SPAN/ Alternative Networks
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Wes Rehberg
415 Grove St., #B
Elmira, NY 14905 USA
phone & fax +607-734-4833
Internet: wrehberg@igc.apc.org
November 2, 1995
To: President Bill Clinton, USA
President Ernesto Zedillo, Mexico
Congresspersons, USA
The rape in Chiapas of Cecilia Rodriguez, who is coordinator of the
National Commission for Democracy in Mexico/USA and a human rights worker,
was a reprehensible act that demonstrates the impunity with which forces in
Mexico can freely operate against those who seek truly democratic resolutions
to the oppression and subjugation.
I join the outrage expressed by the National Commission over the assault
against Cecilia Rodriguez and her companion on October 26. Rape, other
assaults and murder are part of the low-intensity warfare engaged in by
forces who oppose truly democratic solutions to the continuing brutal
marginalization of the poor and the indigenous in Mexico.
I join these voices as a human rights worker myself who has been to
Chiapas in March 1994 to observe first-hand the viciously abusive climate of
such low-intensity warfare and as one who has been part of those who seek
to insure that such assaults and murders do not go unnoticed or without a
just response. Cecilia Rodriquez characteristically had protested, while in
Mexico for a round of peace talks between EZLN and the Mexican government,
the illegal arrest of a man purported to be Comandante German of the EZLN, in
violation of the accords governing the peace talks.
Cecilia Rodriguez reported that she was told, after the assault against
her: "...you already know how are things in Chiapas right?...Shut up then,
shut up, do you understand, or you know what will happen to you...". This
clearly suggests that although Cecilia Rodriguez was not breaking any Mexican
laws, that this was an act of intimidation and warning to international human
rights workers who dare to speak for justice and human rights in Mexico. The
catalog of such assaults and abuses is growing in Mexico.
Therefore, I join with other human rights activists in urging the
following:
* That the US Embassy in Mexico City where Cecilia Rodriguez's
complaint is lodged expedite an investigation into this incident and register an
official diplomatic protest with the Mexican government.
* That troops be withdrawn from the state of Chiapas and public
information disseminated about the involvement of the US military in this low
intensity warfare.
* That the US suspend military aid and technical assistance to Mexico
for any purpose until this and other human rights violations are resolved.
* That there be the formation of an international human rights inquiry
into the situation in Chiapas and a monitoring process installed.
* That the US Congress conduct hearings into US military involvement
in the low intensity warfare in Chiapas and its impact on human rights.
* That efforts for a political solution to the conflict in Chiapas continue
until there is true peace with dignity and secure human rights.
Wes Rehberg