4 citizens of Spanish nationality are stopped arbitrarily in Oaxaca and retained in Migration

4 citizens of Spanish nationality are stopped arbitrarily in Oaxaca and retained in Migration

Communiqué (Declaration)

We are four persons with Spanish nationality that were having a walk, last 5th of august 2007, in the centre of Oaxaca, in the street Independencia. After 21h30 we have been suddenly surrounded by parapolice elements, some of them were carrying weapons of long calibre and they were dressed with deep blue uniforms and anti-balistic protection elements. Two of them were giving orders dressed as civilians and they were with some white nissan's pick up.

They obliged us to stand in front of the wall with our hands upon our heads the four of us and a Mexican boy, even with the presence of several persons in the street at the same time. without asking us for any identification or explanation they obliged us violently to jump inside one of the pick ups.

During the route we ask them the reason of this situation and they answered us with blows and insults. At this moment one of us did show them its press card. Just after that, they obliged us to lay in the floor and they hide us with a canvas making impossible any visual contact between us and with the passer-by.

After a ten minutes trajectory more or less, we arrive to a space that look like a headquarters with uniformed persons in blue and green. Coming down of the vans they cover our heads and they dragged us towards a wall in front of whom they make us sit on our knees and they took from us all our bagpack, identification papers and money.

Progressively they took us one by one and brought us to an empty and dark room. Once inside they begun to make pictures of us in front and profile. To the two girls they obliged them to stand in their feet with her hands upon her heads. To the boys they obliged them to be on their knees facing to the wall.

During this confinement period some of us were beaten up, humillited, insulted and threatened, on the girls received sexual agression and the Mexican boy was obliged to make push ups meanwhile a group of agents were laughing at him and treating him with “stabbing him a knife”.

At the same time, the psychological terror climax was increasing as we could hear loading and unloading of weapons, having us in the dark all the time, taking us random pictures and pointing torchlights to our faces, etc.
Posteriorly, (after one hour more or less) they made us go out with our heads looking down and they separated girls and boys. They made us go inside the pick ups again obliging us to look down all the time.

They never told us where we were and where they were bringing us. From there they drove us to another place that looked like a police station, and they made us go inside one by one in a place where they registered our personal data and asked us about our health situation.

In parallel, two men dressed as civilians with a notebook asked us many questions about our stay in the country.

After that they drove us with the judge, during this time we heard that we were accused of public scandal, but at any time they communicated the reason of our arrest, and they didn't let us phone or communicate with the Spanish embassy.

The judge told us that we were there without identification papers and that they will move us towards the migration headquarters, we replicated that it was the police who had stolen our identification papers, money and personal goods, situation that the judge didn't want to take into account.

Afterwards, at 01:30 AM they moved us to the central headquarters of the police in the migratory station of the INM (Instituto Nacional de Migración de Oaxaca).

Over there, we informed about the fact that we had been robbed and we demanded to communicate with the Spanish embassy. On Monday 6th of august we realized a declaration of the facts, on Tuesday 7th of august they moved us with an official vehicle watched over by the PFP (Policía Federal Preventiva) towards the migratory station of NM in the Mexico DF city, where we are staying actually.

On Wednesday 8th of august we have been directed to the Spanish embassy where they made new passports for us that have not been given to us. So since Wednesday 8 of august, at 04h00PM, we are illegal strangers without identification papers.

From the internment INM centre of Mexico city (Iztapalapa) we affirm the absolute illegality of the privation of our liberties, we denounce the violation of our fundamental rights by the Mexican authorities and we demand for our immediate release and the devolution of our possesions, as we ask for the purge of the responsabilities.

Signers:

Laia S. (lawyer)

Ramón S. (teacher)

Ariadna N. (journalist)

Nuria M. (anthropologist)

*

Denounce:

Physic violence:

To all: pushing, rubbing by the arms, thrown to the pick ups impacting against the carriage.

To some of us: blows in the nape and the head, pulling the hairs, pressure to lower the head provoking pain in the neck.

Sexual violence:

To two of the companions they rubbed the t-shirt, one of her having her breast visible and naked, to another one in several occasions was touched upon her clothes in the bottom, pubis and right chest.

Psychic violence:

To the girl who was touched one of the policeman told her that all will be fine if she cooperates. They didn't answer us when we ask them where we were going inside the pick up. They cover our mouths and heads so we couldn't see where we were going. They were all armed and they torchlighted our faces inside the dark room so we couldn't see the agent's face. They did make noise as if they were cutting cartridges of weapons. They impided us to have visual contact between us to threaten us telling us that they could hurt one of our companions during the transfers, they made us pictures and flashes continuously . The Mexican boy was obliged to make some pushups meanwhile a group of agents were laughing at him and threating him with “stabbing him a knife”, they would whisper us insults and threats in our ears. There were constant laughings and insultive jokes from the agents. We were during a long time in the dark, the boys in our knees, the girls standing up with their hands on their head.

In the station of migration:

Absolute disinformation about the process, no getting a copy of the dossier, inecessary prolongation of the detention time, insinuations about our illegality, lack of juridical assesment.