Mexico City December 18th, 2006-12-21

Today on Monday the 18th the first group that makes up the V Visit of the CCIODH in response to the events of Oaxaca began its work.

At 12 noon there was a press conference in the Journalist Club with the participation of Rosario Ibarra de Piedra (President of the Human Rights Commission of the Senate of the Republic), Father Miguel Concha, Gilberto Lopez y Rivas and Luis Macias as members of the Mexican Civil Commission of Peace and Justice of the Peoples of Oaxaca, as well as Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, spokesperson of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). On the part of the CCIODH Andrea Iori, Italian member of the Communist Youth of Italy, and Ignacio Garcia as spokesperson of the CCIODH spoke in the press conference.

Before the presence of over 20 media representatives and the public who attended, the various participants received the visit of the Commission as positive and committed to facilitating its work to elaborate the report that will be completed after the months stay in Mexico starting today until the 20th of January of next year with the participation of about 50 people from different countries supported by over 2,000 signatures of people, organizations, and institutions from around the world.

The Commission will be in Mexico City, DF until next Wednesday the 20th in the offices of the UACM. On Wednesday it will go to Oaxaca to continue its work until the first of January, when it returns to Mexico City to receive the second group that arrives on the 7th to continue the interviews.

Meanwhile, we have started to contact the Secretary of Government through Licensed Rodrigo Espeleta to coordinate the scheduling of the institutional interviews on state and federal levels which dates will be set starting tomorrow.

The interviews with various people of the APPO who are in Mexico City in order collect their concerns and denouncements have already begun.

Tomorrow the interviews will continue with an appointment in the CNDH (National Human Rights Commission) with the IV Visit with this Commission at one o'clock in the afternoon.

In the meantime, we are working on the calendar for the interviews with persons and organizations affected by the events of the state of Oaxaca as well as Mexico City.

We would like to show our appreciation for the way we have been received and have been able to begin our work and solve, despite the rush, the inconveniencies that arise.

We invite every person and organization that would like to present their denouncements and testimonies to this Commission with complete freedom and trust. We hope to be able to attend to all the petitions expressed from the civil society as well as the Mexican government.

We would like to highlight the visits to the Ceresos of Oaxaca, Nayarit, and Tepic as especially important in order to interview those people in prison as well as solicit the necessary guarantees so that any person can give their testimony without encountering any obstacles whatsoever.

We commit to completing this work in the time that this visit lasts so that we can complete the report and present it to the personas and entities that support the work of the Commission as well as national and international institutions like we did on earlier visits.

Sincerely:

Press Commission of the CCIODH