PRESS RELEASE

Human Rights Center-Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez
November 8, 2001

As a result of the persistent struggle by Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, their family member and the Organización de Campesinos Ecologistas de la Sierra de Petatlán y Coyuca de Catalán, AC, supported by organisations such as Greepeace, Amnesty International, the Goldman Foundation, Sierra Club and the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Centre, Rodolfo and Teodoro have today regained the freedom that they were arbitrarily deprived of.

To arrive at this moment, it was necessary to exhaust all of the judicial recourses that exist in the Mexican judicial system, to respond to the unanimous call of Mexican and international society which felt aggrieved at the violations of Rodolfo and Teodoro's human rights perpetrated by members of the Mexican Army and the judicial apparatus, as well as the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions and the case recently opened by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). These, amongst many other actions, compelled the President of the Republic to finally acknowledge the just nature of the cause, via 'Humanitarian Reasons'.

We celebrate the freedom of Rodolfo and Teodoro and regret the inability of the Government of the Republic to expressly acknowledge the grave and evident violations committed against the campesino ecologists, which prevent this from being a step towards the resolution of the structural causes that are an obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights in Mexico.

Rodolfo and Teodoro are innocent of the charges that they have been arbitrarily accused of by the same authorities that are responsible for justice. The 'amparo' (writ of habeas corpus) that was presented before the Second Collegiate Tribunal of the Twenty-First Circuit, based in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, is still unresolved. We hope that in addition to their release that we celebrate today, justice denied to the campesino ecologists will be belatedly granted, with the declaration that the authorities that intervened in the case violated the constitutional guarantees and human rights that are granted by the Mexican Constitution, the American Convention on Human Rights, the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture and many other international treaties. It is important to remember that Rodolfo and Teodoro were arbitrarily deprived of their freedom for two years and five months as a consequence of their arbitrary detention, being held incommunicado, unconstitutional imprisonment, torture, violations to due process and judicial protection laws, and being subject to an excessively long period of preventative detention.

On 14 September the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions issued Opinion Number 18/2001 in which it expressed:

The Working Group determines that there are reasonable and sufficient bases to conclude that the detention of Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera was ordered in flagrant violation of article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 7 and 14(g) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and article 15 of the Convention Against Torture, of which Mexico is party. The Working Group considers that the gravity of these violations warrants the character of arbitrary detention, falling within category III of the applicable principles for the consideration of cases submitted to the Working Group.

In addition, it urges the Mexican Government to:

In line with the decision of the Working Group to declare that the detention was arbitrary, it requests the Government of Mexico to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, as well as article 15 of the Convention Against Torture, in particular taking steps to sanction the perpetrators of the violations and to free these two people, suspending the processes against them.

We wish to clarify that Rodolfo and Teodoro are not 'criminals suffering from illness'. Their state of health has deteriorated as a direct consequence of the acts of torture that were committed against them, and an act of justice in this respect would be to accord due compensation for damages, and to identify and punish accordingly those responsible for these events. This is why we insist: the demand of the campesino ecologists, which national and international civil organisations echoed, has been complied partly complied with, but still pending is that they be absolved, that they are fully compensated for damages caused to them, the guarantee that there will not be impunity of any king, and the adoption of measures by the Mexican State so that acts such as those committed against Rodolfo and Teodoro are not committed again.

The Human Rights Centre Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez welcomes having Rodolfo and Teodoro back, enjoying their freedom. The centre hopes that the Mexican State will give the following signs of justice as soon as possible:

1. Favourable resolution of the amparo absolving them of all responsibility.

2. Identification of and punishment for those responsible for the violations.

3. Full compensation for damages.

4. Adoption of measures to prevent such cases from happening again such as the guarantee that military jurisdiction will not be applied in cases involving human rights violations.

All of this would be an indication of a true transition to democracy and that the Rule of Law, under the primacy of Human Rights, is upheld.