PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 41/072/2007

07 December 2007

UA 327/07 Fear for safety / death threats

MEXICO

Nancy Mota Figueroa (f)

Nancy Mota Figueroa, who is a leader of a women’s organisation in Oaxaca and an activist with the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca, APPO), was temporarily abducted by unknown armed individuals on 2 December. She was questioned about other APPO activists, threatened with death and rape and was told that she could be abducted again. Amnesty International is gravely concerned for her safety.

According to Nancy Mota, she was walking in a street in Oaxaca when a white SUV vehicle with tinted windows and without number plates stopped next to her. Two men who had their faces covered, got out of the vehicle, forced her in and then blindfolded her. The blindfold was impregnated with a liquid that irritated her eyes.

According to her testimony, while the vehicle was circulating Oaxaca’s streets, the two men questioned her about what she knew about other APPO activists, some of whom are currently in detention. They forced her head between her knees, then pulled her hair and pointed two guns at her head. She heard them pull the trigger and say they would shoot her. They told her to stop her activism or they may abduct her again and rape her. She was also hit in the stomach. She was held for one hour and then freed in an empty lot near the city centre with the warning that she could be abducted again. The abductors also reportedly downloaded all the telephone numbers saved on her cellular phone.

Nancy Mota filed a complaint with the Oaxaca State Attorney General’s office (Procuraduría General del Estado de Oaxaca) and has spoken out about her abduction in a press conference.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Political and social conflict erupted in Oaxaca in June 2006 following a teachers’ strike which developed into a broad social movement lead by the APPO which called for the resignation of the governor. During the protests municipal, state, and federal authorities were responsible for serious human rights violations, such as arbitrary and incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment. Some protesters were also responsible for some criminal offences. Supporters of the opposition movement have been repeatedly detained and harassed, with fabricated criminal charges against them (See UA 92/07, AMR 41/017/2007, 19 April 2007, and report Oaxaca: Clamour for justice, AMR 41/031/2007, 31 July 2007).Those responsible have not been brought to justice, despite numerous complaints at state and federal level.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish or your own language:

- expressing concern at reports that Nancy Mota Figueroa, a women's rights, social and political activist, was abducted and threatened in Oaxaca on 2 December by unknown armed individuals;

- expressing concern that other social and political activists in Oaxaca, especially those active with the APPO, may be at risk of similar treatment;

- calling on the authorities to ensure a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the abduction, ill-treatment and threats to Nancy Mota, with those responsible brought to justice;

- urging the authorities to ensure that she receives protection, in accordance with her wishes.

APPEALS TO:

Minister of Interior

Francisco Javier Ramirez Acuña

Secretario de Gobernación, Secretaría de Gobernación

Bucareli No. 99, Edificio Cobián, 1er piso, Col. Juárez, Del. Cuauhtémoc, Mexico D.F. 06600, MEXICO

Fax: +52 55 5093 3414

Email: secretario@segob.gob.mx

Salutation: Señor Secretario/Dear Minister

Governor of Oaxaca

Lic. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz

Gobernador del Estado de Oaxaca

Carretera Oaxaca-Puerto Ángel, Km. 9.5, Santa María Coyotepec, Oaxaca C.P. 71254, Oaxaca, MEXICO

Fax: +52 951 502 0530 (if a voice answers, ask "me da tono de fax, por favor")

E-mail: gobernador@oaxaca.gob.mx

Salutation: Señor Gobernador / Dear Governor

State Attorney General of Oaxaca

Lic. Evencio Nicolás Martínez Ramírez

Procurador General de Justicia del Estado de Oaxaca, Avenida Luis Echeverría s/n, Col. La Experimental, San Antonio de la Cal, Oaxaca C.P. 71236, Oaxaca, MEXICO

Fax: +52 951 511 5519

Salutation: Dear Prosecutor/Estimado Procurador

COPIES TO:

President of the National Human Rights Commission

Dr. José Luis Soberanes Fernández, Presidente de la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos,

Periférico Sur 3469, 5º piso, Col. San Jerónimo Lídice, México D.F. 10200, MEXICO,

Email: correo@fmdh.cndh.org.mx

Local human rights organisation

Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de derechos humanos – Filial Oaxaca

Calle Murguía no. 600, Col. Centro, Oaxaca, Estado de Oaxaca, CP. 68000, MEXICO

and to diplomatic representatives of Mexico accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 25 January 2008.