Yaqui water rights spokesmen imprisoned, as Mexico steals Rio Yaqui water
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
English and Dutch
Yaqui water rights defenders battling the theft of their water by the Mexican government have been imprisoned. The National Indigenous Congress, Zapatistas, and Amnesty International have demanded the release of the Yaqui spokesmen for the Traditional Authority in Vicam, Sonora.
Yaqui in Vicam are struggling to preserve their river water from an aqueduct for the city of Hermosillo, Sonora. Vicam Yaqui maintained a highway roadblock through their community.
Censored News joins the others in demanding the release of our Yaqui brothers Mario Luna Romero and Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez from prison.
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| International Water Rights Forum Vicam Traditional Authority Photo by Brenda Norrell |
Mario Luna Romero, secretary and spokesperson for the Traditional Authority of Vicam Pueblo, was interviewed by Censored News during the International Water Rights Forum in 2012. Luna was arrested in September and imprisoned.
Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez, spokesperson for the Yaqui Traditional Authority in Vicam, was also arrested in September and imprisoned.
Amnesty International said, "On the morning of 11 September, Mario Luna Romero, a leading member of the Yaqui Indigenous community in Sonora State, was arrested by state judicial police in Ciudad Obregón. He was denied access to relatives and his lawyers until late afternoon, by which time he had been transferred to a prison outside the state capital, Hermosillo."
"Mario Luna Romero is a translator and spokesperson in the Yaqui Indigenous community based in the town of Vicam and has led protests and legal measures to stop the construction and operation of the Independence Aqueduct which draws water from the Yaqui River at the Novillo dam. The Yaqui community argues that the aqueduct directly places their traditional culture and livelihoods under threat." (Scroll downt to read full statement.)
The National Indigenous Congress and Zapatistas said, “We demand the immediate cancellation of all arrest warrants and fabrication of crimes against members of the Yaqui Tribe, and we condemn the criminalization of their struggle. We say to the bad governments that come from the political parties: the Yaqui River has served as the historical carrier and ancestral continuation of the Yaqui Tribe’s culture and territory. We who make up the National Indigenous Congress reiterate that if you touch any of us, you touch all of us, and we will respond accordingly to any attempt to repress the Yaqui’s dignified struggle or any other struggle (Joint communiqué from the CNI-EZLN). (Scroll down to read full statement.)
Frontline Defenders said, "Early on 23 September 2014, human rights defender Mr Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez was arrested as he made his way to work in the town of Vícam, Sonora State.
"At 6:50 am. as he walked on Benito Juárez Street, individuals dressed in grey got out of two unmarked white vans, and captured the human rights defender. A lawyer, who has had access to Fernando Jiménez Gutiérriz at the Third Penal Court, CERESO 1 in Hermosillo Sonora, reports that the human rights defender informed him that once inside the vehicle he had a black hood placed over his head and he was questioned in an intimidating manner.
"Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez is a spokesperson for the Yaqui Tribe, which is the same tribe as fellow human rights defender Mr Mario Luna Romero. Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez had been participating in meetings on the conflict of Aqueduct Independence on behalf of the Yaqui Tribe en Mexico City. He speaks for his community in the context of the construction and operation of the Independence Aqueduct. The Yaqui Tribe has been working to prevent the diversion of water from the Yaqui river, over which the tribe has 50% ownership, to the Independence Aqueduct. (Scroll down to read full statement.)
Zapatistas: CNI and EZLN Demand Freedom for Mario Luna, Yaqui Tribe Spokesperson.
September 2014
To the Yaqui Tribe:
To the People of Mexico:
To the National and International Sixth:
To the Governments of Mexico and the World:
“We demand the immediate cancellation of all arrest warrants and fabrication of crimes against members of the Yaqui Tribe, and we condemn the criminalization of their struggle. We say to the bad governments that come from the political parties: the Yaqui River has served as the historical carrier and ancestral continuation of the Yaqui Tribe’s culture and territory. We who make up the National Indigenous Congress reiterate that if you touch any of us, you touch all of us, and we will respond accordingly to any attempt to repress the Yaqui’s dignified struggle or any other struggle (Joint communiqué from the CNI-EZLN, July 7, 2013, Caracol of Oventic).
