Punishment for the Killers of Lorenzo Sampablo Cervantes!!

JUSTICE FOR OAXACA!!
PUNISHMENT FOR THE KILLERS OF LORENZO SAMPABLO CERVANTES!!

Lorenzo Sampablo Cervantes was killed by Oaxaca state policemen and PRI party paramilitaries in the early morning hours of August 22, 2006, outside the commercial radio station “La Ley,” occupied by the APPO in the city of Oaxaca.

That morning the people of Oaxaca had eleven commercial radio stations under their control in response to a paramilitary group’s violent evacuation the morning before of the government radio and television stations held and run for 21 days by women from the social movement.

Lorenzo’s murder was carried out by Oaxaca state and municipal police and PRI paramilitary civilians driving by in official patrol cars and private vehicles known as the Convoy of Death. On that bloody morning in 2006, they opened fire on men and women defending the barricades set up at the occupied radio stations and in the streets of Oaxaca.

Lorenzo is one of the 26 men and women killed at the orders of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz in 2006 to terrorize and put an end to the movement of a people that was struggling then and is still struggling for justice, freedom, dignity and peace.

After three years of impunity for his killers, the family of Lorenzo Sampablo Cervantes and the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) have decided to initiate a struggle for justice in both the public and legal arena. We demand punishment for everyone responsible for the murder, from Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, who brought on all our troubles, to the chiefs of police, to the police and paramilitary triggermen who shot Lorenzo dead.

In view of the above, we wish to inform the peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico and the world; all the human rights organizations; and all the social movements in the country and the world that we are initiating a national and international campaign of denunciation to demand Justice for Oaxaca and Punishment for the Killers of Lorenzo Sampablo Cervantes.

The campaign aims to expose the impunity existing in Mexico and particularly in the state of Oaxaca in the field of justice, to strengthen and support the charges now being pressed in the bad federal courts against the masterminds and perpetrators of the murder of Lorenzo Sampablo Cervantes, and to bring the social struggle in Oaxaca to the national and international arena.

We appeal to your sensibility and solidarity as we call on you to join in this campaign of all the peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico and the world, social movements, human rights organizations, unions, social organizations, and men and women who take injustice personally. We ask you to spread the word, support, and stay abreast of the campaign activities; to organize forums in your towns and cities, organizations and movements, no matter where you are; and to lend economic support to this campaign. We will not rest until we gain justice for Lorenzo and each and every person who has fallen in the struggle for justice, dignity, freedom and peace for the peoples of Oaxaca.

WE SEND YOU A COMRADELY AND COMBATIVE INVITATION TO JOIN IN THE MOBILIZATION MARKING THE THREE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE MURDER OF LORENZO SAMPABLO CERVANTES, WHOSE KILLERS HAVE NEVER BEEN BROUGHT TO JUSTICE, NEXT SATURDAY, AUGUST 22 AT 2:00 IN THE AFTERNOON. THE MARCH LEAVES FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF THE SEVEN REGIONS (FUENTE DE LAS SIETE REGIONES).