesty International USA
17 April 2007 UA 90/07 Fear for safety
MEXICO Castulo Benavides Rodriguez (m), director of the Foro Laboral del Obrero Campesino (Farm Labour Organizing Committee, FLOC) Other members of the FLOC
Killed: Santiago Rafael Cruz (m), FLOC staff member
Migrants’ rights defender Santiago Rafael Cruz was murdered on 8 April in the office of the Foro Laboral del Obrero Campesino (Farm Labour Organizing Committee, FLOC), where he worked, in the town of Monterrey, in Nuevo Leon state, north-eastern Mexico. The director of FLOC, Castulo Benavides Rodriguez, and other staff members of the organization, may also be at risk of attack.
When Santiago Rafael Cruz’s body was found, his hands and feet had been tied, and he had been severely beaten on his head and face. Nothing had been stolen from the office.
While the motive for the murder is still not clear, Amnesty International is concerned that it may be in reprisal for his work for FLOC, where he worked with Castulo Benavides Rodriguez. Santiago Rafael Cruz had only worked in Monterrey for a few weeks, having previously worked for FLOC in the US state of Ohio for four years.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION FLOC works to protect the human rights of Mexican migrants who go to the USA as seasonal farm workers. The organization has a number of offices in both USA and Mexico, including in Monterrey, where many migrants and migrant labor recruiting agents (enganchadores) congregate to arrange seasonal farm work in the USA. On two occasions, this office has been broken into, and the organization’s computers stolen.
Since 2004, when the USA’s ‘H2A Guest Workers’ Program’ (Trabajadores Huespedes H2-A) was introduced, there has been increased pressure on US ranchers to improve work conditions for Mexican migrant laborers. In 2005, FLOC won a legal ruling in North Carolina requiring ranchers to pay the visa fees of seasonal migrant farm workers. In this context, FLOC has reportedly faced hostility and intimidation from farmers and landowners.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - expressing concern at the murder of migrants’ human rights defender Santiago Rafael Cruz; - expressing concern for the safety of Castulo Benavides Rodriguez and others working with the organization Foro Laboral del Obrero Campesino (Farm Labor Organizing Committee, FLOC) in Mexico; - calling for the authorities to ensure their protection in accordance with their wishes; - calling for a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the murder of Santiago Rafael Cruz; - reminding the authorities that the UN Declaration on the Rights and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders and their right to carry out their activities without any restrictions or fear of reprisals.
APPEALS To: Minister of the Interior: Lic. Francisco Javier Ramirez Acuna Secretario de Gobernacion, Secretaria de Gobernacion Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez, Del. Cuauhtemoc Mexico D.F., C.P. 06600, MEXICO Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414 E-mail: frjramirez@segob.gob.mx Salutation: Senor Secretario / Dear Minister
Governor of Nuevo Leon: Lic. Jose Natividad Gonzalez Paras Gobernador del Estado de Nuevo Leon Palacio de Gobierno Zaragoza y 5 de Mayo Monterrey 64000, Estado de Nuevo Leon MEXICO E-Mail: gobernador@nl.gob.mx Fax: 011 52 81 2020 1226 (if someone answers, say “me da tono de fax, por favor’) Salutation: Senor Gobernador /Dear Governor
Attorney General of Nuevo Leon: Lic. Luis Carlos Trevino Berchelmann Procurador del Estado de Nuevo Leon Av. Ocampo 470 Pte., 1er piso, Centro Monterrey 64000, Nuevo Leon, MEXICO E-Mail: ltrevino@nl.gob.mx Salutation: Dear Attorney General/ Senor Procurador
Human Rights Commission of Nuevo Leon: Lic. Daniel Garza Garza Presidente de la Comision Estatal de Derechos Humanos de Nuevo Leon.
Av. Dr. Ignacio Morones Prieto 2110-2 Pte. Edifico Manchester Col. Loma Larga Monterrey 64710, Nuevo Leon, MEXICO E-Mail: cedhnl@prodigy.net.mx Fax: 011 52 81 83 44-91-99 Salutation: Dear President/ Senor Presidente
COPIES To: Human rights organization: Ciudadanos en Apoyo a los Derechos Humanos — CADHAC Padre Mier 617 Pte. Centro, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon Mexico C.P. 64000 Fax: 011 52 81 83436618 / 83435058 E-mail: cadhac@cadhac.org
Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana Embassy of Mexico 1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington DC 20006 Fax: 1 202 728 1698
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after 29 May 2007.
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
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.
Urgent Action Network Amnesty International USA 600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl Washington DC 20003 Email: uan@aiusa.org www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/ Phone: 202.544.0200 Fax: 202.675.8566
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