They have not been able to kill our peoples. Like seeds, we continue to grow. They tried to kill us with guns, and when they couldn’t, they tried to kill us with diseases, and again they failed. The powerful have tried many ways to kill off the indigenous.
Today they want to kill us with wind turbines, highways, mines, dams, airports, and narcotrafficking. Above all, today in particular, we feel the pain of the attempt to kill us in Sonora, with aqueducts.
This past Thursday, September 11, people who apparently belong to the Sonora State Attorney General’s office detained our brother Mario Luna, spokesperson for the Yaqui Tribe, falsely accusing him of crimes that they themselves planted.
With this action they intend to imprison the very struggle of the Yaqui Tribe for defending its waters, which, after a long war, were recognized as theirs in 1940 by Lázaro Cárdenas. Since 2010, the money-owners want to again take these waters by way of the Independence Aqueduct, in violation of a resolution emitted by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and violating all of the rights given us by International Conventions on such matters.
It is a joke to say that the Independence Aqueduct is so that the poor have water and progress, as those above say; it is so that the rich can take possession of the water that for centuries has belonged to the Yaquis. Instead of feeding fields and crops, they want to divert the water to large industrial companies in Sonora.
This plunder has been the banner of progress for the bad governments, with State Governor Guillermo Padrés Elías and Supreme Paramilitary Chief Enrique Peña Nieto at the head of the project. Just as the dictator Porfirio Díaz proclaimed the extermination of our peoples in the name of this kind of progress, in particular the extermination of the Yaqui Tribe, we know that the words of Padrés and Peña Nieto are lies. For these megaprojects to exist, we originary peoples must disappear, and once and for all we tell those above that we have no plans to disappear. They detained our brother Mario Luna because he refused to sell out or give in, because he has been a brother in struggle to all of us who want this world to change below and to the left.
We don’t ask anything of the bad governments, and at this moment we want to tell them clearly one thing: our compañero Mario Luna’s freedom does not belong to them and they cannot take it away just like that. We want to make clear that his freedom belongs to him and his people, and that what was taken by force must be returned.
To our compañero Mario we want to say that we have walked together for more than 500 years. His tribe walks the path of struggle; even if the cowardly government sends them as slaves to the other end of the country, the Yaquis return to Vícam, Pótam, Tórim, Bácum, Cocorit, Huiriris, Belem and Rahum, because that is where their blood flows. We want to say that we are Yaquis, even though we might also be Zoques or Mames or Tojolobales or Amuzgos or Nahuas or Zapotecos or Ñahto or we speak any other language, and as the Yaquis that we are we will not let them rob us of our water or our freedom.
We demand Mario Luna’s immediate release, and we demand the cancellation of all arrest warrants and fabrication of crimes against members of the Yaqui tribe. We also demand the freedom of all of our prisoners, in particular our Nahua brothers Juan Carlos Flores Solís and Enedina Rosas Vélez, who were imprisoned by the bad government in April of this year and falsely accused of crimes in order to stop the struggle of the Peoples Front in Defense of Water and Land of Morelos, Puebla, and Tlaxcala, organized against the Integrated Morelos Project.
Mexico, September 2014.
Never Again a Mexico Without us.
For the Holistic Reconstitution of our Peoples.
NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS
INDIGENOUS REVOLUTIONARY CLANDESTINE COMMITTEE—GENERAL COMMAND OF THE EZLNDOCUMENT - MEXICO: INDIGENOUS ACTIVIST DETAINED, RISKS UNFAIR TRIAL: MARIO LUNA ROMERO
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Amnesty International
UA: 230/14 Index: AMR 41/034/2014 Mexico Date: 15 September 2014
URGENT ACTION
indigenous activist detained, risks unfair trial
Indigenous activist Mario Luna Romero is at risk of unfair trial after being arrested in Sonora State, northwest Mexico. There are concerns that the case against him may be politically motivated due to his leading role in protests against an aqueduct which affects the Yaqui Indigenous community’s access to water.
