http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/7/22/105442/616The Popular Assembly lodges legal denunciation of Governor Ruiz
By Nancy Davies,
Posted on Sat Jul 22nd, 2006 at 10:54:42 AM EST
Acting as alternative government of the state of Oaxaca, the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) has moved on the legal front to oust the governor of the state. On June 21 the nine-page legal complaint was handed to the national Congress.
Based on the Constitution of the United States of Mexico, APPO issued its formal denunciation of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. The denunciation calls for revocation of his post as Governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca.
The call for Ruiz’ removal was composed and signed by seventy-two civil organizations, and members of CIESAS, the top-ranked institute for the study of society and anthropology in Mexico. It was handed to the legislature of Mexico on July 16, one month after the governor ordered a pre-dawn attack on sleeping teachers from the teachers union Section 22. Some teachers were accompanied by children and family members in their encampment in the zocalo of Oaxaca City. The attack was made by police supported by helicopters firing tear gas canisters.
Within days the teachers’ strike had changed into a state-wide popular social movement, with its single demand the removal of Governor Ruiz. Ruiz is a member of the Partido Revolucionario Democratico, the PRI, which has controlled Oaxaca for more than seventy-five years.
The denunciation is being circulated to the national and foreign press. Meanwhile, outbreaks of the struggle to control town governments continue throughout the state. On July 20 the blockade and occupation of the government buildings for the legislature, juridical offices, and executive offices of Oaxaca organized by APPO were carried out.
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/7/22/105442/616FORMAL APPLICATION FOR IMPEACHMENT AND REVOCATION OF THE MANDATE OF C. ULISES ERNESTO RUIZ ORTIZ, CONSITUTIONAL GOVERNOR OF THE FREE AND SOVEREIGN STATE OF OAXACA
HONORABLE CONGRESS OF THE UNION
Based on what is available in the Political Constitution of the United States of Mexico in articles 1, 8, 39, 74 section V, 76 section V, VI and VII, article 110 second paragraph, as well as what is stipulated in the Federal Law of Administrative Responsibilities of Public Servants, articles 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10, and in virtue of the fact that in Oaxaca constitutional order has been disrupted and legality and state of law violated, the undersigned, members of Oaxacan civil society organizations, submit for consideration to this Honorable Legislative Assembly the present Formal Application for the Impeachment and Revocation of the Mandate of C. Ulises Ernesto Ruiz Ortiz, Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca.
1.EXPOSITION OF MOTIVES
1.1 Background
State elections of August 1, 2004 opened up a complicated political situation in Oaxaca and have shaped a cycle of political repression that still has yet to end. The victory of the candidate from the New Citizens’ Force of the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, was challenged by the opposition coalition We All Are Oaxaca which argued that there was fraud in the electoral contest. This election was settled in the Electoral Tribunal of Judicial Power of the Federation the 17th of November of 2004. During plenary session, the Electoral Tribunal declared valid the election in favor of the elected Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (Juicio de Revisión Constitucional Electoral Expediente SUP-JRC-205/2004). ANEX 1
The victory of the PRI to government and the majority of the local councils inaugurated a process of citizen mobilization and denouncement of electoral fraud. Meanwhile, the municipal elections of October of that same year, 2004, as much through the channels of the political parties as through “usos y costumbres”, installed an unpublicized scenario consisting of a close struggle for the local powers. This electoral process of 2004 will go down in history as one of the most violent processes in the political tradition of Oaxaca. If it is that, in fact, elections in Oaxaca “are judged by the number of deaths that they bring” these elections do not pass the test, given that within only two months 5 political assassinations were recorded: Guadalupe Avila Salinas (San José Estancia Grande), Serafín García Martínez (Huautla de Jiménez), Lino Antonio (San Agustín Loxicha), Faustino Acevedo Bailón (San Blas Atempa) and Enrique Martínez (San José Tenango). (Reporte del Colectivo por la Democracia, Oaxaca 6 October, 2004). ANEX 2
