Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno’s house raided

Oaxaca, September 24, 2010

Urgent Action

Fear for the physical and psychological well-being of Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno and his family, freed last February after being imprisoned for 14 months accused of the murder of Brad Will.

Today, at approximately 10:30am, Mr. Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno left his home, together with his wife, in the municipality of Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan. At 2:30pm, they returned to their house and noticed that the door was open, and upon entering saw that all their belongings were out of place and that the lock on the door had been broken.

After briefly looking over everything, they noticed that no items of value were missing, ruling out that what happened was a robbery. They also saw that their important documents had been gone through, as well as their personal photographs. While they are unsure if any of their personal documents or photos have been taken, they are awaiting the arrival of the expert’s report from the Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR), which will be added to case file PGR 723/2009, previously opened as a result of earlier threats and harassment.

Minutes after arriving at their home, they called the Federal Preventive Police (PFP), speaking with Guillermo Romero. The police arrived at 4:35pm to inspect the site. These actions are part of the preventive measures adopted by the Mexican state as a result of the petition for protective measures, number MC-92-10, which is currently pending before the Interamerican Human Rights Commission (CIDH), in response to the various aggressions that Mr. Martínez Moreno and his family have been subjected to.

We call to your attention that once free, Juan Manuel Martínez and his family have been subjected to various acts of intimidation that have caused them to change their residence three times since leaving jail (February 2010). These acts have been reported to the PGR and have brought about the appeal for protective measures.

As a result of these events, Mr. Martínez Moreno is very concerned, as this can be considered yet another act of harassment against him.

As a result of these events, the November 25 Liberation Committee,

1. Demands an investigation into these acts of aggression, threats and intimidation against Mr. JUAN MANUEL MARTÍNEZ MORENO, as well as an end to the acts of intimidation to which he and his family have been subjected.

2. We demand the Mexican state guarantee the security and physical and psychological well-being of Mr. Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno and his family.

3. We ask for the solidarity of the international community to demand that the Mexican state take effective and efficient actions that guarantee the security of activists and human rights defenders.

Sincerely,
November 25 Liberation Committee
Oaxaca, September 24, 20101

We ask that you send your urgent actions to:

LIC. FELIPE CALDERON HINOJOSA
PRESIDENTE CONSTITUCIONAL DE MÉXICO
FAX (55) 52 77 23 76
felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx

LIC. FRANCISCO BLAKE MORA
SECRETARIO DE GOBERNACIÓN
FAX (55) 50933414 MAIL: secretario@segob.gob.mx

LIC. ARTURO CHAVEZ CHAVEZ
PROCURADOR GENERAL DE LA REPÚBLICA
TEL. (55) 53 46 09 08 MAIL: ofproc@pgr.gob.mx.

LIC. RAUL PLASCENCIA VILLANUEVA
PDTE. DE LA COMISIÓN NACIONAL DE DERECHOS HUMANOS
FAX (55) 56 81 71 99, correo@cndh.gob.mx

copy the Comité de Liberación 25 de Noviembre: comite25noviembre@yahoo.com.mx