Call for justice and for a thorough and impartial investigation into the murders of Beatriz Alberta

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Friday April 29, 2011 13:25 by Latin America Solidarity Centre - Latin America Solidarity Centre info at lasc dot ie

Call for justice and for a thorough and impartial investigation into the murders of Beatriz Alberta "Bety" Cariño Trujillo and Jyri Jaakkola, 27th April 2010

Latin America Solidarity Centre
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27th April 2011

Call for justice and for a thorough and impartial investigation into the murders of
Beatriz Alberta "Bety" Cariño Trujillo and Jyri Jaakkola, 27th April 2010

The Latin American Solidarity Centre of Ireland and and its partner organisations and friends would like to express grave concern at the lack of proper investigation into the assassinations of human rights defenders Beatriz Alberta "Bety" Cariño Trujillo and Jyri Jaakkola outside San Juan Copala, in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, on 27 April last year.

Bety and Jyri were killed taking part in a peace caravan attempting to bring relief to the indigenous community of San Juan Copala, which had been under siege from armed members of paramilitary groups linked to the former governor's party.

We are dismayed at the fact that one year on, no proper investigation has taken place and that this sends out a strong message that impunity for these crimes and human rights violations in Mexico has become acceptable.

We understand that the inhabitants of San Juan Copala have since then suffered further assaults, killings, rapes and forcible displacement from their hometown at the hands of paramilitary groups. These are grave instances of total impunity and human rights violations which also demonstrate a total disregard by the Mexican authorities towards the right to autonomy, direct democracy and control over natural resources by indigenous peoples in lands that they have traditionally occupied.

The Mexican government was one of the first governments to ratify the 169 ILO Convention on the rights of indigenous peoples and since then has also adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, the implementation of these international law and standards has not been applied even partially, as the situation in San Juan Copala painfully reveals.

We note that many Oaxacan organisations and international human rights groups have been calling on the Federal Mexican Government for the past year to intervene in the defence of the most basic human rights in Oaxaca but that the former State Government refused to take action or to carry out any investigation into events occurred in the community.

In relation to the above, the Latin American Solidarity Centre of Ireland and its partner organisations and friends:

Call onto the recently elected governor of Oaxaca and the Mexican Federal Authorities to carry out a thorough and proper investigation into the murders of Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola.

Call onto the governor of Oaxaca and the Mexican Federal Authorities to investigate seriously the brutal human rights violations which took place in San Juan Copala over the past year, and to guarantee the conditions for the return of its inhabitants and their right to autonomy and self-determination.