Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca. April 13, 2007.
3:00 p.m.
IMMEDIATE PRESENTATION OF DAVID VENEGAS CRUZ—ALIVE!
DAVID is an APPO COUNCIL MEMBER, a member of VOCAL, and an ADHERENT to the OTHER CAMPAIGN
Today our comrade David Venegas Cruz, “el Alebrije”, was arrested; he was a council member of the APPO (Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca) and a member of VOCAL (Oaxacan Voices Creating Liberty and Autonomy).
Around 1:10 this afternoon he was walking through the Juárez “El Llano” Park towards the assembly of the APPO State Council when he was arrested by members of the Oaxaca State Ministerial Police.
As of now, he has not been presented anywhere. The Ministerial Police authorities deny having arrested our comrade despite testimony from witnesses at the scene. We know nothing about his physical and emotional state.
In view of the anti-constitutional practices of the police forces, we fear for the life and safety of our comrade David Venegas Cruz.
At the time we denounce the misconduct of the judicial police in arresting our comrade, We wish to make it clear that the only thing he has done is to participate in the legitimate social movement of the Oaxacan people; therefore, he should not be accused of any crime that would tarnish his image as a social activist.
In view of these events VOCAL calls for mobilizations for the immediate freedom of our comrade; his arrest is yet another example of the politics of repression against the social movement of the people of Oaxaca as a whole.
We hold the following people responsible for any harm that may be done to our comrade:
Mr. Daniel Camarena Flores, Director of the Ministerial Police of the State of Oaxaca, who in 1977 was Director of the Preventive Police that savagely repressed the student movement; Mr. Evencio Martinez Ramirez, now State Attorney General, who in 1998 was the President of the State Human Rights Commission and repressed the social movement in Oaxaca in this capacity; Mr. Sergio Segrestes Ríos, Head of the Department of Public Safety, who also repressed the people of Oaxaca in his capacity as President of the State Human Rights Commission; and, finally, Mr. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, the illegitimate governor of the State of Oaxaca.
To the comrades in The Other Campaign,
To the democratic teachers of Oaxaca,
We ask your solidarity in demanding the immediate freedom of our comrade.
We also ask for a show of international solidarity to break the silence in the face of the repression of the people of Oaxaca and to win the freedom of our comrade.
WE DEMAND
The immediate presentation of our comrade DAVID
VENEGAS CRUZ—alive!
Respect for his physical and emotional integrity!
Immediate freedom for DAVID VENEGAS CRUZ and all the political prisoners in Oaxaca!
Voces Oaxaqueñas Construyendo Autonomía y Libertad, VOCAL (Oaxacan Voices Creating Liberty and Autonomy)
vocal@riseup.net
Detention of David Venegas, APPO member, adherent of La Otra, member of VOCAL
David Venegas was tortured, beaten and detained on Friday 13th of April and presented 8 hours later to the Anti Narco police (UMAN Unidad Mixta de Atencion al Narcomenudeo), where the day after he had to give a 5 hour long declaration. There he could have been granted freedom given the lack of proof in the accusations, however the Ministerio Publico Federal decided not to grant him freedom on bail.
In the morning of April 14th he was transferred to the central Penitentiary of Ixcotel. When entering jail another arrest warrant was ready for him, “proceeding 157/2006 for damages to the Court of Justice of Oaxaca on the 25th November 2006” (Newspaper “el Excelsior” 11th March 06).
State and federal authorities charge him of crimes against health (drug selling), sedition, burning of buildings and disobedience. The reality is that David was detained while he was walking along the street with two other people. Without presenting any arrest warrant Ministerial Police started beating him and took him away. When he was presented in front of the public ministry and the media he was shown with drugs that were put in his bag at the moment of his arrest. According to David, they tried putting a large quantity of something he did not get the chance to see, but he supposes it was drugs. However when the policemen saw that the packet they were trying to put into his bag did not fit, they put another smaller bag with white powder, apparently cocaine and heroin.
When they took pictures of him to be presented to the media as a drug dealer, David opposed resistance and was beaten badly. He refused to hold in his hands two magazines “La Barrikada” on which they deposited the bag with the white powder, supposedly cocaine or heroine. David does not know where these facts took place.
At the moment of his declaration in UMAN, David was presented with other smaller bags of white powder with which they took pictures of him.
Resides all the irregularities, he is still detained. Today a number of mobilizations are starting in protest against is unfair detention. On the 15th April a demonstration got to the doors of the penitentiary where David is detained demanding his freedom. Jail authorities offered him privileges as a Political Prisoner, but David did not accept them, since the only thing he wants is his freedom.
This doubtful trial which the government of the state of Oaxaca has undertaken against the compañero David Venegas Reyes is nothing else but an attempt to defame his political work, and intimidate people who with great dignity are involved in the Oaxacan social movement.
—
source: nativobserver.org
Recommended Reading:
“The Bad Gas of Class Oppression” Political Prisoners in Calderon’s Mexico
by John Ross
http://www.counterpunch.org/2007/03/12/political-prisoners-in-calderon-s-mexico/
International Mobilization for David Venegas and All Political Prisoners in Oaxaca
Thursday, April 27th, international mobilisation in front of Mexican Embassies and Consulates. Freedom to all political prisoners in Oaxaca! Freedom for David Venegas Reyes!
To the people of the world:
To the people of Oaxaca:
To the people of Mexico:
We call to all people, collectives, individuals in Oaxaca, Mexico and the World, not to be silent facing such repression against the people of Oaxaca and to mobilize to demand the freedom of all our compañeros detained:
We cannot allow people to forget those who are imprisoned because of their fight for social justice. Today people from the barricades are detained.
We invite you all to : support those that now find themselves detained and with few possibilities of receiving justice and freedom. The achievement of such justice and freedom will only be possible if we protest and fight for it. In the same way that you supported the popular movement in Oaxaca in the moment of its greatest strength, with the same admiration for the barricades and barricaderos we ask you to support our political prisoners.
We propose:
– Demonstrations in front of Mexican Embassies and Consulates.
– Letters of solidarity for David Venegas Reyes and all political prisoners: vocal@riseup.net
– Press conferences and informational talks about the case of David Venegas Reyes and all political prisones.
– Demonstrations, hunger strikes, cultural events, street theatre and videos about Oaxaca…
In Oaxaca the following event is planned:
OAXACA:
THURSDAY 27th APRIL 2007, 4:00 PM
MARCH FROM BRENAMIEL TO UNIVERSITY CAMPUS (CU Ciudad Universitaria)
FREEDOM FOR ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!
FREEDOM FOR DAVID VENEGAS REYES!
To strengthen the fight in Oaxaca and in all the world: Freedom for Prisoners for Fighting!
International solidarity with the Political Prisoners of the world!!
Immediate and unconditional freedom to Oaxaca’s prisoners!!
Economic support for David Venegas:
Nº Cta. 319708 Clave 044180001003197086 Zwip mbcomxmm BCO 044 Scotibank inverlat a
Name of Irina Arellano Salazar
VOCAL:
Voces Oaxaqueñas Construyendo Autonomía Y Libertad
vocal@riseup.net
http://www.noestamostodxs.blogspot.com
http://remaba.blogspot.com
oaxacalibre.net
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