More info about torture of Guadalajara Arrestees

Case MEX 300604
Arbitrary arrest / Torture of protesters
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
requests your urgent participation regarding the following situation in Mexico:
Description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is
extremely concerned by reports it has received of the mistreatment and torture
inflicted on several of the individuals who were indiscriminately arrested in the
course of street protests in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and concerned also that many of
them remain under arrest.
According to reports submitted by the Mexican Human Rights Defense League (Limeddh),
there are allegations that many of the detainees were subjected to mistreatment,
such as: kicks and beatings; verbal abuse and death threats; women being forced
repeatedly to expose themselves and squat unclothed; women being threatened with
rape; sleep deprivation; deprivation of food and water for more than 24 hours; being
forced for hours to lie face down with their hands behind their heads; forced
written confessions. The reports add that at least four of a group of eight
detainees, whose medical files have been reviewed by the authorities, show
unmistakable signs of having been tortured by the police.
According to the reports, 26 people are still in police custody today, of whom one
is a woman and three are minors. Among the detainees, twelve have been charged with
theft by forced premises ('robo calificado'), a charge which forbids release on
bail. According to these complaints, the charges were filed against these twelve in
retaliation for refusing to sign false statements under duress. The twelve are
accused of stealing materials and objects belonging to the police and of having
robbed a music store, but these crimes have not been clearly proven.
According to the reports, ten of the adult detainees have the right to be released
on bail, but cannot raise sufficient funds to post bail.
The reports express special concern that of the eight foreign nationals detained in
Guadalajara, transported to the Department of Immigration headquarters in
Iztapalapa, Mexico City, and ultimately expelled from Mexico, the medical
examinations of at least two, Mr. John Domínguez Achalanda Vaso (Spain), and Miss
Laloue Desperrier Roux (Canada), state that they showed visible marks of having been
mistreated and tortured while in the custody of the Mexican authorities.
The names of the other foreign nationals detained in the Guadalajara incidents and
later expelled from Mexico are: Patrick Let (USA); Silvia Ordaz Amor (Spain); Matteo
Zanotti (Italy); María Mar Domínguez (Spain); Roxana Yanira Bestrin Fuentes
(Australia), y, Juan Francisco Maestre Morales (Spain)
Furthermore, according to the most recent reports, several human rights
organizations, among them Limeddh, working in defense of the activists detained in
the above incidents, reached a good faith agreement on June 29, 2004 with the
Jalisco state authorities to free the remaining detainees. Under this agreement, the
detainees' legal defense will introduce a motion in court to have bail reduced for
12 of the 26 detainees who have the right to bail. The Jalisco State Prosecutor
promised in return to not contest the reduction of bail, and to review the twelve
other cases of those without the right to bail. Furthermore, the State Prosecutor
emphasized that the authorities will adhere to the rule of law. During this meeting,
Limeddh specifically asked the authorites to: "release those charged with theft by
forced premises ('robo calificado')" and grant the detainees a reduction in bail and
damages assessed against them, in accordance with Article 20 of the Mexican
Constitution which states that the accused have the right to use these legal
mechanisms.
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) urges
the Mexican government to take all necessary measures to implement the minimal
conditions of safety and repect for physical and psychological integrity of all
those detained, in accordance with its own national laws and its commitments under
international human rights treaties. The OMCT also expresses its concern that the
crime of torture and other violations of human rights were committed with impunity
and that the perpetrators of such acts have not received any legal sanction, and
therefore request that the Mexican authorities promptly undertake an exhaustive and
impartial investigation of these grave acts, with the aim of identifying the
responsible parties, bringing them to justice and applying the criminal and/or
administrative penalties stipulated by law.
Context of the situation:

According to the reports received, on Friday, 28 May 2004, at roughly 7:30 p.m.
local time, Guadalajara saw an unprecedented police deployment whose principal
objective was to detain anyone whose appearance suggested they participated in
peaceful marches by global justice activists during the days of action in opposition
to the Third Summit of Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union.


In this setting of a large police deployment, confrontations between police and
protesters resulted in 11 wounded, the two most seriously injured being treated by
the Red Cross. Many more were detained, the majority arrested after the march when
various groups of youths withdrew from the area. Arriving at Plaza Juárez,
protesters were surrounded by riot police with orders to detain everyone they found
in parks and public squares. Nevertheless, police detained people in the streets
they judged to be "suspicious".


