Documento - Mexico: Fear for safety/medical concern
PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 41/019/2008
25 April 2008
UA 111/08 Fear for safety/medical concern
MEXICO Tiburcio Gómez Pérez (m), inmate of “Los Llanos” state prison and member of the group "La Voz de los Llanos” (The Voice of Los Llanos)
OtherIndigenous prisoners who support the group
Ten inmates of “Los Llanos” state prison, in San Cristobal de las Casas, in the southern state of Chiapas, have been attacked and severely beaten by other prisoners, reportedly with the consent of the prison authorities. According to a local human rights organization, the attack was in reprisal for the prisoners' complaints of ill-treatment and corruption in the prison. They have not been given medical attention and may be at risk of further attacks.
On 21 April, seven Indigenous prisoners who have organized a support group called “The Voice of los Llanos” (La Voz de los Llanos) and three sympathizers with the group were attacked by a gang of 20 inmates. According to the victims’ testimonies, the attackers were led by a criminal gang, known as “Los Precisos”, which controls other inmates with threats, violence and extortion, reportedly with the consent of the prison authorities. The victims stated that they were beaten with sticks, kicked and punched, while the prison guards stood watching. One of the victims alleges that his head was forced underwater, almost to the point of drowning. According to their testimony, the victims sustained injuries including bruises and possibly broken bones and internal damage, but have not been given any medical treatment; nor have they been allowed to see a doctor who could assess their condition.
According to local human rights organization Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, the members of “La Voz de los Llanos”, who consider themselves to be political prisoners, have suffered ill-treatment and harassment on several occasions. Two of the leaders of “La Voz de los Llanos”, Tiburcio Gómez Pérez and Aureliano Álvarez Gómez, were moved to “Los Llanos” prison in March 2007 as a measure to protect them from the harassment and torture they had suffered in another state prison for having organised a support group there (see UA 197/06, AMR 41/001/2006, 19 July 2006). However, shortly after they were moved to the new prison, the two were moved to a cell isolated from the other prisoners. They claim that this is because they refused to give way to extortion from prison staff.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Reports of torture and other ill-treatment in prisons remain common in states such as Chiapas. Prison conditions for those on remand or after sentence reportedly amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in some states, with corruption and violence rife. In Chiapas, dozens of prisoners who consider their detention, prosecution and conviction to be politically motivated on the basis of unfair trials, went on hunger strike to demand their releases in between March and April 2008. Almost 100 have subsequently been released on the grounds that the judicial proceedings against them were unsound, but others such as Tiburcio Gómez Pérez, remain in prison.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish or your own language:
- expressing concern for the safety of Indigenous prisoners belonging to the group "La Voz de los Llanos” and supporters of the group;
- calling for those attacked on 21 April to be given immediate access to all the medical care they may require;
- calling for the authorities to guarantee the safety of those at risk;
- calling for an impartial, prompt and impartial investigation into the reported beating and ill-treatment suffered by the group at the hands other prisoners;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that any prison official found to have ordered, encouraged or tolerated attacks and threats by inmates against other inmates to be suspended from duty and held to account
APPEALS TO:
Governor of Chiapas
Lic. Juan José Sabines Guerrero
Gobernador del Estado de Chiapas
Palacio de Gobierno, 1º piso, Col. Centro,
C.29000, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Fax: +52 961 618 8050 ext. 21122
Salutation: Dear Governor/Señor Gobernador
Minister of Justice of Chiapas state
Lic. Amador Rodríguez Lozano
Ministro de Justicia del Estado de Chiapas
Libramiento Norte s/n, tercer nivel
Col. Infonavit “El Rosario”, CP 29049
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, MEXICO
Fax: + 52 961 61 657 24
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Señor Ministro
Coordinator of Chiapas State Prisons
Lic. Juan José Mora Mora
Secretario Ejecutivo
Consejo de Ejecución de Sanciones Penales y Medidas de Seguridad
3a. Poniente Sur No. 157, Col. Centro
C.P. 29000 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, MEXICO
Fax: + 52 961 61 33 154 or + 52 961 61 21821 (if someone answers say “me da tono de fax, por favor”)
Email: jmora@secesp.chiapas.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Secretary/ Señor Secretario
COPIES TO:
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, A.C.
Calle Brasil 14, Barrio Méxicanos, 29240 San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México
Email: accionurgente@frayba.org.mx
and to diplomatic representatives of Mexico accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 6 June 2008.