Indigenous rights defenders under attack 1/27/2010 Amnesty International urges government to protect activitsts in increasingly hostile environment.

International organization Amnesty International is urging the Mexican government to protect human rights activists, some of them fighting for indigenous rights, citing threats and violence that hinder their work.

In the report “Standing up for Justice and Dignity: Human Rights Defenders in Mexico,” released Jan. 21, Amnesty International details the cases of 15 human rights defenders in the country who have been subjected to threats, imprisonment, false criminal charges and even death.

“Defending human rights in Mexico is life-threatening and the government is not doing enough to tackle the problem," said Nancy Tapias-Torrado, researcher on human rights defenders at Amnesty International. "When one human rights defender is attacked, threatened or killed, it sends a dangerous message to many others and denies hope to all those on whose behalf the defender is working.”

The report included the case of Obtilia Eugenio Manuel, 32-year-old founder and president of the Me´ phaa Indigenous People Organization in the Guerrero state, who had been the target of death threats, intimidation and surveillance since 1998, when the Me´ phaa and Mixteco indigenous communities started to organize. Her family was forced to relocate when the intimidation became “so serious” over the past few years.

Another victim was Jesús Emiliano, 42, a leading member of the Peasant Farmers´ Democratic Front of Chihuahua in northern Mexico, a pro-campesino organization. Emiliano had been arbitrarily detained by federal authorities in 2007 for sabotage, which was later dropped five days later by a judge, citing lack of evidence, Amnesty International said. “Irregularities were acknowledged by the judge who dismissed the case, but no action was taken against the federal authorities for wrongful arrest,” said the report.

“The Mexican government must urgently develop an effective and comprehensive programme of protection for human rights defenders,” said Tapias-Torrado. –Latinamerica Press.