On the morning of 11 September, Mario Luna Romero, a leading member of the Yaqui Indigenous community in Sonora State, was arrested by state judicial police in Ciudad Obregón. He was denied access to relatives and his lawyers until late afternoon, by which time he had been transferred to a prison outside the state capital, Hermosillo. Mario Luna Romero was detained on the basis of an arrest warrant issued in 2013 for his alleged involvement in the supposed car theft and kidnapping of Francisco Antonio Delgado Romo, a member of the Yaqui community with links to the Sonora State government.
Mario Luna Romero is a translator and spokesperson in the Yaqui Indigenous community based in the town of Vicam and has led protests and legal measures to stop the construction and operation of the Independence Aqueduct which draws water from the Yaqui River at the Novillo damn. The Yaqui community argues that the aqueduct directly places their traditional culture and livelihoods under threat. The state and federal government failed to seek the free, prior and informed consent of the community via a transparent consultation process. On 4 September Mario Luna Romero had travelled to Inter American Commission of Human Rights to highlight the case.
In June 2013 Francisco Antonio Delgado Romo apparently drove his car at demonstrators participating in a roadblock against the aqueduct. He was detained by community members and held for two days before being released. Following a complaint filed by Francisco Antonio Delgado Romo’s wife, the Sonora State public prosecutor filed charges of kidnapping (privación illegal de la libertad) and car theft against Mario Luna Romero and three other community leaders. Amnesty International has reviewed the evidence presented against Mario Luna Romero and is concerned that the case against him is biased and may be politically motivated. He is currently waiting for results of his indictment on 17 September. Mario Luna Romero may be denied his right to a fair trial and, if committed to trial, he will not be eligible for bail and may face prolonged detention, putting his safety at risk.
Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:
Calling for the safety of Mario Luna Romero to be guaranteed while in custody;
Expressing concern at the detention of Mario Luna Romero and urging the authorities to ensure his right to a fair trial, including ensuring the impartiality of all criminal investigations and upholding the right not to be subject to politically motivated criminal charges;
Calling on the authorities to ensure the safety of all members of the Yaqui community and respect their right to peaceful protest against Independence Aqueduct.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 27 OCTOBER 2014 TO:
�
Minister of Interior
Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong
Secretario de Gobernación
Bucareli 99, col. Juárez, C.P. 6600, México D.F., México
Fax: +52 55 5093 3414 (keep trying)
Email: secretario@segob.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Minister / Señor Ministro
Governor of State of Sonora
Guillermo Padrés Elías
Comonfort y Dr. Paliza
C.P. 83260, Hermosillo
Sonora, México
Fax: +52 662 212 0001 (keep trying)
Email: guillermo.padres@sonora.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Governor / Señor Gobernador
And copies to:
Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental
Mexico D.F.
Email: contacto@cemda.org.mx�
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
URGENT ACTION
indigenous activist detained, risks unfair trial
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
On 25 August, Francisco Antonio Delgado Romo, who was reportedly under investigation by the Federal Attorney General’s Office, was reported missing by his family. His remains are believed to have been located near Vicam, a town in Sonora State, but not yet officially identified.
In 2010, the government of Sonora, a drought afflicted state, begun construction of the Independence Aqueduct without consulting Yaqui Indigenous communities that live by the river. Members of the community have sustained protests and legal actions to halt the construction, to ensure full environmental impact assessment and uphold indigenous rights to a transparent consultation process in order to obtain the community’s full prior and informed consent. In 2013, the National Supreme Court recognised the failure of federal and state authorities to meet their obligations to the Yaqui community and required remedial actions, particularly regarding a new environmental impact assessment and a consultation process with the Yaqui community. Despite various judicial orders suspending the project, construction continued allowing the aqueduct to enter operations resulting in a significant drop in water levels. Members of the Yaqui community continue to call for full compliance with the National Supreme Court ruling.
Indigenous activists, such as Mario Luna Romero, have frequently faced spurious criminal charges in order to deter their legitimate human rights demands. The use of politically motivated charges remains relatively common at state level where the public prosecutor’s offices often operate under influence of local political issues.
