Tag Archives: political prisoners

PRD Press Conference en español

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Diputados del GPPRD y familiares exigieron la liberación de la señora Nestora Salgado García, presa desde agosto del 2013 en Tepic, Nayarit, por formar parte de la policía comunitaria del municipio de Olinalá, Guerrero, y quien se ha convertido –para las autoridades– en una “perseguida política”.

  • Solicitaron una visita al Cereso de Tepic, Nayarit para constatar físicamente que no se le han violado sus derechos humanos
  • La señora Salgado García ha sido sometida a tratos crueles e inhumanos y limitada a recibir visitas de sus familiares
  • Comunidad del Estado de Washington exigió su liberación, pues hay campaña nacional e internacional para tenerla presa por cargos falsos

Diputados del GPPRD y familiares exigieron la liberación de la señora Nestora Salgado García, presa desde agosto del 2013 en Tepic, Nayarit, por formar parte de la policía comunitaria del municipio de Olinalá, Guerrero, y quien se ha convertido –para las autoridades– en una “perseguida política”.

En conferencia de prensa, los diputados del GPPRD Roberto López Suárez, Elena Tapia Fonllem, Aída Ramírez, Lourdes Amaya Reyes, Alejandro Carbajal González, José Luis Muñoz Soria, Víctor Reymundo Nájera Medina, Aída Ramírez Torres y Carlos de Jesús Alejandro exigieron el respeto a los derechos humanos de Nestora.

El diputado López Suárez explicó que el 21 de agosto de 2013, Nestora fue detenida en la cabecera de Olinalá, Guerrero, por efectivos del Ejército, la Marina, la Policía estatal y la Municipal de la entidad, presuntamente en represalia porque días antes efectivos comunitarios detuvieron a presuntos delincuentes vinculados con autoridades del Ayuntamiento.

Dijo que a partir de entonces fue trasladada a un penal de máxima seguridad, en Tepic, Nayarit, y sometida a tratos crueles e inhumanos, limitada en su derecho a recibir visitas familiares y obstaculizada en las acciones para su defensa legal.

En su momento, el diputado guerrerense Carlos de Jesús Alejandro indicó que el trato que se le da a la señora Salgado sin duda evidencia la “justicia desigual” que se practica en casos como éste, ejemplo de lo cual es el de Alberto Patishtán, en cuyo juicio se evidenció la violación al debido proceso.

Señaló que en Guerrero la policía comunitaria está amparada y sustentada sobre los sistemas de seguridad y procuración e impartición de justicia, establecidos en una ley local -la “Ley 701 de Guerrero”-, pero también en el marco jurídico nacional. Por ello, están configuradas algunas violaciones en el proceso de la luchadora social.

Comentó que este caso ha hecho converger de la manera más diversa y plural a todos  los grupos parlamentarios, a efectos de que el Poder Legislativo pueda contribuir “para que vigilemos porque se respeten las garantías y los derechos humanos fundamentales de las comunidades indígenas, en específico de las mujeres, como es el caso de la compañera Nestora”.

Anunció que se continuará con la exigencia para que se le den todas las garantías a efecto de que pueda romperse el cerco, la presión y el hostigamiento hacia ella y su familia, y para que puedan reunirse con ella para conocer físicamente cómo se encuentra.

Por su parte, la diputada Aida Ramírez Torres demandó suprimir las viejas prácticas de persecución de personas con ideologías contrarias a los intereses del gobierno en turno y de aquellas personas cuyo único delito fue contribuir con su comunidad.

Al hacer uso de la voz, la hija de la lideresa social, Saira Crystal Rodríguez Salgado, explicó que su madre fue detenida el 21 de agosto de 2013 por las fuerzas armadas sin ninguna orden judicial e inmediatamente la trasladaron a Chilpancingo y Acapulco, donde la obligaron a firmar documentos sin que le permitieran leerlos.

Informó que la travesía ilegal terminó en Tepic, Nayarit, a más de mil kilómetros de su casa, violando todos sus derechos y el debido proceso. Añadió que la detuvieron bajo los cargos de secuestro de un síndico, lo cual es falso. “Más bien es una mujer de lucha y compromisos para su pueblo, Olinalá, Guerrero”, comentó.

Finalmente, informó que la Comunidad del Estado de Washington exigió la liberación de Nestora Salgado, pues cuenta con documentos en el sentido de que  hay un campaña nacional e internacional para tenerla presa porque “hay cargos  falsos”.

