Oaxaca: rights commission blasts government

Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Mon, 03/19/2007 - 02:59.

On March 14, Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) handed a report to the Senate demanding that killings and other rights abuses in the conflicted southern state of Oaxaca over the past months be punished. "There were threats, persecution, physical aggression and acts of intimidation," the report says. "They should be cleared up and those responsible presented to the courts."

The report stopped short of saying Gov. Ulises Ruiz was directly involved in the killings, but criticized both him and the federal government for failing to stop them. "The incapacity of the state authorities and the disinterest of federal authorities to find a solution was evident," it said. The report found 11 people were killed as a direct result of the conflict and nine as an indirect result. (El Universal, March 17)

However, the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) blasted the report as "incredible" and a "farce" for overlooking killings and failing to directly accuse Ruiz. (La Jornada, March 17)

Meanwhile, the Civil International Human Rights Observation Commission (CCIODH) said it would bring its own findings to the European Parliament and UN. (APRO, March 14)

APPO returned to the streets of Oaxaca City March 10, holding a large public meeting in the courtyard of the Santo Domingo Cathedral. (La Jornada, March 11) APPO's Radio Planton, shut during the repression last year, has also returned to the airwaves, after the federal government paid to repair equipment damaged in police raids. (El Universal, March 10)

Violence continues in the state. On March 7, adherents of the rival Section 59 and 22 of the teachers' union clashed with rocks, sticks and machetes in Santa Cruz Huatulco, leaving several injured. (La Jornada, March 8)