Name: Mario Luna Romero
Gender m/f: m
�
UA: 230/14 Index: AMR 41/032/2014 Issue Date: 15 September 2014
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Frontline Defenders:
Early on 23 September 2014, human rights defender Mr Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez was arrested as he made his way to work in the town of Vícam, Sonora State.
At 6:50 am. as he walked on Benito Juárez Street, individuals dressed in grey got out of two unmarked white vans, and captured the human rights defender. A lawyer, who has had access to Fernando Jiménez Gutiérriz at the Third Penal Court, CERESO 1 in Hermosillo Sonora, reports that the human rights defender informed him that once inside the vehicle he had a black hood placed over his head and he was questioned in an intimidating manner.
Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez is a spokesperson for the Yaqui Tribe, which is the same tribe as fellow human rights defender Mr Mario Luna Romero. Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez had been participating in meetings on the conflict of Aqueduct Independence on behalf of the Yaqui Tribe en Mexico City. He speaks for his community in the context of the construction and operation of the Independence Aqueduct. The Yaqui Tribe has been working to prevent the diversion of water from the Yaqui river, over which the tribe has 50% ownership, to the Independence Aqueduct.
Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez faces the same allegations as Mario Luna Romero; namely “illegal deprivation of liberty” and “theft of a motor vehicle”. These accusations arose out of the events of 8 June 2013, when, during a road block maintained by the Yaqui, a member of the indigenous group committed an infraction while driving his car and, in accordance with the practices and customs of the tribe, was detained, transferred to the Commissary and sanctioned. Article 2 of the Constitution states that, as members of an indigenous community with practices and customs, the community's autonomy to apply its own norms is recognised, and allows for the use of an indigenous legal system to resolve internal disputes within the indigenous communities and towns.
Subsequently, arrest warrants were issued against various members of the Yaqui Tribe who oppose the Independence Aqueduct. Both Mario Luna Romero and Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez have been arrested within a matter of weeks.
Front Line Defenders is concerned by the pattern of arrests of Yaqui Tribe members who have been involved in the peaceful and legitimate campaign against the Independence Aqueduct. Front Line Defenders calls on the Mexican authorities to guarantee the space for human rights defenders to operate in order to protect and promote the rights of communities in the face of extractive industries.
Action Update Needed. Before taking further action on this case please contact info@frontlinedefenders.org for further information
- See more at: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/27373#sthash.jvsGvdmb.dpuf
By MARIO LUNA
SECRETARIO DE LA TRIBU YAQUI
Nov. 28, 2012
Censored News
Yaqui Brigades in Defense of Water
Yaquis in Sonora, Mexico will defend their rights to the Rio Yaqui, against theft of water by the government for the Independence Aquaduct
SONORA, Mexico -- Ante el lamentable espectáculo que significa el que el presidente Calderon Hinojosa inaugure el ilegal acueducto independencia que no está terminado; la Tribu Yaqui ha decidido manifestar su inconformidad acampando en la carretera internacional#15 en Vicam Sonora…INFORMEN, ORIENTEN Y APOYEN la digna lucha de los yaquis que seguimos en defensa del territorio y el agua.
MARIO LUNA
SECRETARIO DE LA TRIBU YAQUI
SOMOS LA TRIBU YAQUI, y estamos en un territorio de 485,000 hectáreas dentro del Estado de Sonora, México; nuestro territorio es comunal, es decir, que todos tenemos los mismos derechos sobre el agua y la tierra. En este territorio habitamos alrededor de 45,000 Yaquis, distribuidos en 8 pueblos: Vícam, Tórim, Bacum, Cócorit, Potam, Rahum, Huirivis, y Belem.
Todos y cada uno de los pueblos tienen una jurisdicción definida y en su jurisdicción mantienen autonomía administrativa y cultural. Dentro de cada jurisdicción existen varias localidades y rancherías, coordinados mediante una organización de autodefensa y autogestión encabezada por su Autoridad Tradicional.