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Coordinación de Comunicación Política Legislativa del Grupo Parlamentario del PRD en la Cámara de Diputados

Freedom for Nestora/Libertad para Nestora Committee’s Letter to Mexican Deputies

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Freedom for Nestora/Libertad para Nestora Committee
5018 Rainier Avenue S., Seattle, Washington 98118, U.S.A.

FreeNestora.org . FreeNestora@gmail.com
March 18, 2014
To the Honorable Deputy Senators Roberto Lopez Suarez, Alejandro Carbajal, Luis Manuel Arias Pallares, Jose Luis Muñoz Soria, Margarita Elena Tapia and Loretta Ortiz Ahft,

The Freedom for Nestora/Libertad para Nestora Committee urges you to take all possible action to help secure the immediate release of Ms. Nestora Salgado. Community leaders in Washington State in collaboration with Ms. Salgado’s family formed the Committee last November and it has since grown into a national and international campaign. Ms. Salgado is a U.S. citizen and a resident of Renton, Washington and there is a growing outcry in this state for her release and dropping the clearly false and politically motivated charges against her.

There have been dozens of radio, TV and newspaper stories about Ms. Salgado in this region of the United States, and the coverage is now spreading nationwide in both the English and Spanish language media. Over 120 organizations and prominent individuals have signed on to support the Campaign to Free Nestora Salgado, including human rights attorneys and organizations, the Washington State Labor Council representing 425,000 affiliated union members, political leaders, Native American indigenous activists, the Seattle Human Rights Commission, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 28 of  Washington, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee, and numerous advocacy organizations from around the country. (A list of the endorsers is attached.) In addition, 6,500 people have signed the online petition urging President Barack Obama to intervene on Ms. Salgado’s behalf.

Legal petitions have been filed with the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Resolutions and letters from several organizations have been sent to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry requesting his help obtaining Salgado’s freedom. A multi-city, multinational day of protest and picketing was held on International Human Rights Day, December 10. Protests took place at Mexican consulates in five U.S. cities and government offices in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. There were also other actions in Australia, France and Argentina.
Last week International Women’s Day press conferences, forums and rallies were held in New York City, San Francisco and Seattle, as well as in Mexico, where supporters and family members of Nestora Salgado demanded her release.

The Freedom for Nestora Committee is currently following up with the U.S. Congressional delegation from Washington State in order to insure more aggressive intervention by the U.S. Secretary of State on Ms. Salgado’s behalf.
It is becoming increasing clear to us and to the broader U.S. public that Ms. Salgado is guilty only of trying to help the people of her hometown of Olinalá, where she is a respected community leader. We are also gravely concerned about the fate of Ms. Salgado’s colleagues in the Community Police Force in Guerrero who have been persecuted for carrying out their duties and for protesting Nestora Salgado’s arrest.

We heartened to hear that your esteemed body is investigating Ms. Salgado’s incarceration and mistreatment, and look forward to hearing the results of your inquiry.  If we can provide any more information that would assist your efforts, please contact us at the above address or email.

 

Sincerely,
Su Docekal

Chairperson,

Freedom for Nestora/Libertad para Nestora Committee

Seattle, Washington

Libertad a Nestora

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Magdalena Gómez

Justamente en estos días que lamentamos el fallecimiento de Luis Villoro, lo recuerdo cuando en los tiempos de los diálogos de San Andrés, en Chiapas, me preguntó de pronto: Si tú y yo no somos indígenas, ¿por qué estamos aquí? Sin dar tiempo a mi reacción, como buen filósofo, de inmediato se respondió con fuerzaporque no queremos ser cómplices. Siempre lo recuerdo porque esa es la aspiración de fondo que guardamos quienes nos comprometimos por lograr un México donde en efecto quepan muchos mundos, muchas culturas, muchos pueblos y lo hagan con la dignidad como premisa.

En ese contexto ubico mi reflexión. De tantas impunidades que coexisten en nuestro país, de pronto parece que a seis meses de la reclusión y aislamiento en un penal de alta seguridad en Tepic, Nayarit, de la comandanta de la policía comunitaria en Olinalá, Guerrero, Nestora Salgado, el Estado ha logrado el objetivo de que se pierda nuestra atención en redoblar la exigencia sobre su liberación. Acusada de secuestro agravado, se ha mantenido hermetismo sobre los fundamentos de tal imputación: si bien en especial su familia ha denunciado las múltiples violaciones al debido proceso que rodearon su aprehensión, ésa sí ejecutada como un virtual secuestro. Sólo la dimensión de la violación a sus derechos humanos individuales sería suficiente para sustentar la decisión de liberarla, además de contar con doble nacionalidad, pues fue migrante en Estados Unidos durante muchos años y ese gobierno también debería mostrar interés en su situación, pero no estamos hablando de una ciudadana francesa muy conocida y muy influyente. Sin embargo, el eje de este caso radica en un elemento que debería ser central en su defensa y en la valoración del Poder Judicial: Nestora Salgado realizó actos de autoridad como comandanta de la policía comunitaria. ¿A qué me refiero?

