Codigo DH: New threats against human rights defender Alba Cruz (UA)

Human rights defender Alba Cruz receives new threats

Family Coache Rivera also threatened

Concern for their safety and physical integrity due to the new wave of threats

Human rights lawyer Alba Cruz has been threatened again in a new message: "It starts now fuckers". The text message that came from a new cell number, but contains content closely related to the messages with death threats previously received the day before yesterday. A criminal demand has been filed in the possible fulfillment of the threats.

The human rights defender Alba Cruz, yesterday, April 13 received a threatening message, due to her defense work and reporting of serious human rights violations that have ocurred in Oaxaca. This is part of a series of death threats, tracking and harassment that have occurred since 2007 and are intended to force her to stop defending victims of torture and violations of human rights. Because of the risk she faces for her work, since 2007 she has been the beneficiary of precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Yesterday at 2 p.m. Cruz received a death threat on her cell phone that says, among other things "be warned ... you die along with him for being assholes". Him refers to one of her clients. Prior to these events, on March 30, a gray double cab truck with license plates from Mexico City and three men on board, tried to crash into Alba Cruz while she was traveling in her vehicle after a meeting in City of Justice (Ciudad Judicial - Reyes Mantecón Oaxaca). When the perpetrators realized that Cruz was attempting to take a picture of their vehicle with her cellphone, they sped away.

One of Cruz's clients is trade unionist, former political prisoner and torture victim, Marcelino Coache, who in the past half year has faced harassment and a smear campaign to discredit his work because of his active participation in social movements in Oaxaca.

Yesterday, Reyna Rivera, Mr. Coache's wife, received a message on her cell phone a few minutes after the message to Cruz, which reads: "I warn you, remember or you are assholes, take care now, you're finished". Both this messages and the one from today come from the same number.

It is necessary to emphasize the recent defamation against Coache on tweets published on April 1st accusing him of being a "hooligan", https://twitter.com/#!/PACOVASQUEZP; he was falsely reported as calling a march against PRI candidate Enrique Peña Nieto, who visited Oaxaca last week www.quadratinoaxaca.com.mx/news/notes,60034/, which has happened on other occasions.

It should be mentioned that Marcelino Coache and his family have precautionary measures granted by the IACHR in May 2009 due to the attacks and threats them. Several investigations remain open, and there is a clear need to establish the origin of threats, assaults and torture he has suffered, as well as the judicial prosecution of those responsible for these acts.

It is noted that the failure to punish all of the prior allegations, allows threats, harassment and intimidation such as these to continue to occur.

We therefore call on the AUTHORITIES to:

Take all measures to ensure safety and effective protection of the lawyer Alba Cruz and Marcelino Coache Rivera and his family, starting with the effective adoption of the measures requested by the parties concerned;

Order an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the threats and attacks on Alba Cruz and the Coache Rivera family, identifying those responsible for the acts of intimidation, threats and harassment mentioned.

The guarantee in all circumstances of the free exercise of the work of defense of lawyer Alba Cruz.

In solidarity we ask all national and international organizations to make appeals to:

Lic. Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa

Presidente de la República Mexicana

Residencia Oficial de los Pinos, Casa Miguel Alemán,

Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, C.P. 11850, México DF.

Tel: +52 55 27891100; Fax: +52 55 50934900.

felipe.calderon(at)remove-this.presidencia.gob.mx

Lic. Alejandro Poiré Romero

Secretario de Gobernación

Bucareli 99, Edificio Cobian Col. Juárez,

Del. Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06600 México, D.F.