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Alert

Government officials fail to attend first meeting on precautionary measures granted by IACHR on behalf of "Noticias" newspaper staff

(CENCOS/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a letter from CENCOS and others to Santiago Cantón, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:

Santiago A. Cantón
Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

We are writing you on behalf of CENCOS, the organisation that requested the precautionary measures on behalf of "Noticias, Voz e Imagen de Oaxaca" that were granted, and the 116 staff at the newspaper who are to benefit from their implementation.

An initial meeting was convened with representatives of the Mexican government to discuss the implementation of the precautionary measures. As explained below, however, the meeting was not held.

Mtra Eréndira Cruzvillegas Fuentes
CENCOS

Ericel Gómez Nucamendi
Director of "Noticias" newspaper and beneficiary of the precautionary measures

Jaime Sánchez Medina
Representative of the 116 other beneficiaries

Luis Ignacio Velásquez Zárate
Representative of the 116 other beneficiaries

José Rubén González Peralta
Representative of the 116 other beneficiaries

Víctor Manuel Gómez Albores
Representative of the 116 other beneficiaries

REPORT ON THE FIRST MEETING REGARDING THE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES MC-23-05-MEXICO

A meeting was recently convened by the Oaxaca state human rights unit between 116 staff members of the "Noticias, Voz e Imagen de Oaxaca" newspaper and various representatives of the Mexican and Oaxacan governments to discuss the implementation of the precautionary measures granted, in accordance with the recommendation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Ericel Gómez Nucamendi and representatives of the 116 newspaper staff members attended the meeting but were disappointed that the meeting could not be held for the following reasons:

Several of the government authorities invited did not attend. First, there was no representative of the Oaxaca Public Security Secretariat, which is directly implicated in the problem facing "Noticias" at the meeting.

Second, no representative of the Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General) attended the meeting and therefore crucial information about the federal authorities' role could not be obtained.

Third, as regards the Government Ministry's subsecretariats, there was no representative of the Governance Subsecretariat at the meeting. A low-ranking official from the Communications Media Subsecretariat was present but the individual was not in a position to resolve any matters nor make any decisions. Finally, we note that the Subsecretatriat for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights is the entity that will be in charge of implementing the precautionary measures. No representative of this subscretariat attended the meeting either.

Fourth, representatives of the External Relations Subsecretariat and the Oaxaca state government who were present did not have decision-making capacity and were not in a position to resolve any matters. It was therefore not possible to reach any agreements or come to any conclusions as regards the precautionary measures.

Fifth, even though the meeting was scheduled for 11:00 a.m., those who attended waited in vain until 12:30 p.m. for government officials with decision-making authority to arrive.

Sixth, given the federal and state authorities' apparent disinterest in establishing a proper process for the implementation of the precautionary measures, the four representatives of the 116 "Noticias" staff members, Jaime Medina Sánchez, Luis Ignacio Velásquez Zárate and José Rubén González Peralta, together with Ericel Gómez Nucamendi, decided to leave the meeting.

Seventh, CENCOS and the representatives of those who stand to benefit from the precautionary measures, express their willingness to continue with the process. However, there must be a guarantee of some basic conditions, such as the participation of high-ranking government officials who are in a position to take decisions and help resolve the conflict that has now been waged for more than 350 days.