Idle No More in Solidarity with Ayotzinapa

On September 26, 2014, 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Teachers’ College, in Iguala, went missing after they were attacked by state police and gunmen. Three students were killed and forty three “disappeared.” The bodies of the disappeared students have never been found and the Mexican government has not undertaken a credible investigation into the disappearance. The families keep struggling to find out what happened to the students.

This atrocity is part of a landscape of violence and impunity carried out through alliances between elements of the Mexican state and organized crime. The search for the students has uncovered more than 15 mass graves in neighbouring areas of the state of Guerrero, none of them containing the bodies of the students. In response, a national movement of resistance has emerged.

Idle No More organizers stand in solidarity with the missing 43 students and their families and the Caravan to Ottawa delegation travelling to share their story of resistance and hope. Their struggle and search for their loved one’s resonates with us as we seek justice for the murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirits in Canada. The murder of Indigenous people’s across the Americas is at epidemic proportions and it’s time for governments to take action to protect Indigenous lives.

Canada plays a critical role in supporting the Mexican state’s responsibility for the disappearances. In 2012, two way trade between Mexico and Canada totalled $20 billion. As a signatory to NAFTA, Mexico is Canada’s 5th largest export destination. Despite the human rights crisis in Mexico, Canada’s refugee system has deemed it a ‘safe country.’

Grand Chief Philip Stewart, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs calls out Canada’s involvement: “I call onThomas Mulcair, the leader of the official opposition to raise this issue in the house. I call on the Conservative government to make a statement about the situation in Mexico and cut off relations with Mexico until human rights are respected.”

Join Idle No More at the Public Forum With Leaders of Mexican Social Uprising – Ayotzinapa to Toronto as we join the delegation and lift our voices together and speak out against state violence.

April 29, 7pm: Public Forum With Leaders of Mexican Social Uprising – Ayotzinapa to Toronto at Ryerson University – 350 Victoria Street (@ Gould), Library Lecture Theatre, Room 72

– For further information about the caravan to Ottawa visit this page

For media requests contact:
– Raul Burbano, Common Frontiers, (416) 522-8615, burbano@rogers.com

We are all Ayotzinapa

Parents of the Ayotzinapa students take their case to UN meeting in Geneva this week.

From Telesur

Please see the article below. Vidulfo was one of the HR defenders that was part of the “No More Blood” speaking tour in Canada in 2012

Mexico Intelligence Agency Investigates Rights Defenders

From Telesur/Clayton Conn

Vidulfo Rosales (Center) | Photo: Clayton Conn/ teleSUR

Published 8 December 2014 (11 hours 51 minutes ago)

The agency has opened dossiers on human rights defenders counseling the families of the 43 Ayotzinapa students.

Mexico’s intelligence agency is investigating and potentially filing reports that criminalize human rights defenders and lawyers who counsel the families of the disappeared Ayotzinapa students according to a new report released on Monday.

The lengthy report entitled: “Ficha Cisen a abogado de normalistas” written in the electronic investigative journal, Reporte Indigo, shows that Mexico’s Center for Research and National Security (CISEN) – an equivalent to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has opened dossiers on human rights defenders from the Human Rights Center of the Mountain “Tlachinollan” calling them “dangerous to governance.”

The report details that Vidulfo Rosales, lawyer and representative of the 43 families of the Ayotzinapa students as well as Tlachinollan’s director, Abel Barrera are “elements” that pose a “threat” to the government and that the two participate in “subversive” activities.

The two have been vocal supporters of the families and have played the authorized voice on behalf of the families during meetings with the Interior Secretary, Attorney General and even the Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto.

“It is outrageous that public resources are used to weaken the human rights movement instead of using intelligence capabilities to combat infiltration and corruption by narco-governments and guarantee that serious human rights violations do not go unpunished,” declared a public letter signed by over a dozen reputable human rights organizations.

“The proven track record of Vidulfo Rosales as a lawyer and Abel Barrera as director, in defending human rights, has been instrumental in the region to counter impunity and abuse of power for years. We condemn the federal government’s attempt to discredit and harass the defense work in this context of profound risk due to their support of the families of the 43 students forcibly disappeared in Iguala on September 26th and 27th, 2014,” continued the letter.

The Human Rights Center of the Mountain “Tlachinollan” has defended and counselled the majority impoverished indigenous and farm working communities of the “Montaña” region of Guerrero for years, gaining them considerable popular and base support in nearby communities.

Mexico says 22,322 people now ‘disappeared’ – Americas – Al Jazeera English

Mexico says 22,322 people now ‘disappeared’ – Americas – Al Jazeera English.

UNITED FORCES FOR OUR DISAPPEARED IN COAHUILA AND MEXICO (FUUNDEC) Press release February 10, 2014. LIES FROM STATE AUTHORITIES.

On February 8th, 2014, the Governor of Coahuila Ruben Moreira and the Assistant Attorney Juan José Yañez informed FUUNDEC and representatives of the UN Human Rights High Commissioner and the National Commission of Human rights about the recent search operations for the disappeared taking place in the northern region of the state of Coahuila. The governor affirmed that heavy machinery was not used in the operation, and journalists were not allowed in the search zone. He also mentioned that appropriate protocols for the collection of evidence were followed.

However, appropriate protocols were not followed as it was revealed by a news report released by the American channel Univision. The video shows how evidence was not preserved, the crime scene was not protected and heavy machinery was used. These practices are not compatible with international search protocols and diminish the possibilities of finding the disappeared and arrest those responsible for their disappearance. To the families of the victims, this search operation is more of a public relations strategy rather than a genuine effort to assist the victims and their families. For that reason, FUUNDEC decided to suspend any dialogue and consultation with state and federal authorities until the Governor of Coahuila and the General Commissioner of the Federal Police Enrique Galindo give FUUNDEC an explanation for the lack of appropriate protocol in the search operations.

FUUNDEC also asks international organizations for their assistance in the collection, classification and preservation of evidence that results from search operations. (In press release from January 31, 2014, FUUNDEC suggested the Government of Coahuila to join the Agreement of Collaboration for the Identification of Human Remains with the Attorney-in-General’s Office. This agreement was already used in the massacres of San Fernando and Cadereyta. The goal of this agreement is the creation of a Commission of Forensic Experts led by Argentina’s group of forensic anthropologists, which includes international and national forensic experts).

FUUNDEC is also organizing a “Truth Caravan” to demand results and the implementation of appropriate search protocols to state authorities. The caravan will depart from Torreon Coahuila on February 14^th, 2014 and arrive the same day at the city of Saltillo, capital of the state.

Please contact the Governor of Coahuila on twitter @GobDeCoahuila and the Federal police @SSP_mx to show your support to the families in their protest.

Interesting map on disappearances in Mexico elaborated by Univision