From the beginning of the current state administration headed by Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, there were grave violations of the Political Constitution, of the section of individual guarantees, that caught the attention of national and international human rights’ bodies. During the period between January and July of 2005, the government of Oaxaca received warnings and observations from: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations, the North American State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, Amnesty International, the Inter-American Press Association, the Ecumenical Office for Peace and Justice of Germany, and at the national level, the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH). (El Cambio Inconcluso. Avances y Desaciertos en Materia de Derechos Humanos Durante el Gobierno de Fox. Informe Human Rights Watch, 2006). ANEX 3
In the year 2005 alone the CNDH sent out three warnings to the Government of the State of Oaxaca, for the following reasons: a) For violation of the freedom of expression and society’s collective right to receive information, committed against the journalists Jorge Fernández Menéndez, Leopoldo Mendivil, warning 04/2005 on 18 March, 2005. b) For violation the of legal securities in the illegal detention by the Oaxaca Procurator of Justice's Office, committed against Jaquelina Lópes Almazán, Samuel Hernández Morales, Carlos Cruz Mozo Y Giloberto Canseco Carmona, warning 08/2005 on 19 April 2005 c) For violation of the right to freedom of expression and information, committed against the newspaper Noticias, warning 013/2005 on 10 June 2005 (VI Informe de la Red Oaxaquña de Derechos Humanos, Oaxaca, México) ANEX 4
The human rights’ situation that currently prevails in the State of Oaxaca is symptomatic of the national situation, given that a climate of flagrant and systematic violations of human rights persists in this entity. This situation has reached a level of utmost gravity and is evolving towards a set of circumstances that put to serious risk Oaxaca 's peaceful coexistence, governance and institutional order.
In this political environment, the functions of the governmental bodies of the state – the Local Congress, the General Secretary of Government, the State Procurator of Justice’s Office, the Secretary of Citizen Protection, the Office of Public Security—serve to deepen this grave crisis. It is precisely these bodies that contribute to the breakdown of the legal order , the violations of constitutional guarantees, the detoriaration of institutions , and the degradation of fundamental human rights. Without doubt Oaxaca is going through a process of political recession, to the point of showing signs of authoritarianism.
1.2 Violations of Human Rights and Constitutional Guarantees
A brief but necessary count of the human rights’ violations and of the situations that could constitute infringements of the constitutional guarantees of this state, carried out by the Government of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz between December of 2004 and June of 2006, can be resumed as follows:
Illegal detention of social and political leaders. Although the number of political prisoners of the state government is to date unknown, it is worth mentioning a few of them: of the organization Consejo Indigena Popular de Oaxaca (CIPO), 23 people were detained in the forced evacuation of the 22nd of December of 2004; of the organization Coordinadora Oaxaqueña Magonista Popular Antineoliberal (COMPA), which is at the root of the conflict in the municipality of Santiago Xanica, 7 people were detained; of the Juquileño Citizens’ Movement, in the violent evacuation of the municipal palace, 69 people were detained; of the municipality of San Juan Lalana, in which the people initiated a caravan march to the City of Oaxaca demanding respect for their political rights, 19 people were detained; of the Popular Revolutionary Front 5 people were detained; from both the Frente Unico Huautleco and from the municipality of Mazatlan Villa de Flores, 1 person was detained. All of these arrests were made for political motives or against resistance movements, affirming the fact that Ulises Ruiz’s government has filled the prisons with political prisoners in his first six months of government. (VI Informe de la Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos, Oaxaca, Mexico 2005). ANEXO 5
Other violent events in this period include the following: In the municipality of Maztlán Villa de Flores Ángel Ortega Prieto and Pedro Carrera were assassinated, also due to motives of a political nature. In San Blas Atempa, during the violent eviction of the Popular Council during the month of March of the year 2006, 10 persons were detained and 94 orders of apprehension are still to be executed. As a result of the failed forced evacuation of the teachers from the historical center of the City of Oaxaca the 14th of June of 2006, 14 oaxacan teachers were detained. There exist 10 criminal charges relating to the abuse of authority, robbery, damages, and injuries that have been brought to the Special Attorney of Teacher Issues. Similarly, during this same period political crimes were committed against César Toimil Roberts, the Municipal President of Ixtepec City, Oaxaca.
