Tactics and tools for the protection
of Human Rights Defenders

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 4 MARCH 2010.
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date

Members of Taller de Desarrollo Comunitario (Community Development Worskhop, TADECO) a community development and human rights organization in Chilpancingo, capital of Guerrero state, southern Mexico, have received death threats and have been followed. The Mexican authorities have offered no protection to the activists.

On 19 December 2009, a mobile phone was stolen from one of the TADECO workers. On 25 December, one of the female workers, Isabel Rosales, received a text message on her mobile phone, saying, “Take care, we are watching you” (Cuidense, las tenemos bien vigiladas). On 27 December she received another message which said: “Listen bitch, I know your movements, one of these days you’ll be part of the mural of the disappeared. Yours, the family” (Olles hija de puta lla se tus pasos, un dia de estos bas a formar parte del mural de desaparecidos ok. Att. la familia ok [sic]).

On 27 December, Miriam Altamirano, another female TADECO worker, received a text message while she was in the office “It would be so easy to take the one with the black trousers and brown jumper. Would you mind?”(Q facil seria yevarnos a la de pantalón negro y sueter café. Te importaria? [sic]). The message referred to the outfit worn by Isabel Rosales, who was walking a few blocks away. On the same day another male worker with TADECO, Javier Monroy received this text message “We will get the one that will hurt you most” (Te vamos a dar en la persona que mas te podria doler […]). The messages came from the stolen mobile. Since the beginning of January 2010, workers with TADECO have been noticing men watching their office or following them in cars. TADECO have reported the threats to the authorities, but so far no protection measures have been put in place.

TADECO offers community social and economic development training for rural communities in central Guerrero. In the last few years it has also been working on cases of abductions and killings in the state, whether those suspected of involvement are common criminals or authorities. TADECO also helped set up the Committee of Relatives and Friends of Kidnapped, Disappeared or Murdered people (Comité de Familiares y Amigos de Secuestrados Desaparecidos y Asesinados).

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Spanish or your own language, calling on the authorities to:

• provide immediate and effective protection measures for all members of TADECO, in accordance with their wishes, so they can carry out their work without fear;
• conduct a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the threats and surveillance against members of TADECO, with the results made public and those found responsible brought to justice.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 4 MARCH 2010 TO:
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date

Minister of the Interior
Lic. Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont
Secretaría de Gobernación
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso,
Col. Juárez, Del. Cuauhtémoc,
México D.F., C.P.06600,
MEXICO
Fax: +52 55 5093 3414
E-mail: secretario segob.gob.mx
Salutation: Señor Secretario/Dear Minister

Governor of Guerrero
Lic. Zeferino Torreblanca Galindo
Gobernador del Estado de Guerrero
Palacio de Gobierno,
Blvd.René Juárez Cisneros No. 62,
Ciudad de los Servicios, Chilpancingo,
C.P. 39075, Guerrero,
MEXICO
Fax: +52 747 471 9956
Email: gobernador guerrero.gob.mx
Salutation: Señor Gobernador/Dear Governor

Guerrero State Human Rights Commission
Lic. Juan Alarcón Hernández
Presidente de la CODDEHUM
Avda. Juárez, Esq. Galo Soberón y
Parra
Col. Centro,
Chilpancingo, Guerrero
C.P. 39000,
MEXICO
Fax: +52 747 47 74 71 03-78
Email: presidencia coddehumgro.org.mx
Salutation: Señor Procurador/Dear Attorney

COPIES TO:

Taller de Desarrollo Comunitario,
Email: tadecoac hotmail.com.

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives of Mexico accredited to your country.

Ambassade des Etats-Unis du Mexique
AV. F. D. ROOSEVELT / F. D. ROOSEVELTLAAN,94
1050 IXELLES
eMail: embamex embamex.eu
Fax 02.646.87.68
Fax 02.644.08.19

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Human rights defenders in Mexico face threats, attacks, politically motivated criminal charges and imprisonment for leading protests, promoting respect for human rights or speaking out against abuses committed by criminal gangs.

The government has agreed to provide protection measures ordered by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to several human rights defenders, but some have reported that no effective protection has been provided. Substantial efforts have not been made to investigate cases of abuses against human rights defenders; impunity is the general rule in these cases, leaving open the possibility of further attacks.

UA: 19/10 Index: AMR 41/010/2010 Issue Date: 21 January 2010

http://www.isavelives.be/en/node/4770