The Merida Initiative and the Brad Will Case
After living here and watching events unfold since 2006, this is one (not small but easy) thing that would not only protect the life of one unjustly incarcerated man, but the human rights of thousands of others in Mexico.
The case of JUAN MANUEL MARTINEZ MORENO, incarcerated for the murder of Indymedia journalist Brad Will in Oaxaca October 2006, is being railroaded by the Mexican government in Oaxaca.
Moreno’s next court hearing to have the case dismissed for lack of credible evidence will be held in Federal court in Oaxaca IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
Significantly, case of Brad Will’s murder was singled out by the U.S. Congress when they passed the 1.4 billion funding bill for the Merida Initiative in July 2008 (popularly called Plan Mexico to help Mexico fight the “drug war,”) calling in that bill for “progress in conducting a thorough, credible, and transparent investigation to identify the perpetrators of this crime and bring them to justice” as a condition for 15% of the funds.
Under Merida, the State Department is required to report to Congress on Mexico’s progress in four areas: improving transparency and accountability; establishing regular consultations with civil institutions; ensuring that civilian and judicial authorities are prosecuting police and military officers credibly accused of violations; and prohibiting the use of testimony obtained through torture.”
THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT IS DESPERATE FOR A CONVICTION IN BRAD WILL’S CASE BECAUSE ITS RESOLUTION WAS SPECIFICALLY MADE A CONDITION OF APPROVAL OF THE MERIDA INITIATIVE.
——-
It appears there still may be time for the U.S. to pressure Mexico on this case before the Merida funding is passed…hopefully not until Sept when Congress returns from recess. Also Obama’s visit to Guadalajara MEXICO AUGUST 9-10 FOR THE NAFTA SUMMIT offers an additional opportunity for Obama to speak to Mexican President Caleron.
In view of the critically important impending court review of Moreno’s case, advocates are calling for AN IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL APPEAL, including emails, to President Obama.
Sample letter to President Obama:
www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
President Barack Obama:
Regarding the required “certification” by the U.S. State Dept. of Mexico’s compliance with human rights guidelines established as a condition of funds for the Merida Initiative, I would like to express my concern regarding the case of the murder of Bradley Roland Will and of the unjust imprisonment of Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno, falsely accused of this crime.
On October 27, 2006, U.S. photo-journalist Bradley Roland Will was murdered in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico, while videotaping a confrontation between unarmed demonstrators and municipal police. Thorough scientific investigations were performed by Mexico’s (government) National Human
Rights Commission (CNDH) and by the International Forensic Program of Physicians for Human Rights resulting in credible, technical-scientific evidence that contradicted the report of the Mexico’s Attorney General, and exposed serious flaws in the government’s investigation and
conclusions which were political in nature.
Two years after the murder of Bradley Roland Will, Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno, baker by trade, father of three children and one of the demonstrators, was unjustly accused of this crime and incarcerated. The government case contradicts the evidence analyzed by impartial,
professional forensic experts and the testimony of 70 eye-witnesses; and rests on hearsay testimony of two witnesses who admit they did not see the murder. One of them testified he was not present at the scene.
I am aware of your commitment and that of the United States government to the issue of human rights and therefore I am asking you to urge the Mexican government to conduct a thorough, transparent and impartial investigation into the events of October 27, 2006, in accordance with the specific provisions of the Merida Initiative regarding this case, so that those responsible for the murder of Bradley Roland Will are prosecuted.
I also urge the immediate release of Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno.
Respectfully,
__________________
Brief recent history of Juan Manuel’s case:
On July 8th, 2009 federal Judge Rosa Ileana Noriega Perez reversed course from her prior January ruling. She now accepts hearsay testimony previously determined to be “deficient” as factual evidence in the case against Oaxaca activist Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno for the 2006 murder of
U.S. photo journalist Brad Will. She also ruled that Moreno will remain indefinitely imprisoned pending a verdict in his case.
Despite an independent report from Physicians for Human Rights debunking the government’s case against Moreno, and a condemnation of the government case by Mexico’s own National Commission for Human Rights, the government has refused to investigate the most likely suspects videotaped and photographed by many journalists openly firing on protesters, including Will. Instead, the judge has accepted the testimony of two “witnesses” that, according to their own words, did not see the murder of Brad Will. These two “witnesses” are the heart of the case against Moreno.
Other background:
In a surprising recent turn of events, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, told State Department officials (this week) that their findings contradicted reports of human rights violations in Mexico, including torture and forced disappearances.
A Washington Post story appeared this week titled “Leahy Blocks Positive Report on Mexico’s Human Rights Record:”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/04/AR2009080403334.html
“The State Department had still intended to argue for the release of the Merida funds this week, U.S. officials said. But officials with the department’s bureau of Western Hemisphere affairs got a chilly reception from Leahy’s foreign policy expert, Tim Rieser, at a meeting last week. According to people familiar with the meeting, Rieser told officials that they had not made the case on any of the four areas required under Merida.”
——-
“…State Department officials went back to Rieser over the weekend to find out whether Leahy would support the report. He said he would not.”
A short video, called Stop Plan Mexico was made last year by the Friends Of Brad Will that describes the implications of the Merida Initiative in view of Mexican human rights.
Tags: Brad Will, Letter to Obama, Merida Initiative, Mexico, Oaxaca, World Watching And Politics
Zoe
Also, for anyone following Latin American issues http://www.narconews.com is up-to-date from the ground reporting. Related to narconews is Narcosphere at http://narcosphere.narconews.com/. Thx for reminding me Rob.
Thx.
The Stop Plan Mexico film is on the Upside Down World website at
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1122/79/
http://www.friendsofbradwill.org is also an excellent site for information.
excellent!
thanks for this.
do you have a link to the “Stop Plan Mexico” film by Friends of Brad Will?