[energiadecreixent] Urgent action call: Mexican activist Bettina Cruz faces serious false charges

[Fun Peace]

 Hello,

Our friend and comrade from the Climate Caravan,  has been arrested under the serious and  ridiculous charge of kidnapping!
Please distribute widely, and answer the call to action that can
        be found  on the web page at the bottom of this message.
Olivier

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION – FEBRUARY 22, 2012

Mexican Attorney General (PGR) detains human rights advocate Lucila
Bettina Cruz Velázquez in Santa María Xadani, Oaxaca


Mexico City – The Office of the Mexican Attorney General (PGR) detained human rights advocate
Lucila Bettina Cruz Velázquez in Santa María Xadani, Isthmus of
      Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, at 3:30 pm on
February 22, 2012. At the time of this press release her
      whereabouts and the legal charges against her
remain unknown. The State of Oaxaca’s Office of the Human Rights
      Ombudsman granted Ms. Cruz
Velázquez precautionary measures on November 14, 2011.
At the time of her detention Ms. Cruz Velázquez was accompanied by
      attorney Maribel
González Pedro. The PGR did allow either of them to read the
      arrest warrant and the reasons for the
arrest are unknown. To date it has been impossible to confirm
      whether Ms. Cruz Velázquez has been
presented before the relevant federal authorities. Hence there are
      grounds for concern regarding her
security and physical integrity.
Ms. Cruz Velázquez is a well‐known indigenous land rights advocate
      and a founding member of
the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
      in Defense of Land Rights. The
Assembly has accompanied several campaigns to defend the
      collective rights of indigenous peoples,
including an organizing campaign with members of the Zapotec and
      Ikoots communities resisting wind
projects in the region and a campaign with the Zapotec community
      against inflated electricity bills
imposed by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). Ms. González
      Pedro is also a member of the
Assembly.
This is not the first time that the PGR has detained a member of
      the Assembly. On April 12,
2011, Mr. Filiberto Vicente Aquino, leader of the movement against
      inflated electricity costs, was
detained in Xadani and taken to the headquarters of the Mexican
      Attorney General in Salina Cruz,
Oaxaca. Mr. Vicente Aquino was falsely accused of stealing
      electricity.
The detention of Ms. Cruz Velázquez is emblematic of the
      insecurity facing women human
rights advocates and the criminalization of their activities.

Context:
Since last year the Assembly has accompanied the Unión Hidalgo
      Wind Project Resistance
Committee, which consists of small landowners from Unión Hidalgo
      who oppose the Piedra Larga
wind project. In order to address land rights violations and the
      absence of free, prior and informed
consent for indigenous landowners, in May 2011 the Committee
      requested a dialogue with Desarrollos
Eólicos de México, S.A. de C.V. (DEMEX), a subsidiary of the
      Spanish renewable energy company
Renovalia Energy, and the state government of Oaxaca as mediator.
On October 28, 2011, local henchmen and municipal police attacked
      Ms. Cruz Velázquez and
members of the Committee. These violent acts prompted the
      precautionary measures issued by the
Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman of Oaxaca, which aim to
      protect and guarantee the physical
integrity of Ms. Cruz Velázquez and other members of the
      Committee.
The dialogue to negotiate the early termination of the land lease
      agreements signed with
DEMEX took place on February 8, 2012. That day both parties agreed
      to convene a second negotiation
for Saturday, February 25, with the purpose of hearing the
      company’s official response to the demand
for early termination of the lease agreements.

Demands:
The signatories to this press release make the following demands
      of the federal Interior
Ministry, the Office of the Mexican Attorney General, and the
      National Human Rights Commission:
• The unconditional and immediate release of human rights advocate
      Lucila Bettina Cruz
Velázquez;
• That measures are taken immediately to guarantee the security
      and physical integrity of Lucila
Bettina Cruz Velázquez, Maribel González Pedro, and the remaining
      members of the Assembly
of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Defense of
      Land Rights.
Signatories:
• Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in
      Defense of Land Rights (i
Spanish: Asamblea de los Pueblos Indígenas del Istmo de
      Tehuantepec en Defensa de la Tierra
y el Territorio)
• Unión Hidalgo Wind Project Resistance Committee (in Spanish:
      Comité de Resistencia al
Proyecto Eólico de Unión Hidalgo)
• ProDESC (in Spanish: Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y
      Culturales)
• PODER (Project on Organizing, Development, Education, and
      Research)
Press contact:
• Valeria Scorza / ProDESC, (52‐55) 5212‐2230, valeriaprodesc a gmail.com
#####

 

 

 

 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



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