Covering their faces, judicial police appear in court to lie about Víctor Herrera Govea

Mexico City

“Judicial police, after beating people up and telling lies and covering things up, how do you explain all this at home when you’re asked: what do you do?”

This question written on a poster is one of many that around twenty demonstrators hurled at the judicial police who covered their faces as they left the courtroom in the prison known as the Reclusorio Sur after appearing to give false testimony in the case of the young political prisoner Víctor Herrera Govea on Thursday, November 19: How does it feel to be a torturer? Did you enjoy putting out your cigarette on our comrade’s face? Do you have a mother? How much do they pay you for torture? How much do you earn for a kidnapping? Don’t you feel sick when you look at yourself in the mirror?

Letter demanding freedom for Victor Herrera Govea

For being only 21 years old, Víctor has thrown his grains of sand into the most important struggles that have happened in Mexico in recent years. He may not be seen as a movement leader, but he’s much loved by the people who are always in the streets demanding justice and freedom. As word got around about his brutal arrest, lots of comments about what he’s done could be heard: “I know he helped out on a work brigade in Chiapas.” I saw him in Oaxaca when he was helping to build [the ecological project] La Cacita.” “He has his problems, just like we all do, but at the camp outside Molino de Flores prison, he was there.” “It’s not for nothing that he’s known as ‘Atenco’”. “I think he was with the comrades who were selling flowers and candy outside the bars all night long to raise money to get some other comrades out of jail”. “I knew him when we were in the same class together in the school of Humanities”. “Yeah, he’s an adherent to the Other Campaign”. “Sure, we know him. He’s an anarchist isn’t he?” In his own statement written on October 15, Victor also mentions his work in informational brigades to spread the word about struggles “like people defending themselves against the Parota dam and reservoir” and “the dispossession that’s going on in Tlahuac for the construction of Line 12 of the subway.” He says: “Now more than ever we’re seeking freedom for all the political prisoners in the country like Jacobo Silva and Gloria Arenas [recently released] and the comrades from the Loxicha region in Oaxaca and those at El Amate in Chiapas”.

When Víctor Herrera went to the annual march held on October 2 to commemorate the State murder of students in ’68 and to oppose the repression now going on in Mexico, he was beaten, tortured, arrested and incriminated on charges of aggravated gang robbery and property damage. By aggravating the charges and charging Victor with gang activity, the capital city PRD government of Marcelo Ebrard aims to turn this young activist into a criminal to be able to lock him up for years even though there’s not a bit of evidence against him.

In a call to several November actions, the Committee in Support of Freedom for Victor says: “Víctor Herrera Govea…is one of more than 200 political prisoners that state and federal governments are now holding in the prisons of this country: La Palma and Molino de Flores in the State of Mexico; El Amate in Chiapas; and others in Oaxaca, Guerrero, Campeche, Veracruz, and Tamaulipas. In Mexico City, we’re also experiencing repression and the imposition of neoliberal policies; you can hear all about this from the street vendors forcibly pushed out of the downtown area and public spaces in different districts of the city, the artisans of Coyocán, the communal landholders of Tlaltenco, and others. The “War on Organized Crime” has caused more than 5,000 deaths from one end of the country to the other.”

“There is no justice in this country. Those guilty of bank fraud and corrupt government functionaries go free, while the people you’ll find in jail are farmers who’ve been defending their land, forests and water; indigenous people defending their traditional forms of government, people demanding fair electricity rates, or young people fighting for a better world.

In violation of the law, only the immediate family was allowed to be present at the hearing on November 19, while Victor’s comrades were removed from the courtroom, but not before he saw they were there to support him. They say he looks strong and in good spirits. His mother Eduviges Govea thinks the pressure put on the authorities in several public actions has had the effect of putting them on notice that they’re responsible for his security while he’s in jail.

As it turns out, the judicial agents will have to come back again to testify because only three of the four subpoenaed appeared, so their testimonies were postponed. Meanwhile, supporters are organizing an overnight watch outside the prison on the night of November 29, and support the next day when Victor is scheduled to testify.

