Xanica prisoners denounce lack of work and food at Pochutla Prison

TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS

We, the undersigned, Abraham Ramírez Vásquez, Noel and Juventino García Cruz, members of the Committee for Defense of Indigenous Rights (CODEDI) and the Popular Anti-neoliberal Oaxacan Coordinating Group (COMPA), denounce the following:

Ever since our arrest in 2005 for the offenses of aggravated homicide and kidnapping, which we never committed and will always insist were fabricated by the tyrant Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, the current governor responsible for the crimes against humanity against our comrades in the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca, we have been subjected to violations of our basic human rights that should be respected.

In the regional San Pedro Pochutla Prison of Oaxaca, we have not had the right to health, food, and honorable work. According to Mexican law, prisons are centers of crime prevention and social rehabilitation. What a pretty name! But the reality is very different. Approximately three weeks ago, there was a significant reduction in work for the previously mentioned prisoners, with no other source of work in sight. State monthly support for each inmate is two hundred and sixty pesos, or approximately eight pesos and fifty centavos a day, which supposedly covers the cost of our food.

Due to the scarcity of work and the lack of food for the inmates on Friday, July 18, the day that we’re writing this letter, our fellow inmates have decided to engage in other actions.

This situation is hazardous for our lives and the lives of our family members who constantly visit us. For these reasons, we ask for your support in making complaints to the appropriate federal authorities, the National Human Rights Commission, and the state Human Rights Commission of Oaxaca in order to avoid a major tragedy.

SAN PEDRO POCHUTLA REGIONAL PRISON, OAXACA, JULY 18, 2008

RESPECTFULLY YOURS,

ABRAHAM RAMIREZ VASQUEZ
NOEL GARCIA CRUZ
JUVENTINO GARCIA CRUZ