UPDATE: Omar and Fernando were released from detention at 8:42PM this evening.
Urgent Action in response to the detention of Omar Esparza and Fernando Urbano, one day before the tragic anniversary of Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola
April 26, 2011
[Spanish original]
Translated by Scott Campbell
To the media
To human rights defenders
To the indigenous people of Oaxaca, Mexico and the world
To the international and social organizations
To the national and international Other Campaign
To the rebel women and men from below
Today, April 26, in the early afternoon, compañeros Omar Esparza Zárate, member of the Zapatista Indigenous Agrarian Movement (MAIZ), and Fernando Urbano Morales, of the Community Support Center – Working Together (CACTUS), were detained by the Federal Police on the Mexico-Oaxaca highway, at the San José Miahuatlán tollbooth in Puebla, very close to the city of Tehuacán.
Far from being arbitrary, we know that this detention occurs in the context of violence, harassment and repression against human rights defenders and also “coincides” with the fact that tomorrow, April 27, marks one year since the unpunished murder of our compañera Bety Cariño, gunned down by paramilitaries’ bullets on the Humanitarian Caravan to the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala. This makes clear the intentions of the Mexican state to intimidate and terrify those who for the past year have demanded justice for the founder of CACTUS and other social activists who have been jailed and murdered during this period of mobilization and social repression.
As compañeros of Fernando Urbano and Omar Esparza, we energetically declare our opposition to this detention and demand their immediate release. No more political prisoners. No more daily impunity. No more intimidation of the organized people.
At the same time, we inform all the organizations, collectives, compañeros, friends and individuals who are in solidarity with our demand for justice for Bety and Jyri Jaakkola, that the activities and mobilizations planned for April 27 and 28 will go forward. If they wanted to stop us from taking action on those days, they will not succeed.
We add to our demands the immediate release of our imprisoned compañeros, at the same time we hold the government of Oaxaca, the government of Puebla and the federal government responsible for any act of aggression or damage committed against our imprisoned compañeros, as well as any act of aggression against the compañer@s who in the coming days will stand in solidarity with the demand for justice for Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola
IMMEDIATELY RELEASE OMAR ESPARZA AND FERNANDO URBANO!
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN MEXICO!
JUSTICE FOR BETY CARIÑO AND JYRI JAAKKOLA!
JUSTICE FOR ALL THE REPRESSED OR MURDERED SOCIAL ACTIVISTS IN MEXICO!
“…here there is not silence. Here, the shout, here, the dignified rage” (Bety Cariño).
COMMUNITY SUPPORT CENTER – WORKING TOGETHER
CACTUS
April 2011
Oaxacan Mixteca
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