March 3rd, 2007
To National and International Civil Society

México, a land rich and generous in visions, struggle and social solidarity, is crossing a long dark night. Here and everywhere, from the South America of the seventies to Palestine today, such darkness is nurtured by
indifference and ignorance about the brutal assault perpetrated against common people. We raise our voice to denounce this brutality.

From December 2006 through January 2007, the International Civil Commission for Human Rights Observation (CCIODH according to its Spanish abbreviation) has gathered more than 420 testimonies documenting that during Oaxaca¹s social conflict federal police forces and paramilitary groups linked to Oaxaca¹s government were responsible for the death of 23 identified persons, the disappearace or detention of many others and of hundreds of injured and tortured people, and dozens of men and women who were raped by the police.

The CCIODH concludes that these actions are not random or isolated acts. They are part of a judiciary, police and military strategy that aims to control and intimidate the civil population through the action of elite
military forces performing police functions and of paramilitary gangs sent against the people to repress popular non-violent demonstrations in defense of their fundamental rights.

The CCIODH is an independent commission, with no links to any party or special interests, formed by volunteers that self-finance their activities.

Their work is widely respected at a national and international levels although the Mexican government has tried to discredit it. W support the work of the CCIODH, endorse its conclusions and we stand with it today,as it presents its Report to the Mexican government and national and international civil society.

We, the undersigned demand that the Mexican government immeditely order the unconditional release of all political prisoners in the country and comply with recommendations of the CCIODH.

Noam Chomsky
Naomi Klein
Arundhati Roy
John Berger
Eduardo Galeano
Howard Zinn
Anthony Arnove
Immanuel Wallerstein
Maria Nadotti
Toni Negri
Michael Hardt
Tony Clarke (Instituto Polaris, Canadá)
Joan Martínez Alier
Amparo Sánchez Amparanoia
Manu Chao
Fermín Muguruza
Javier Corcuera
Ángel Luis Lara
Elizabeth Bravo,Esperanza Martínez: Acción Ecológica (Ecuador)
Carlos Vicente (Biodiversidad/LA, Argentina)
Jean Ziegler (Relator Especial de ONU)
Paul-Emile Dupret (Parlamento Europeo)
Diputada Ulrike Lunacek, Lic., Vice-Presidenta Comisión de Asuntos Exteriores, Portavoz del Grupo Verde para Asuntos Exteriores y de Desarrollo, y para Derechos de Lesbianas, Gays y Transgénero Grupe Verde en el Parlamento Austríaco o-Presidenta del Partido Verde Europeo www.europeangreens.org
Senador Francesco Martone (bonelli_a@camera.it, f.martone@senato.it)
Raul Romeva i Rueda, (Diputado Europeo)
Nnimmo Bassey (presidente de ERA, Nigeria)
Henry Ramírez Soler (Francia)
Rubens Diniz - Cebrapaz - Centro Brasileño de Solidariedad entre los
Pueblos y Lucha por la Paz.
Eric Toussaint
Isabel Fernández Barreno
Ramón Fernández Durán
Miren Etxezarreta
Arcadi Oliveres
Oscar Olivera\Panchi maldonado (Grupo Atajo, Bolivia)
Aldo Zanchetta Fondazione Neno Zanchetta Lucca Italia-
Tie-Netherlands:Patricio Aravena P, Jan Cartier, Anka Heumans Ineke
Marianne Dibbets
Liseth Rodriguez
Carmen Perez
H. Galván, Economista, Republica DominicanaR
UMBERTO MAZZEI - IREI/ MESA GLOBAL -GUATEMALA
Elizabeth Salguero Carrillo, Diputada Nacional del Parlamento boliviano