1.2.2 Violation of the Right to Freedom of Expression and Society’s Collective Right to Information
Attack on Liberty of Expression. The assault on the printing presses of the newspaper “Noticias” on November 30, 2004, one day before Ulises Ruiz Ortiz took over the office of governor, and the July 17, 2005 kidnapping of 31 workers following the violent eruption upon the buildings of that very newspaper, under the pretext of a strike implemented by people outside of the business, followed by the harassment by the State Police of independent sellers for distributing the newspaper, constitutes one of the strongest offenses to freedom of expression that has occurred in this state. With such actions the government of the state infringes the Political Constitution of the United States of Mexico, the American Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression. (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, warning 013/2005. June 10, 2005). ANEX 6
1.2.3 Violation of Political Rights and the Right to Free Election
Political Rights and the Right to Free Election. In addition to the official city councils voted in by the elections of 2004, 5 popular city councils have been created in municipalities of the state, since due to the violations of their right to a free election these municipalities have had no other option than to set up their own authorities on the margin of the state institutions. These city councils are in: Jalapa del Marqués, San Blas Atempa, Santa Catarina Juquila, San Juan Lalana and Mazatlán Villa de Flores. In these city councils violent evacuations have occurred as well as other actions of force on the part of the State. The interpretation that has been made of these events is as follows: a) Lacking a capacity for dialogue and political operation, the government has opted to offer repressive responses rather than political ones to the municipal conflicts, b) the local movements are set on affronting the regional cacicazgos without fear c) the internal disintegration of the PRI and the violation of rules by regional officers and local representatives is generating a deterioration of the political life in a high number of Oaxaca municipalities. (Análisis de Coyuntura Politica, Servicios para una Educación Alternativa A.C. EDUCA. February 2005.) ANEXO 7
1.2.4 Violation of Territorial Rights
Agrarian Conflicts and Territorial Rights. It is well known that in the state of Oaxaca a high number of agrarian conflicts continue to persist. A few years ago a historical number of 600 territorial conflicts was reached, 10% of which have been considered of high intensity. Nevertheless, during the present administration, territorial conflicts have stemmed from confrontations and ambushes in the regions of Sierra Sur, Mixteca, Costa y Papaloapan; up to the present time there have been at least seven deaths, seven wounded, 60 displaced families and five houses lit on fire in these zones. Within this context it is important to mention the conflict that arose between the communities of Santa Cruz Nundaco y San Isidro Vista Hermosa in 2005. This situation has resulted in 3 injured and 38 detained, among them 16 children. Despite the appearance of having reached a solution, the agrarian problems have intensified during the current administration and in some cases have surpassed the point where the government could have the capacity to act as an intermediary.
1.2.5 Violation of the Right to Freedom of Religion
Attacks on the Right to Freedom of Religion. In only the first two hundred days of government there have been 14 assaults on Catholic temples, involving the robbery of sacred art, including the recent desecration of the Metropolitan Cathedral. The most serious of these attacks was the assault on the Sanctuary of Santa Catarina Juquila and the kidnapping of Father Alberto Pacheco, at the hands of unknown culprits. All of these situations constitute events of utmost seriousness, lest we forget that the crime of Father Mauro Andrés Carreño, which occurred in 1998, has yet to be resolved.
1.2.6 Violations of the Rights of Women
Crimes Against Girls and Women. According to data from the INEGI between 1999 and 2003, 351 homicides of girls and women occurred in the state of Oaxaca; the local press reports 267 homicides between 1999-2005 and the Procurator-General of Justice’s Office reports 52 assassinations between January 2004 and June 2005, along with 26 violations in the last year and a half. An investigation by the Federal Congress of 10 entities of the state confirms that feminicide exists in Oaxaca. Though the numbers themselves clearly illustrate the seriousness of the problem, the administration of Ulises Ruiz has neither taken effective action nor allocated the resources necessary to attend to this phenomenon that affects the entire society. While the governor of the state assures he is committed to protecting the human rights of women, in reality, inefficiency, lack of sensitivity, and negligence dominate within the bodies of government in charge of the issue. (Archivo Colectivo Huaxyacac, Network of civil organizations that work with gender and women issues Oaxaca 2005).
