Oaxaca Political Prisoner Update

FROM POLITICAL PRISONERS AT TLACOLULA
http://elenemigocomun.net/804

Carta de los presos pol?ticos en Tlacolula
http://elenemigocomun.net/804#espanol

Oaxaca: Amor De Mis Amores
http://elenemigocomun.net/803

* Amnesty International: arbitrary detentions
http://elenemigocomun.net/799
*** Take action!
http://elenemigocomun.net/799#action

Protests Resume in Oaxaca
http://elenemigocomun.net/810

--------------

FROM POLITICAL PRISONERS AT TLACOLULA
http://elenemigocomun.net/804

Tlacolula, Oaxaca, M?xico, January 5th, 2007

To the people of Oaxaca.

To the state government.

To the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

To the president of Mexico, Felipe Calder?n Hinojosa.

To the international community.

We, the undersigned, are writing to you with regards to the following situation:

As a result of the events in the city of Oaxaca on November 20 and 25 and December
1, we were arbitrarily apprehended with extreme violence by members of the Federal
Preventive Police (PFP), the state ministerial police, and individuals in street
clothes traveling in vehicles without plates. From the very first, there was
absolutely no respect shown for our individual guarantees delineated in the
Constitution of Mexico.

On November 25, before being transferred to this prison, some of us had our eyes
covered with masking tape and were tortured with electric shocks on different parts
of the body while we were being interrogated. All the while, we were threatened with
execution.

On November 27, we were transferred to the Federal Re-adaptation Center (CEFERESO)
N? 4 in Tepic, Nayarit, where we were held prisoner for 23 days. Throughout our trip
to this maximum security prison, the entrance procedure and our stay there, we were
treated like we were the most dangerous of all criminals. The entire time we were
there, we were held incommunicado, locked down in a 2?2 meter cell without ever
being able to go out into the sunshine.

On December 20, due to the measures taken by our families, as well as to local,
national, and international pressure, we were transferred back to this prison at
Tlacolula, Oaxaca, where 16 of us are now being held as political prisoners. We are
charged with several different crimes by the government of the state of Oaxaca,
including robbery and kidnapping, sedition, criminal conspiracy, and property
damage. These charges are based on reports of the federal and state police, who have
never been able to legally prove them; they are, therefore, inadmissible in a court
of law.

For these reasons, we reiterate our innocence and demand our immediate,
unconditional freedom, as well as respect for our individual guarantees and our
physical and emotional integrity.

For a State of Law with peace and social justice.

RESPECTFULLY YOURS,

Juan Carlos Luis Mendoza

Cornelio Lopez Sanchez

Abraham Reyes Herrera

Uriel Julio Mendez Hernandez

Rosein Garcia Guzman

Manuel Ventura Santiago

Alejandro Luna Lopez

Edgar Alejandro Molina Cuevas

Flaviano Juarez Hernandez

Pedro Garivo Perez

Alberto Alejandro Correa Orozco

Felipe Sanchez Rodriguez

Armando Garcia Salas

Arturo Reyes Garcia

Gilberto Toledo de los Santos

Marco Antonio Aquino Silva