He can receive letters at: presos2deoctubre@hotmail.com
For more information, see: viclibre.acervo.org
Contact: libertadavictor@gmail.com

x Carolina

2 Comments

  1. Dear comrade, friend, or collective:

    We send you our warm greetings and thanks for your solidarity, which has helped Victor and all of us grow stronger day by day.

    We ask you to read the *attached letter, and if you agree with it, sign it and send it back to us as soon as possible to this e-mail address: libertadavictor@gmail.com .
    * http://elenemigocomun.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/letter-demanding-freedom-victor.pdf

    We ask that those of you who are our comrades and friends in other countries also send the letter to Mexican embassies, consulates or other representative institutions in your respective countries.

    We believe this signature campaign will provide much needed support for the work our movement lawyers are now doing to win Victor’s release. Victor is scheduled to testify this coming November 30.

    We’re sending you a big hug,

    Committee to Free Victor

    Lic. Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa
    Presidente de la República Mexicana

    Lic. Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont Urueta
    Secretario de Gobernación,

    Rosario Ibarra de la Garza
    Coordinadora de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la Cámara de Senadores

    Prof. Rubén Ignacio Moreira Valdez
    Presidente de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la Cámara de Diputados

    Dr. Raúl Plascencia Villanueva
    Presidente de la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos

    Lic. Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon
    Jefe de Gobierno del D.F.

    Miguel Mancera Espinosa
    Procurador General de Justicia del D.F.

    Dr. Luis Armando González Placencia
    Presidente de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos del D.F.

    Lic. Celia Marín Sasaki
    Juez del Juzgado 30

    We, the undersigned are members of the Support Committee to Free Víctor Herrera Govea, family members, comrades and friends, libertarian anarchists, collectives that are both adherents and non-adherents to the Other Campaign, students at the UNAM, UAM, IPN, National School of Music, colleges and high schools, teachers and researchers, residents of Mexico City and other states or countries, and people in solidarity who, having heard what happened on October 2, 2009 at the 41st commemorative march of the massacre at Tlatelolco, hereby express our outrage over the events detailed below:

    1. During the march, a group of infiltrators damaged and robbed the OXXO convenience store located at the corner of Eje Central and República de Cuba. In a number of videos taken at different points in the march, these individuals can be seen provoking confrontations with the police. It’s strange to see how freely they move along in different contingents without being arrested a single time, strongly suggesting that they have police protection.

    2. Furthermore, during the march, riot police formed a double cordon around the anarchist, libertarian contingent, with the purpose of isolating it and impeding its arrival at the Zócalo, beating and making arbitrary arrests of the “encapsulated” people. For the second consecutive year, this situation reveals the government’s purposeful repression and criminalization of social protest, with an emphasis on the anarchist struggle, which gave rise to last year’s human rights demands specifying illegal arrests of people in this same group. This leads us to believe that another provocation was prepared against this same group of young people, resulting in 26 arrests. Most of them were minors who were later released, but four people are still in jail and proceedings have started against them. None of the accused participated in the robbery or in damaging the store; they don’t appear in any of the videos. Their names are Joaquín López Ochoa, Miguel Ángel Martínez, Jaime Cortés Fones, and Víctor Herrera Govea. Victor is a philosophy student, anarchist, adherent to the Other Campaign, and a person with a commitment to the social struggles in the country and to winning freedom for political prisoners. Prior to the march, he participated in the camp outside the Molino de Flores Prison in support of 12 people unjustly held prisoner since 2006. He also participated in an urban agriculture project in Xochimilco.

    3. During the police encirclement near the Fine Arts Palace on Eje Central, Víctor Herrera Govea was brutally beaten by the riot police. The fact that this was filmed by members of the contingent functioned as pressure on the police to release him at that time. Two hours later, however, he was illegally arrested with extreme violence by eight plainclothes judicial police. This makes it clear that Victor was doubly tortured, once during the encirclement and during his arrest. It also shows that he is innocent and that the operation was planned to repress and frame young anarchists, and discredit the march. All of this was done with the complicity of the scandal sheets (La Prensa, El Metro, Ovaciones) and the major TV stations (Televisa, TV Azteca, Canal 40), all of which cast scorn on the social movements that struggle for a more just world, first by manipulating the facts and then by making them invisible to the public.