1.2.7 Violation of International Agreements on Human Rights Issues
Vulnerability of Public Institutions of Human Rights: The State Commission on Human Rights (CEDH) of Oaxaca currently lacks credibility; The naming of its head, Jaime Mario Pérez Jiménez, placed in doubt the government’s commitment to supporting the consolidation of truly autonomous human rights organizations. The President of the State Commission on Human Rights is plainly identified with the political group currently in state power, having acted as legal advisor for Ulises Ruiz Ortiz when he was campaigning, and in addition has played a questionable role when it comes to defending human rights. Civil Society’s independent human rights organizations have broken formal relations with said commission. The CEDH has been accused of being a decorative institution, whose role has become subordinate to the government’s interests. Its silence and failure to react in the face of events that have shaken the national consciousness has been shocking. Included in this list of events, just to mention a few, are massacres of peasants, jailings of indigenous prisoners, violence against women, persecutions of social leaders, political instability, and misgovernance. (Profile of the Ombudsman, “Para Todos los Derechos del Pueblo, Un Verdadero Defensor,” Colectivo por la Democracia, Oaxaca 2005.) ANEX 11
1.2.8 Violations of the Right of Suffrage
In Oaxaca practices of vote buying and conditioning continue to persist. There can be found numerous evidences of irregularities that constitute electoral crimes, such as: stockpiles of materials and food provisions in official warehouses, delivery of tools and food provisions, applications for electoral credentials, payoffs for assisting campaign meetings, and promises of public services or fulfillment of social programs. The Government of the State has taken advantage of the marginalization and extreme poverty within the state, especially in the indigenous areas. Of these practices, the most distressing is the conditioning of the vote of 10,000 taxi drivers who are allowed by the state government to operate irregular franchises, This was done by the current administration precisely in anticipation of the electoral contest to allow them to manipulate the taxi drivers, who now become hostage to voting for the PRI and the Alliance for Mexico.
1.3 Repression of the Teachers’ Movement
For more than over 25 years the teacher movement in Oaxaca, year after year, has presented the state with concrete labor demands. On May 15, 2006 70,000 teachers mobilized to demand the rescaling of their salaries due to the increase in the cost of living in the state. From the beginning, they proposed contributing 600 million in order to reach the 1,400 million pesos necessary (Noticias, May 16, 2006). Enrique Rueda Pacheco, leader of the teachers, appeared fully willing to negotiate a solution. However, according to the head of the teacher union, the government had initiated a campaign against the teachers consisting of radio and televisions spots presented by a State Association of Family Parents in order to create a current of public opinion adverse to the movement. According to the head of the teachers, in statements to the press on May 15, this was done to establish a current of opinion that would allow the use of the “politics of force.” (Noticias, May 16, 2006).
