Tuesday June 27th, 2006 Mexico City

The Follow-up Commission of the CCIODH began its work week with a prolific meeting with different organizations that work with Human Rights.

We started with an exchange of information about work strategies in which each organization shared ideas about psychosocial attention and following this was a common analysis of the situation of the affected persons of the communities of San Salvador Atenco and Texcoco. Afterwards there was an agreement about the way to work long and short term to assure the necessary attention to the persons and collectives affected. The CCIODH committed to continue the judicial follow-up work of the case of the persons affected an issue that will continue to be worked on in a meeting with lawyers and these vary organizations on June 30th.

Today the CCIODH formally handed in a petition to enter the Santiaguito prison to both Alejandro Carmona (director of prevention and social re-adaptation of the State of Mexico), and Irineo Monroy (prison director), along with the Preliminary Report concerning the events of Atenco. The Report was also given to the judge Jaime Maldonado, the Attorney General Abel Villicaña, and to different civil servants of the State of Mexico that shared their words with the Commission during its past visit.
The day finished with a public act of presentation of the Preliminary Report to the Other Campaign at four in the afternoon in the Círculo Teatral. In front of overflowing auditorium the CCIODH was accompanied by Juan de Dios Hernández (lawyer of various of the prisoners), Rosalba de Selvas (wife of doctor Selvas and mother of Mariana, both prisoners), Italia Méndez (prisoner who ratified her formal objection to the Office of the Attorney General), Jorge Orta (journalist prisoner), representatives of the Front of Peoples in Defense of the Land and Ángel Benhumea, father of the young boy killed in the police operation of Atenco. With serenity and contained emotion, these people gave the testimony of what they experienced of the events of the 3rd and 4th of May and their analysis of the implications. Congratulating the Commission for the Preliminary Report and the work done, they expressed their disappointment that the Mexican organizations were not doing this work. The Delegado Zero was also invited but could not come for health reasons.

For tomorrow, the CCIODH is planning to hand in the report to the institutions that have their head offices in Mexico City who were interviewed, among them the director of the branch of Human Rights of the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Lic. Rodrigo Labardini, as well as the municipal president of Texcoco, Lic. Nazario Gutiérrez. At 5 in the evening we are planning to go to San Salvador Atenco to hand in the Preliminary Report to the members of the community. We will give it to the Mexican government later on through Eugenia Diez, of the prevention and promotion unit of Human Rights of the Secretary of Government as they have asked, Thursday at 11 in the morning.

Follow-up Commission of the CCIODH
Address: Fray Servando Teresa de Mier #92, 4º piso, col. Centro
Cellular phone in México: 044 55 34 67 67 63 - 044 55 32 75 81 22
E-mail: cciodh@pangea.org
Web-site: http://cciodh.pangea.org

The CCIODH is made up of 28 people from 7 different countries. It was in Mexico from the 29th of May until the 4th of June. It conducted 173 interviews with prisoners, family members, townspeople, social and political organizations, and government entities. They were able to access the Santiaguito prison, where all of the male and female prisoners were interviewed, making afterwards a 15 minute video including their statements. The (13) conclusions and recommendations consider it proven that there was an excess of police force, that the government turned to the public force without using all the possible non violent measures to resolve the conflict, that it did not act within the framework of a Rule of Law and did not respect the international standards of protection of human rights, among those the sexual tortures against most of the women detained. They recommend the immediate dismissal of Wilfrido Robledo Madrid, as well as Alejandro Eduardo Martínez Aduna, and those politically responsible for the police operatives. The release of the prisoners of Santiaguito and La Palma is also recommended under the principal of the presumption of their innocence, given the violations of the right to a due process with procedural guaratees.