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#yiv829295426 div.yiv829295426signature {color:#666;font-size:0.9</style>Hello,<br><div><div align="center"><div align="left">
Our friend and comrade from the <a href="http://climatecaravan.wordpress.com/">Climate Caravan</a>, has been
arrested under the serious and ridiculous charge of kidnapping!<br>
Please distribute widely, and answer the call to action that can
be found on the web page at the bottom of this message.<br>
Olivier<br>
<br>
</div>
<b><big>PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION – FEBRUARY 22,
2012</big><br>
<br>
<big>Mexican Attorney General (PGR) detains human rights
advocate Lucila</big><br>
<big>Bettina Cruz Velázquez in Santa María Xadani, Oaxaca</big><br>
</b></div>
<br>
<div>Mexico City – The Office of the Mexican
Attorney General (PGR) detained human rights advocate<br>
Lucila Bettina Cruz Velázquez in Santa María Xadani, Isthmus of
Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, at 3:30 pm on<br>
February 22, 2012. At the time of this press release her
whereabouts and the legal charges against her<br>
remain unknown. The State of Oaxaca’s Office of the Human Rights
Ombudsman granted Ms. Cruz<br>
Velázquez precautionary measures on November 14, 2011.<br>
At the time of her detention Ms. Cruz Velázquez was accompanied by
attorney Maribel<br>
González Pedro. The PGR did allow either of them to read the
arrest warrant and the reasons for the<br>
arrest are unknown. To date it has been impossible to confirm
whether Ms. Cruz Velázquez has been<br>
presented before the relevant federal authorities. Hence there are
grounds for concern regarding her<br>
security and physical integrity.<br>
Ms. Cruz Velázquez is a well‐known indigenous land rights advocate
and a founding member of<br>
the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
in Defense of Land Rights. The<br>
Assembly has accompanied several campaigns to defend the
collective rights of indigenous peoples,<br>
including an organizing campaign with members of the Zapotec and
Ikoots communities resisting wind<br>
projects in the region and a campaign with the Zapotec community
against inflated electricity bills<br>
imposed by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). Ms. González
Pedro is also a member of the<br>
Assembly.<br>
This is not the first time that the PGR has detained a member of
the Assembly. On April 12,<br>
2011, Mr. Filiberto Vicente Aquino, leader of the movement against
inflated electricity costs, was<br>
detained in Xadani and taken to the headquarters of the Mexican
Attorney General in Salina Cruz,<br>
Oaxaca. Mr. Vicente Aquino was falsely accused of stealing
electricity.<br>
The detention of Ms. Cruz Velázquez is emblematic of the
insecurity facing women human<br>
rights advocates and the criminalization of their activities.<br>
<br>
<b>Context:</b><br>
Since last year the Assembly has accompanied the Unión Hidalgo
Wind Project Resistance<br>
Committee, which consists of small landowners from Unión Hidalgo
who oppose the Piedra Larga<br>
wind project. In order to address land rights violations and the
absence of free, prior and informed<br>
consent for indigenous landowners, in May 2011 the Committee
requested a dialogue with Desarrollos<br>
Eólicos de México, S.A. de C.V. (DEMEX), a subsidiary of the
Spanish renewable energy company<br>
Renovalia Energy, and the state government of Oaxaca as mediator.<br>
On October 28, 2011, local henchmen and municipal police attacked
Ms. Cruz Velázquez and<br>
members of the Committee. These violent acts prompted the
precautionary measures issued by the<br>
Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman of Oaxaca, which aim to
protect and guarantee the physical<br>
integrity of Ms. Cruz Velázquez and other members of the
Committee.<br>
The dialogue to negotiate the early termination of the land lease
agreements signed with<br>
DEMEX took place on February 8, 2012. That day both parties agreed
to convene a second negotiation<br>
for Saturday, February 25, with the purpose of hearing the
company’s official response to the demand<br>
for early termination of the lease agreements.<br>
<br>
<b>Demands:</b><br>
The signatories to this press release make the following demands
of the federal Interior<br>
Ministry, the Office of the Mexican Attorney General, and the
National Human Rights Commission:<br>
• The unconditional and immediate release of human rights advocate
Lucila Bettina Cruz<br>
Velázquez;<br>
• That measures are taken immediately to guarantee the security
and physical integrity of Lucila<br>
Bettina Cruz Velázquez, Maribel González Pedro, and the remaining
members of the Assembly<br>
of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Defense of
Land Rights.<br>
Signatories:<br>
• Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in
Defense of Land Rights (i<br>
Spanish: Asamblea de los Pueblos Indígenas del Istmo de
Tehuantepec en Defensa de la Tierra<br>
y el Territorio)<br>
• Unión Hidalgo Wind Project Resistance Committee (in Spanish:
Comité de Resistencia al<br>
Proyecto Eólico de Unión Hidalgo)<br>
• ProDESC (in Spanish: Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y
Culturales)<br>
• PODER (Project on Organizing, Development, Education, and
Research)<br>
Press contact:<br>
• Valeria Scorza / ProDESC, (52‐55) 5212‐2230,
<a rel="nofollow" class="yiv829295426moz-txt-link-abbreviated" ymailto="mailto:valeriaprodesc@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:valeriaprodesc@gmail.com">valeriaprodesc@gmail.com</a><br>
#####</div>
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<b><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://t.ymlp290.net/ejewadaeqhyarabjaxaeejs/click.php">http://www.redtdt.org.mx/d_acciones/d_visual.php?id_accion=180&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Acci%C3%B3n+Urgente%3A+Detienen+a+defensora+de+...&utm_source=YMLP&utm_term=aqu%26iacute%3B</a></b><br>
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</div><br>_______________________________________________<br>Climatecaravan Mailingliste<br>JPBerlin - Politischer Provider<br><a ymailto="mailto:Climatecaravan@listen.jpberlin.de" href="mailto:Climatecaravan@listen.jpberlin.de">Climatecaravan@listen.jpberlin.de</a><br><a href="https://listen.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/climatecaravan" target="_blank">https://listen.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/climatecaravan</a><br><br><br> </div> </div> </div></body></html>