Faced with no negotiations and unwillingness for dialogue on the part of the government, on the 22nd of May the teachers decided to set up an encampment in 50 streets in the center of the city of Oaxaca. The encampment began May 23, and its members announced they wished to dialogue directly with the governor of the state. Meanwhile, the president of Coparmex José Escobar Gómez, asked the government and the teachers to “initiate a dialogue and to try and do so as quickly as possible, as the losses suffered from only 2 days of the teacher’s encampment are great.” (Noticias 24 May 2006). Ulises Ruiz Ortiz took no notice of these pleas and practiced a policy of deaf ears. He argued that the government had offered what it could and would offer nothing else. In place of dialogue the governor initiated a campaign of support for his policy and against the teachers, summoning the presidents of municipalities and pressuring them to declare themselves against the teachers. 23 days later, the government did not only refuse to dialogue but put into action what the head of the teacher union had predicted, “the politics of force” ANEX 13
In an attempt to forcefully evict the teachers from their encampment in the city center, at 4:30 a.m. on the 14th of June the police surrounded the teachers and pushed them back to evacuate them from the city, invaded the facilities of the teacher’s union, destroyed the facilities of “Radio Plantón,” burned the belongings of the teachers, and from an helicopter belonging to the State Public Security Office the police fired tear gas, paralyzing gas, and pepper gas. These devices not only landed on the streets of the historic center, but on homes and public buildings like the Oaxacan Museum of Contemporary Arts, where 6 containers of these “stun bombs” were recovered. These gas bombs affected the teachers, as well as the men, women, and children who reside in the historical center, and the police themselves. The governor that day made false statements; false in the sense that they argued the evacuation had been performed in a peaceful manner and that the different police corps involved carried no firearms. In fact, however, different types of firearms where indeed used.
In this repressive action motivated by the government of the state, participated the following police corps: the Special Operations Police Unit (UPOE), the Tactical Intervention Ministerial Unit (UMIT), the State Preventive Police, the Special Operations Group of the City of Oaxaca (GOE), and the Municipal Police. This operation also had the support of the helicopter with license plate number XAUCJ, arms of high caliber R-15, and gas bombs and gas grenades of tear and pepper gas.
The Red Cross attended to 172 people which where transferred to various hospitals throughout the city. The Secretary of Health attended 31 people. In the ISSSTE hospital 19 people were admitted. In the IMSS hospital 85 people were attended. Additionally, hundreds of people with less serious afflictions such as confusion, burns, injuries, high blood pressure, anxiety and fear were attended that day by medical volunteers, medical students, and rank and file workers of the Section XXXV of the Social Security. ANEX 16
2. BASIS AND MOTIVATION
The police operation implemented by Governer Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, was a great failure with great social costs to the civil population. This action only served to show the government’s incapacity to govern Oaxaca in a harmonious manner. The response of the government to these events was to state “In Oaxaca there is nothing happening.” This statement is consistent with the administration’s manner of exercising power; a policy of repeating lies and concealing the truth.
This review of the data and other information about the severity of the conditions in the State of Oaxaca clearly demonstrates a political crisis and outlines a sequence of social instabilities that could completely fracture the system of governance in Oaxaca. There exists an evident deterioration of political relations and a tendency towards the escalation of social conflicts, this due to the null and void division of powers, the biased application of the law, the persecution of social leaders, and the apathy of the government towards the conflicts of diverse characters present in Oaxaca.
The Government of the State of Oaxaca is responsible for acting and failing to act in manners that have resulted in harm to the public interest, some of these are: affronts to the democratic institutions of the state and the federation; systematic and serious violations of individual and social guarantees; the infraction of federal laws and the Constitution; the usurpation of tax money and the abuse of authority; attacks on the right to free suffrage.
Considering all that precedes, we consider that it is appropriate to initiate the process of impeachment of the Governor of the State of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, given that as a result of his actions the government has violated the Political Constitution of the United Sates of Mexico and the Federal Law of Administrative Responsibilities of Public Servants. In accordance with the General Constitution, article 110, which establishes that “…Governors of the States…may be subject to impeachment…” It additionally states that “ The Chamber of Representatives will process the corresponding accusation to the Chamber of Senators …considering the accusations the Chamber of Senators will decide on an suitable sentence, and apply the sanction under a 2/3 vote of those present at the session…”
3. OAXACAN SOCIETY FORMALLY DEMANDS IMPEACHMENT
In Oaxaca constitutional order has been notoriously broken and legality and the state of law have been violated. Faced with all of this we consider it urgent that the Federal Government intervene through the Congress of the Union—the Chamber of Representatives as accusatory body and the Chamber of Senates as a judge of sentence-- so that in compliance with its attributes and abilities, the constitutional order that has been so violated may be restored in the State of Oaxaca.