    4. For these reasons we demand:

    a) That, in keeping with international treaties signed and ratified by Mexico and a human rights situation now experienced in Mexico that has prompted our deepest anger and outrage, a fair, thoroughgoing investigation be immediately opened to identify the causes of the facts described above and to delineate the responsibility of the Mexico City government;

    b) That Víctor Herrera Govea be immediately released due to the lack of evidence against him;

    c) That his physical and psychological integrity be guaranteed;

    d) That his judicial security be guaranteed, instead of continuing to arbitrarily enforce a rule of law that fosters the criminalization of the social protest.

    e) That, based on Article 8 of the Constitution of Mexico and in accord with the necessary faculties and jurisdiction for doing so, action be taken to investigate the previously described events and that we be informed of the actions the government decides to take to resolve the situation; likewise, we ask that the results of this investigation be made public and that those responsible for the events be brought to justice.

    f) That the National Human Rights Commission, CNDH, take action with regards to the serious human rights violations committed against Víctor Herrera Govea, given that these go beyond the sphere of the Mexico City government and are of national and international importance, and that the Commission recommend measures for his protection.

    For all of the above reasons, we reiterate our demand and urge you to comply with the provisions established in the Mexican Constitution and international agreements signed by the Mexican government having to do with human rights and the application of justice, and to bring an end to repression and the criminalization of social protest.

  2. Estimad@ compañer@, amig@ o colectivo

    Te enviamos un cordial saludo y nuestro agradecimiento por las solidaridad que nos han brindado hasta la fecha pues gracias a ella Víctor y nosotr@s nos fortalecemos cada día.

    Con este comunicado anexamos *una carta, para que si estas de acuerdo, la suscribas y la reenvìes , a la brevedad posible, al correo libertadavictor@gmail.com .
    * http://elenemigocomun.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/carta-exigir-libertad-victor.pdf

    Para l@s compañer@s y amig@s que viven en otros países les pedimos que también la envíen a las representaciones del gobierno de México acrediatadas en sus respectivos países.

    Consideramos que esta campáña de firmas será de gran apoyo al trabajo que nuestros compañeros abogados estan realizando para lograr la libertad de Víctor, quien en la audiencia del 30 de noviembre próximo hará su declaración.

    Te enviamos un fuerte abrazo

    Comité por la Libertad de Víctor

    Lic. Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa
    Presidente de la República Mexicana

    Lic. Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont Urueta
    Secretario de Gobernación,

    Rosario Ibarra de la Garza
    Coordinadora de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la Cámara de Senadores

    Prof. Rubén Ignacio Moreira Valdez
    Presidente de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la Cámara de Diputados

    Dr. Raúl Plascencia Villanueva
    Presidente de la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos

    Lic. Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon
    Jefe de Gobierno del D.F.

    Miguel Mancera Espinosa
    Procurador General de Justicia del D.F.

    Dr. Luis Armando González Placencia
    Presidente de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos del D.F.

    Lic. Celia Marín Sasaki
    Juez del Juzgado 30

    Presente,

    Los abajo firmantes somos el Comité de apoyo por la libertad de Víctor Herrera Govea, familiares, compañeros y amigos, anarquistas libertarios, colectivos adherentes y no adherentes a la Otra Campaña, estudiantes de la UNAM, UAM, IPN, Escuela Nacional de Música, Colegios de Bachilleres, Preparatorias y CCHs, maestros e investigadores, residentes de la Ciudad de México, diferentes estados del país y de otros países y personas solidarias, quienes al enterarnos de los hechos ocurridos el dos de octubre de 2009 durante la marcha conmemorativa del cuadragésimo primer aniversario de la masacre en Tlatelolco, manifestamos nuestra indignación por lo siguiente:

    1. Durante la marcha un grupo de personas infiltradas, dañó y robó la tienda OXXO, ubicada en Eje Central y República de Cuba. En diversos videos, dichas personas, se observan a lo largo de la manifestación causando enfrentamientos con la policía, causa extrañeza la libertad con que provocan los disturbios y continúan moviéndose entre los contingentes sin ser en ningún momento detenidos, puesto que, incluso, parece que gozan de protección.

