Tuesday June 12, 2012, 11:19 am
Protect Human Rights Defenders in Mexico

Target: Mexican President Felipe Calderón

Goal: Protect Vidulfo Rosales and other Mexican human rights defenders against corruption among law enforcement officials.

Mexican public interest attorney Vidulfo Rosales heads up the legal team at the Tlachinollan Center, an organization that has taken on some of the Mexico’s toughest precedent-setting cases against human rights. Located in the state of Guerrero in a region marked by poverty as well as drug trafficking activity and an increasingly corrupt police force, the organization addresses key issues that threaten to violate human rights throughout the country.

Rosales recently received a note, which read, “Shut up, or we will send you home in pieces” and was signed by a group of vigilantes who call themselves “The Law.” Many of the cases in which Rosales and his team have recently been involved deal with the systematic corruption displayed by the Mexican army and local police forces, as soldiers and officers abuse members of the indigenous community.

After receiving the death threat, the Tlachinollan Center made the decision to temporarily send Rosales to the US because the strength of the perpetrators and the lack of protection offered by Mexican law enforcement would place him in too much danger were he to remain in Mexico.

The Inter-American Court has ordered Mexico three times to try cases of military abuse against civilians in civilian court, but the Mexican government has so far done little to push the cases forward, even as incidents of violence, abuse, and threats continue to pile up. It is time we tell the Mexican government that human rights violations at the hands of police and military personnel must be addressed in order to create an effective law enforcement system. Sign the petition below to take action in defense of Vidulfo Rosales as well as all Mexican citizens who suffer from and speak out against the country’s systematic corruption.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear President Calderón,

I understand that Mexican public interest attorney Vidulfo Rosales, who heads up the legal team at the Tlachinollan Center in the state of Guerrero, has recently received a death threat. The organization has decided to send Rosales to the US temporarily because the strength of the perpetrators and the lack of protection offered by Mexican law enforcement would place him in too much danger were he to remain in Mexico.

The systematic corruption that has surfaced among Mexican soldiers and police officers threatens not only the safety of Vidulfo Rosales and other human rights advocates, but of the Mexican public as well. The Inter-American Court has ordered Mexico three times to try cases of military abuse against civilians in civilian court, but your government has so far done little to push the cases forward, even as incidents of violence, abuse, and threats continue to pile up.

It is time that your administration takes action to prosecute members of the military and police force who engage in abusive treatment of citizens like Rosales. I hope that his story will prompt you to take the first step toward creating an effective law enforcement system that serves its purpose of protecting the rights and human dignity of its citizens.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Tuesday June 12, 2012, 12:17 pm
thanks for telling the world

Tuesday June 12, 2012, 3:06 pm
Signed.

Tuesday June 12, 2012, 3:55 pm
Signed, shared on fb and twitter, thank you Robert

Tuesday June 12, 2012, 11:31 pm
signed and noted--thanks Robert

Wednesday June 13, 2012, 12:34 am
Done... with hope
Thank you, Robert!