Case MEX 311096.1
Second Follow up of Case MEX 311096
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed of the RELEASE of
Mr Felipe SANCHEZ ROJAS, one of the persons in whose favour we requested
your intervention in the above-mentioned appeal.
Brief reminder of the situation:
In the appeal MEX 311096, the International Secretariat informed you of
the detention of various people, including human rights defenders, among
whom was Mr Felipe SANCHEZ ROJAS, President of the Regional Indigenous
Development Centre (CDRI). Mr Felipe SANCHEZ ROJAS was arrested by four
unidentified armed men who forced him to enter a red Volkswagen without
number plates and took him to an unknown location. The event occurred on
29 October 1996 at approximately 22:00 hours in front of the CDRI offices
in Oaxaca, State of Oaxaca. (See Case MEX 311096.2)
New information:
The International Secretariat has been informed by LIMEDDH - Mexican
League for the Defence of Human Rights - a member of the network, of the
RELEASE, on 2 November 1996, of Mr Felipe SANCHEZ ROJAS.
According to information received, in a report submitted by the Regional
Center for Indigenous Development (CEDRI) to the State General Procurator
of Justice, Mr Felipe SANCHEZ ROJAS declared that during his detention he
was interrogated and subjected to various methods of torture such as
beatings in the lower parts of the body, the stomach, the ribs, the ears.
He also declared that they tried to hold him responsible for an attack
executed on 28 August 1996 by the EPR - Popular Revolutionary Army - in
the city of Tlaxiaco and demanded that he provide the number of
participants, the location of the arms and the military camps.
He added that Mr Moises Cruz Sanchez, CEDRI co-ordinator, and Joaquin
Sanchez Rojas, commissioner of Public Heritage, were being suspected as
well. Their situation gives rise to fears for their security.
The CEDRI holds the Federal and State Government responsible for the
physical and psychological integrity of the leaders of this organisation
and the other social activists.
Observations:
The International Secretariat welcomes the releaase of Mr Felipe SANCHEZ
ROJAS and thanks all the member organisations and other organisations and
individuals for their intervention.
Due to the acts denounced, the International Secretariat insists on the
necessity to write to the Mexican authorities urging them to :
i. take the appropriate measures to guarantee the security of the
members and collaborators of the Regional Indigenous Development Centre
(CDRI), in particular the persons mentioned;
ii. guarantee an impartial and exhaustive enquiry into the facts,
identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil
and/or administrative sanctions provided by legislation.
Geneva, 14 November 1996
Ben Schonveld
Projects Manager
OMCT - SOS Torture Tel: +41-22-733 31 40
Case Postale 119 Fax: +41 22-733 10 51
CH 1211 Geneva 20 Conf: omctsostorture@conf.igc.apc.org
Switzerland OMCT@iprolink.ch
OMCT is the l'Organisation Mondiale contre la Torture
The World Organisation Against Torture