Therefore, based on what is available in the Political Constitution of the United States of Mexico in articles 1, 8, 39, 74 section V, 76 section V, VI and VII, article 110 second paragraph, as well as what is stipulated in the Federal Law of Administrative Responsibilities of Public Servants, articles 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10, we request the beginning of the process of impeachment of the State Executive with the aim of the removal of Ulises Ernesto Ruiz Ortiz from the office of Governor of Oaxaca.
Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca. June 15, 2006.
Ana María Hernández Cárdenas
Miguel Ángel Vásquez de la Rosa
Margarita Dalton Palomo
Mario Hernández Martínez
Juan Carlos Martínez
OAXACAN CIVIL SOCIETY
Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad AC (Oaxaca), Colectivo Nueva Babel AC, Centro para los Derechos de la Mujer Ñääxuiin AC, Grupo de Apoyo a la Educación de la Mujer GAEM, Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos AC, Comité Civil de Resistencia Civil San Blasena Zapoteca, Universidad de la Tierra en Oaxaca AC, Centro de Encuentros y Diálogos Interculturales AC, UCIZONI AC, UNOSJO SC, Fundación Comunalidad AC, Centro de Apoyo al Movimiento Popular Oaxaqueño CAMPO AC, Organización de Agricultores Biológicos ORAB AC, Centrarte AC, Sinergia para el Desarrollo Integral Sustentable AC, Ojo de Agua Comunicación, PROCAO AC, Centro Anhata, Ixcaxochitl AC, Orgánica San Agustín, Espiral por la Vida AC, Iniciativas para el Desarrollo de la Mujer Oaxaqueña IDEMO AC, Foro Oaxaqueño de la Niñez, Centro de Apoyo al Niño de la Calle de Oaxaca CANICA AC, Grupo Mesófilo AC, Centro de Estudios de la Mujer y la Familia AC, Nueve Lunas SC, Grupo de Estudios sobre la Mujer Rosario Castellanos AC, Centro de Atención y Formación Humanista AC, Alternativas para la Equidad y la Diversidad AC, Habitantes del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de Oaxaca, Pueblo Jaguar AC, Comité de Vigilancia Ciudadana, La Ventana AC, Binigulazaa AC, Promotora de Servicios para el Desarrollo PRODER SC, Centro de Derechos Indígenas Flor y Canto AC, Capacitación y Planeación Comunitaria AC, Observatorio por los Derechos Humanos y la Democracia, Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos Bartolomé Carrasco AC, Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos, Semilla del Sur, Codice AC, Chamixezacui AC, Niño a Niño México AC, Colonias Unidas de Oaxaca AC, Asociación de Educación e Integración del Niño Dawn Oaxaqueño, Escuincles Traviesos AC, Yeni Navan SPR de RL, Vecinos del Fraccionamiento Casa del Sol, Red de Cafeticultores 5 de diciembre AC, Sociedad de Producción Rural La Esperanza de RL, Sociedad Cooperativa Oganización de Mujeres Eloxochitecas, Margarita Magón de R. L., Consejo Central Indígena de Eloxochitlán, Unión de Comunidades Campesinas Marginadas AC, SPR de Apicultores de Eloxochitlán de RL, Lina Herrera, Nallely Moreno Moncayo, Instituto de la Naturaleza y la Sociedad de Oaxaca, INSO SC, Servicios para una Educación Alternativa EDUCA AC, Centro de Derechos Humanos Ñu’uji Kandí AC, Tequio Jurídico AC, Eccos AC; Enlace, Comunicación y Capacitación Oaxaca, AC; Taller de Desarrollo Comunitario AC, Xochipilli AC, DECA Equipo Pueblo AC, Tendiendo Puentes AC; Taller Bambú de Litografía y Grabado, Clínica del Pueblo Ana Seethaler, Centro de Desarrollo Comunitario Centéotl AC, Cooperativa de Mujeres TEJA TREIG, AC, Centro de Formación AC, Asamblea Comunitaria Indígena Mazateca y Nahuatl.
(Official translation from the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca)
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