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México: Nestora Salgado escribe desde prisión con motivo del Día Internacional de la Mujer Trabajadora

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Mensaje de la comandante Nestora a las mujeres, en su día internacional en voz de su hermana Cleotilde Salgado

Me llamo Nestora Salgado García, tengo 42 años, tres hijas y cuatro nietos y una nieta. Estoy injustamente en la cárcel desde el 21 de agosto del año pasado. Aunque estoy encerrada y quieren abatirme mis captores, me dirijo con optimismo a lasmujeres en su día internacional. Este es un mensaje a lasmujeres de México y Estados Unidos, también a las mujeresde otros países en los que sufren discriminación. Mi mensaje a las mujeres es que no se dejen, que protesten y luchen si creen que son humilladas ya sea en su trabajo, en su localidad o en su misma casa.

La vida para las mujeres en países como México es muy difícil, sobre todo si somos de familias campesinas y de pueblos como el mío en medio de las montañas de Guerrero, estado donde siempre ha habido mucha pobreza y falta de todo tipo de servicios. También siempre ha habido mucha corrupción y abusos de los gobernantes.

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Statement by Nestora Salgado on International Women’s Day 2014

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My name is Nestora Salgado García. I am 42 years old and have three daughters and four grandchildren. I have been unjustly jailed since August 21 of last year. Even though I am jailed and my captors want to break me, I speak to you with optimism on this International Day Women’s Day 2014.

This is a message to the women of Mexico and the United States, as well as the women of other countries where women suffer discrimination.

My message is to resist, to protest and to fight whenever you find yourself humiliated in your place of work, your community or even in your own home

The life of women in countries such as Mexico is very difficult, above all in campesina families and communities like mine in the mountains of Guerrero, a state which has always had a lot of poverty and inadequate levels of all types of services. Guerrero also has suffered a lot of corruption and abuse at the hands of government officials.

I have always worked to take care of my daughters, the first of whom was born when I was 16 years old. I had to emigrate from Mexico to the United States where I worked doing many things like cleaning houses and working as a waitress in restaurants. Through my own efforts, I managed to become a U.S. citizen. But I never forgot my roots, my parents, my brothers and sisters and my family who I frequently visited. Neither did I forget my community. I could not remain indifferent to what was taking place with my neighbors and in my hometown of Olinalá, which unfortunately was happening in other places in our cherished Mexico.

The abuses of organized crime had become commonplace every day. It had become impossible to live in peace. We could not leave our houses. We could not work, travel, mount a business or confidently send our children to school. We could not go to the town square in peace and enjoy an ice cream. So, the community suddenly organized itself and elected me as its representative. I became the coordinator of Olinalá community police.

In the beginning, the government officials supported the community police. The governor of Guerrero provided us with two vehicles and other support. We also received official documents designating us as community police.

As the community police, we did our job and we did it well. We served the community of Olinalá. We confronted organized crime and those who supported it. In the first year, the index of major crimes dropped by 90%. Maybe this is why the government ended up attacking us and taking me into custody together with 12 other CRAC (Regional Coordination of Community Authority- Community Police) in Guerrero.

I was arrested in an impressive display of military and police force, greater than any used previously in apprehending the worst drug traffickers. Within hours, I was sent to a high security prison in Nayarit where I am currently held as if I were a dangerous animal.

I am isolated from all the other inmates. One of my daughters and one of my sisters can only visit me every two weeks. I cannot speak to anyone. I never see the sun or enjoy sunshine. I receive none of the pain medication I need due to a car accident I suffered. I am allowed no magazines or newspapers. I cannot even receive a letter from my husband who is in the United States, nor a drawing from one of my grandchildren. I am allowed only a few minutes of conversation with my daughter Zaira. I cannot watch television.