During the police operation of 28 May 2004 in Guadalajara there were 111 arbitrary
arrests, 44 of those formally detained. The names of those later formally charged
are:
Jesús Jearm Fernández Sagrera, 21, contributor to "Revuelta" magazine; Oscar Chávez
Castillo, Ciencias-UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) student, member of
the Comité Pável González; Jorge Octavio Castilla Gutiérrez, UNAM student; Daniel
Alejandro Olvera Sule, Ciencias-UNAM student, member of the Comité Pavel González,
member of the Movimiento de Izquierda Latinoamericana; Jesús Miguel Ramos Partida;
José Miguel González López; Juan Salvador Lara Piña; Freddy Javier Carrillo Márquez;
Ricardo Zaleta Colmenero; Elsa Hernández Argüello; Edgar Flóres Murillo; Norberto
Alejandro Ulloa Martínez; Miguel Ángel Ramírez López; Ricardo Medina Ramos; Juan
Carlos Flóres González; Juan Manuel Barrios González; Sergio Pérez Neufeld; José
Martí García Espinosa; José Cruz Luján Sánchez; Manuel de Jesús Pereira Anguiano;
Francisco Felipe García; Francisco de Jesús Becerra Vázquez; José Luis Alejo
Vázquez; Gerardo Ernesto Treviño Olvera; Gerardo Alberto Corona Jiménez; Miguel
Ángel Medina Hernández; Mauricio Uribe García; Adrián Simón Chávez Hernández; Julio
César González Martínez; Ramiro Daniel Flores Patricio; Haydeé Berenice García
Rodríguez; Jaime Humberto Carrera Aceves; Eddy Marcelino García Gómez; Raúl Morales
Caballero; Arturo Rosav Fishert; Juan Manuel Flores Herrera; Salvador Aranda
Ramírez; Miguel Ángel León; Dagoberto Rivera Servín; Leobardo Rosales Delgado;
Osvaldo Montes Ascencio; Liliana Galaviz López, of the Caravana Cultural de
Monterrey; Liliana Aleida Torres Beldares, of the Caravana Cultural de Monterrey,
and, César Naranjo Velásquez.
Requested action: Please write to the Mexican authorities to urge them to:
i. take urgent and necessary measures to guarantee the safety and physical and
psychological integrity of all those detained in the incidents above-mentioned, as
well as all prisoners, including the provision of urgent and adequate medical
attention without cost for those who need it.
ii. order the immediate release of everyone detained without legally valid charges,
or, in the case of those with valid charges, bring them to a competent and impartial
court and guarantee them all of their procedural rights at all times.
iii. initiate an immediate, comprehensive, and impartial investigation of the
circumstances of these events, in particular the allegations of mistreatment and
torture inflicted on the detainees in the above-mentioned events, with the aim of
identifying the responsible parties, bringing them to justice and applying the
criminal and/or administrative penalties stipulated by law.
iv. offer adequate compensation to the families of and/or the victims of these abuses.
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties in the entire
country, according to international norms of human rights.
Addresses:

(President) Presidente Vicente Fox Quesada, Residencia Oficial de Los Pinos,

Colonia San Miguel Chapultepec, Fax: (+ 52.55) 55 22 94 13 e-Mail :

radio [at] presidencia.gob.mx

(Ministry of Justice, Sub-Prosecutor for Human Rights)

Procuraduría General de la República, Subprocurador de Derechos

Humanos: Dr. Mario I. Álvarez Ledesma, Reforma Norte, esquina Violeta 75. Colonia
Guerrero CP. 06300. México DF., Tel: (+ 52.55) 53 46 20 03 y 53 46 20 03
ofproc [at] pgr.gob.mx

Fax: (525) 3 46 09 06

(President of the Mexican Human Rights Commission)

Dr. José Luis Soberanes Fernández, Presidente de la CNDH, México,

D.F., Tel.: 631 00 40, 6 81 81 25, Fax: 56 81 84 90,

Toll free within Mexico: 01 800 00 869 E- mail: correo [at] fmdh.cndh.org.mx

(Minister of the Interior) Santiago Creel Miranda, Secretario de Gobernación,
México, D.F., Tel.: (+525) 7 05.21.71, Fax: (+525) 7.03.21.71, E-mail:

santiagocreel [at] compuserve.com

Mtro. Ricardo Sepúlveda, México, DF., Tel.: (+52-55) 51 28 02 23 y 24, Fax:

+52.55.51 28 02 34 y 24, E-mail: rsepulveda [at] segob.gob.mx

Permanent Mission of México to the United Nations in

Geneva, 16, Avenue du Budé. 1202, Ginebra, Case postale 433.

Fax : + 4122 748.07.08 E-mail: mission.mexico [at] ties.itu.int
Also, please write to the diplomatic representatives of Mexico in your own county.
Geneva, 30 June 2004
Please inform us of whatever action taken, citing the case number of this call to
action in your reply.


Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)

8 rue du Vieux-Billard

Case postale 21 CH-1211 Geneve 8 Suisse/Switzerland

Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39 Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29

E-mail : omct [at] omct.org

The Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights is an affiliate of

the International Federation of Human Rights, World Organisation

Against Torture (OMCT) and dedicated to "Working Together for Human

Rights." These organizations have consultative status at the United Nations

(ECOSOC Resolution 1296)Av. Azcapotzalco No. 275. Col. Clavería. C. P. 02090,
MéxicoD.F.

Tel. 53 99 05 92 Fax: 53 99 13 36.

<mailto:limedh [at] laneta.apc.org Web Page: http://www.derechos.org/limeddh/