    2. Aunado a lo anterior, tuvo lugar en la marcha un doble cerco de granaderos alrededor del contingente libertario y anarquista, con el propósito de aislarlo e impedir su llegada al Zócalo, además de golpear y realizar detenciones arbitrarias de las personas que quedaban encapsuladas. Esta situación, deja ver, por segundo año consecutivo, la intención de represión y de criminalización de la protesta social por parte del gobierno con un énfasis en la lucha anarquista; de ello data la demanda de derechos humanos de hace un año, en la que se hacen explícitas las detenciones ilegales al mismo grupo, lo que permite concluir que este año nuevamente se montó una provocación a este grupo de jóvenes, con la cual resultaron 26 detenidos, la mayoría menores de edad, a quienes se liberó posteriormente, pero quedaron detenidos y bajo proceso cuatro personas que no participaron ni en el robo ni en los daños a la tienda, pues no aparecen en los videos, estas personas son: Joaquín López Ochoa, Miguel Ángel Martínez, Jaime Cortés Fones, y Víctor Herrera Govea, este último es estudiante de filosofía, anarquista, adherente a la Otra Campaña, comprometido con las luchas sociales del país, y por la liberación de los presos políticos. Previamente a la marcha participaba en el Plantón del Penal Molino de Flores, en apoyo a las 12 personas todavía injustamente presas desde el 2006, también participaba en un proyecto de agricultura urbana en la delegación Xochimilco.

    3. Dentro del cerco policiaco, a la altura de Eje Central y Bellas Artes, Víctor Herrera Govea fue brutalmente golpeado por los granaderos, este hecho que fue filmado por integrantes del contingente, lo cual ejerció presión para que fuera liberado en ese momento, sin embargo, dos horas después, fue detenido ilegal y violentamente por más de 8 judiciales vestidos de civil. Esto nos muestra que Víctor fue torturado doblemente, durante el cerco y durante la detención, que es inocente, que el operativo fue planeado para reprimir, culpabilizar a los jóvenes anarquistas y desprestigiar la marcha con la complicidad de la prensa amarillista (La prensa, El Metro, Ovaciones) y de las televisoras (Televisa, TV Azteca, Canal 40) que desprecian los movimientos sociales que luchan por un mundo más justo, primero manipulando los hechos y luego, haciéndolos invisibles públicamente.

    4. Por tal motivo manifestamos que:

    a) Teniendo en cuenta los tratados internacionales firmados y ratificados por México, manifestamos nuestra profunda indignación y enojo, por la grave situación de los derechos humanos que se viven en México, por lo que: exigimos se inicie una investigación inmediata, exhaustiva e imparcial para identificar las causas de los hechos descritos anteriormente, lo que es responsabilidad del Gobierno de la Ciudad de México.

    b) Que Víctor Herrera Govea sea liberado ante la falta de pruebas inmediatamente.

    c) Que se le garantice integridad física y psicológica

    d) Que se garantice la seguridad jurídica, y no como se ha venido haciendo, al aplicar arbitrariamente el orden jurídico en favor de la criminalización de la protesta social.

    e) Con base en el artículo VIII de la Constitución Política de los EUM, que en el ámbito de su competencia y atribuciones se actúe para que se investiguen los hechos previamente descritos y nos informe sobre las acciones que el gobierno decida llevar a cabo, para resolver la situación, asimismo, solicitamos que los resultados de dicha investigación se hagan públicos y que los responsables de esos hechos comparezcan ante la justicia.

    f) Que la CNDH actúe en relación con las graves violaciones a los derechos humanos cometidos en contra de Víctor Herrera Govea, puesto que trasciende el ámbito del D.F. y son de interés nacional e internacional y, solicite las medidas de protección a favor del mismo.

    Por todo lo anterior reiteramos nuestra exigencia y los exhortamos a que cumplan lo establecido en la Constitución Mexicana y en los acuerdos internacionales, que el gobierno mexicano ha suscrito con relación a los derechos humanos y a la aplicación de la justicia, así como el cese a la represión y a la criminalización de la protesta social.

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