I know they want to break me but this will not happen. I know that in locking me up they want to send a message to all the women and men in Mexico standing up against injustice. But they will not break me. I will never ask for forgiveness from my jailers. I have no reason to ask from anyone, especially the Mexican government. Out of my mouth and from my heart, you will hear only words of encouragement for all those who, like me, have committed themselves to accomplishing something for their communities and their families.

I want to speak especially to the women–to the wives and the mothers of the other imprisoned other community police. I say we will endure the cold prison. And we believe that the day is near when we will be free.

To all women, I say: Do not give in to anything or anyone. Do not tolerate any corrupt government official or mafia criminal. Do not tolerate discrimination or mistreatment from anyone.

To the women of Olinalá, I ask that you continue the struggle that we began a year ago with our husbands and neighbors.

My captors are piling up charges against me. But I know that in the end I will walk out of this jail. I will do so with my head high because I know that no one believes that I am a criminal. There are honest people in Mexico, in the United States and other countries who know that I am a political prisoner.

I will leave prison to take up once against the struggle for community police that I initiated.

Onward women of Mexico and the world! History teaches us that sacrifices are necessary to accomplish what we want. Let us stand fearless and determined to do away with evil and those who support it. This is how we women will build a bright and better future.

–From the high security prison in Tepic, Nayarit, March 7, 2014

Reprinted by:  Libertad para Nestora/Freedom for Nestora–Seattle Committee
FreeNestora.Seattle@gmail.com . 206-722-2453 . Facebook.com/FreeNestora
5018 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98118

News from the Freedom for Nestora Salgado campaign

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nestora posterOn March 7, the Mexico City Committee to Free Nestora will hold a press conference at which Nestora’s sister, Clotilde Salgado will speak. It will be broadcast live at 10:00am Mexico City time from the portal CENCOS (www.cencos.wordpress.com). It will be followed by a public forum at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and by a demonstration supported by a number of unions that have endorsed the campaign. They will all address the case of Nestora, and the plight of the community police in Guerrero and in Michoacán.The Mexican National Human Rights Commission has dispatched a team of investigators to look into the circumstances of Nestora’s arrest and incarceration to determine if they violate her civil and political rights. More on this when additional facts are available.

It has been six months since Nestora Salgado, a U.S. citizen and resident of Renton, Washington, was abducted from her hometown of Olinalá, Mexico and transported to a federal maximum security prison hundreds of miles away. She remains imprisoned today on trumped up charges related to her role as the elected leader of the indigenous police force in Olinalá, a force which defended the community against violent drug cartels and corrupt officials. Six months of inaction on her behalf by the U.S. government has resulted in grave hardship and deprivation for her and her family.

As her imprisonment and the arrest of other community police continues, the international campaign to free Nestora and her comrades is growing. Thus far it has encompassed a hunger strike by her husband Jose; an online petition campaign that has over 6300 signers; endorsements by over 120 organizations and prominent individuals; legal petitions filed with the U.N. and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and a multi-city, multinational day of protest and picketing on International Human Rights Day, December 10. Protests took place at Mexican consulates in five U.S. cities and government offices in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. There were also other actions in Australia, France and Argentina. Dozens of TV and radio interviews, as well as numerous newspaper articles in the U.S. and Mexico, have covered Nestora’s plight and the campaign to free her. Univision, the largest Spanish language TV network in the U.S., produced a short news report on her story.

Carrying out this campaign has entailed considerable expense for picket signs, photos, banners, informational flyers and transportation. Donations are urgently needed and gladly accepted to expand this campaign, please see below for more on how to make a donation. A shout out goes to the Frente de Resistencia por México which held a successful fundraising event in Los Angeles on February 22.

The Freedom for Nestora organizing committee and her family are keeping up a pressure campaign on members of the Washington State congressional delegation. As of yet, they have not acted on our request to urge Secretary of State John Kerry to intervene on Nestora’s behalf. Instead they have tried working through the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara with minimal results. Only after numerous visits by consulate staff was Nestora allowed to receive, but not make, international phone calls with her family. Additionally, after months of letting Nestora see only her sister, one of her daughters has recently been allowed visits. That and clean drinking water are all that the U.S. intervention have produced.

nestora poster

A critical situation

Prison officials continue to deny Nestora medical attention and the drugs needed to control the pain she suffers due to neuropathy. She is still barred from daily exercise (part of the treatment for her condition) and is restricted to her cell for all but an hour a week. Not surprisingly, she has lost considerable weight. Her sense of isolation is intensified by prison rules that forbid her contact with other inmates, even her cellmate.

