Human Rights Situation In Oaxaca, Mexico

EDM number 1828 in 2006-07, proposed by John McDonnell on 03/07/2007.

That this House notes that Ulises Ruiz Ortiz is accused of having become governor of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico through fraudulent elections in 2004, and of being responsible for human rights abuses against a mainly indigenous population, against teachers on strike for food, shoes and school supplies for pupils and higher wages, and against anyone who speaks out against the repression; further notes that the International Civil Commission for Human Rights Observation in December 2006, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in October 2006 and Amnesty International in 2005 have reported extensive and systematic human rights violations, including assassinations, torture, rapes and arbitrary detention in Oaxaca state; further notes that one and a half million people, of a population of under four million, have marched to ask for the removal and prosecution of Ulises Ruiz, and in support of teachers' demands; recognises that Mexico's Supreme Court (June 2007) has ordered an investigation into Ulises Ruiz's human rights abuses; and therefore urges the Government to use its influence to press for these investigations to be carried out, and for the protection of those who have brought human rights violations to public attention, in particular Jaqueline Lopez Almazán, Leyla Centeno, Alejandro Cruz López, Samuel Hernández Morales and Ulises Reynosa Guerrero.

This motion has been signed by a total of 35 MPs.