Hemispheric court orders protection for human rights workers

TheNewsMexico.com
December 3, 2001

MEXICO CITY - The Inter American Court of Human Rights has ordered the Mexican government to provide protection to members of the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center after the Oct 19. murder of human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa, Mexican daily Milenio reported.

The Costa Rica-based organization on Friday ordered the Mexican government to take "whatever means necessary" to protect several lawyers at the center who were the victims of death threats in a letter sent to the Interior Secretariat soon after Ochoa's death. Ochoa at one time also worked as a defense attorney for the center.

"(The Mexican government) should take whatever means necessary to protect the lives and integrity of members of the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Center of Mexico... and of lawyers Pilar Noriega Garcia, Barbara Zamora Lopez, and Leonel Rivero Rodriguez," the court statement said.

The statement also ordered protection for Ochoa's parents and siblings, who say they've been under continuous surveillance by unknown persons and have had their phones tapped.

"The telephone line is bugged. Every time we pick up the receiver, you can hear strange noises and conversations. In addition, a few days ago a car with four people we didn't know parked in front of our house. We're scared to walk the street," Ochoa's brother Jesus told AFP in late October.

Additionally, the judges urged the Vicente Fox administration to find those responsible for planning and carrying out the murder and requested the government send bimonthly progress reports to the court.

In an open hearing last Monday, the Mexican government argued it has already provided permanent protection to those who are most in danger. However, representatives of the Pro Juarez Center said the government has not taken Ochoa's murder seriously enough and asked for increased protection.

Digna Ochoa was murdered Oct. 19 in her Mexico City office with shots to the head and thigh. The killers left behind a strongly worded note threatening others at the Pro Juarez Center with the same fate