The failure of Nestora’s congressional representatives and the U.S. State Department to aggressively intervene to free her has made her situation more difficult. Their lack of action has given a green light to increasingly punitive and exaggerated charges being brought against her by Mexican prosecutors. Six counts of kidnapping suddenly became 50 counts; coordinating legitimate community policing activities is now called leading a “criminal conspiracy”; and allowing community police officers to lawfully arm themselves with single shot rifles and machetes has become “weapons trafficking”.

Forcing Nestora to expend a great deal of the time and money to answer all these bogus charges is part of the Mexican government’s strategy to drain Nestora’s limited resources. Just getting copies of the files related to the plethora of charges against her will cost hundreds of dollars. This is on top of the heavy expenses involved in traveling hundreds of miles to and from the prison to visit Nestora.

Clearly federal and state prosecutors have been sabotaging Nestora’s right to effective legal representation. Government representatives have interfered not only with her right to see an attorney, but also with her choice of attorneys. The court refused to recognize her original lawyer who worked for a well-respected human rights organization and who had experience representing political prisoners. This delay tactic led the family in Guerrero to hire another attorney out of desperation. Unfortunately, he did not have the requisite qualifications to take on a political case like this. Only recently they secured a highly qualified law firm in Mexico City to represent her. But as of this writing–and six months after her arrest–she has still not seen an attorney.

Exciting news on the organizing front in Mexico

On January 17, a demonstration in the capital city of Guerrero demanded Nestora’s release along with other indigenous political prisoners. The Freedom for Nestora campaign issued a statement of solidarity that was widely publicized in the press in Mexico,including the two major newspapers in Guerrero. Two weeks later, on February 2, Nestora’s daughter Sayra spoke before a thousand supporters in Mexico City with the help of Partido Obrero Socialista (POS).

Other solidarity actions included a campaign kicked off by POS to produce and put up 2000 posters to raise public awareness of the case in Mexico. POS members were also instrumental in getting teachers in Oaxaca who belong to the Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE) to endorse the solidarity campaign.

Labor and people of color organizations in the U.S. call for Nestora’s release

The Freedom for Nestora-Seattle campaign was highly visible at the January march and rally in Seattle commemorating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. King County Council Member Larry Gossett promoted the campaign and invited Nestora’s husband Jose Avila and her daughter Grisel Rodriguez to address the crowd of several thousand. The MLK Day Celebration Committee also passed a resolution calling on the Congressional Black Caucus to urge the State Department to take immediate action to secure Nestora’s release from custody.

The Freedom for Nestora campaign has been endorsed by an impressive list of labor organizations within the last month. They include: the Washington State Labor Council – AFL-CIO; Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters; Seattle/King County Building & Construction Trades Council; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77; Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 8; Washington Federation of State Employees Local 843; Puget Sound Coalition of Labor Union Women; and Puget Sound Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

International Women’s Day celebrations keep up the fight

Nestora’s campaign will be featured prominently in International Women’s Day events not only in Mexico City but in New York City, where members of YoSoy132, Nueva York will be on a panel on March 15. In Seattle, members of Nestora’s family will be speak at the annual celebration on March 14. On March 23 Nestora’s case will be one of several examples of repression against women leaders and activists discussed as part of a Bay Area IWD tribute.

As we learn of other events, we will let you know. ¡La lucha continua!

HELP FREE NESTORA! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

If you haven’t already, now is the time to sign the online Free Nestora Campaign Facebook page to volunteer and to check for new developments, meetings and activities.

This report was prepared by members of the Freedom for Nestora Committee– Seattle, Washington, U.S. Su Docekal, Coordinator
FreeNestora.Seattle@gmail.com
206-953-5601

La lucha por los derechos de los indígenas no conoce fronteras

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La campaña para liberar a Nestora Salgado de la cárcel mexicana recibe apoyo internacional

Cuando la líder indígena Nestora Salgado, residente del estado de Washington y ciudadana naturalizada de EEUU, viajó al sur de la frontera de EEUU y México el año pasado, no esperaba acabar como prisionera política. El propósito de sus primeros viajes a su pueblo natal de Olinalá, Guerrero, fue llevar ayuda a los desesperadamente pobres residentes. Pero encontró al pueblo dominado por pandillas criminales y por traficantes de drogas, los cuales aterrorizan y asesinan a la población, violan a las niñas y difunden la prostitución y la adición a las drogas.

Cuando denunció la colusión entre los funcionarios mexicanos y estos rufianes, se encontró en la prisión, con falsos cargos de secuestro.

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