La Autoridad Tradicional se conforma de una estructura civil y militar representados por los Gobernadores; Pueblo Mayor, Capitán, Comandante y Secretario; mismos que en el caso de los Gobernadores son elegidos por un periodo de un año pudiendo extenderse en casos muy especiales, pero muy especiales hasta por dos periodos; el Pueblo Mayor, Capitán, Comandante y el Secretario regularmente son vitalicios, es decir, mientras no cometan un error grave el pueblo y la tropa los mantienen en sus cargos.
NUESTROS DERECHOS sobre la tierra y el agua siempre han sido cuestionados; gobiernos van y gobiernos vienen y siempre lo mismo; los gobiernos cegados por la ambición y el desprecio a nuestra forma de organización y concepción de la vida han mantenido dividida a una buena parte de nuestros representantes, mas no han podido dividir ni al pueblo ni a las tropas que siguen unidas en la defensa del territorio y el agua.
Gracias a la defensa valiente que han dado nuestros antepasados, mantenemos una parte del territorio, autonomía, una cultura propia, la lengua y el derecho al agua. En Septiembre de 1940 siendo presidente el General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, emitió un Decreto mediante el cual nos restituye y reconoce un territorio aproximado de 485,000 hectáreas y el derecho al agua del Río Yaqui; según este decreto tenemos derecho sobre el 50% de las aguas que se almacenen en la presa La Angostura (hoy Lázaro Cárdenas), mas los escurrimientos y aguas broncas no controladas aguas abajo de la presa(arroyos, riachuelos, captación de lluvias que alimentan los caudales del Río Yaqui hasta llegar al Territorio Yaqui).
Considerando que en 1940 solo había una presa en construcción (la angostura) sobre el Río Yaqui es claro que nos pertenecen las aguas que se almacenan en las presas construidas posteriormente aguas abajo sobre el Río Yaqui (presa el novillo en 1962 y oviachic en 1952). Esta agua a las que hace referencia el Decreto Cardenista, forzosamente tienen que viajar para llegar al territorio por todo el Río Yaqui, pasando por la presa del novillo y el oviachic.
Por más de 70 años los gobiernos en turno han vendido buena parte de nuestras aguas a empresas mineras, y a productores agrícolas del Valle del Yaqui y Mayo, obteniendo jugosas ganancias de las cuales la Tribu Yaqui no ha sido beneficiada de ninguna forma. Al emitir el Decreto el Presidente Cárdenas ordenó el trazo y creación del Distrito de Riego de la Tribu Yaqui calculado en aproximadamente 100 mil hectáreas, de las cuales 80 mil serían de gravedad y 20 mil por bombeo. A la fecha el Distrito de Riego no esta creado ni delimitado, pues solo se abrieron al cultivo 24 mil hectáreas de los cuales en la actualidad solo se siembran realmente 18 mil.
Antes de la instalación de presas sobre el cauce del Río Yaqui, se sembraba una superficie aproximada de 70 mil hectáreas solamente, con las venidas de las crecientes del río; después que se instaló la presa solo nos dejaron para siembra 24 mil hectáreas con dos cultivos al año, pero con la instalación de las otras dos presas solo se siembra un cultivo al año y la superficie agrícola se ha reducido a 18 mil hectáreas y el río se ha secado totalmente.
Según CONAGUA le entrega a la tribu 250 millones de metros cúbicos al año lo cual no creemos, porque solo se riegan 18 mil hectáreas; pero suponiendo que sea cierto, entonces ¿donde queda el resto del agua que nos corresponde? Según cálculos y estudios que se han realizado solo de la angostura se captan 800 millones de metros cúbicos de agua, sumando las captaciones en la presa del novillo y del oviachic deberíamos tener abiertas al cultivo mínimamente 80 mil hectáreas con los volúmenes de agua que nos corresponde.
Rescatar esas aguas es posible, pero si dejamos que el gobernador Guillermo Padrés conecte el acueducto independencia a la presa del novillo, perderemos la oportunidad de dotar a las nuevas familias un pedazo de tierra para siembra. El agua está ahí, ahí a estado por siempre solo necesitamos reclamarla y obligar al gobierno a que nos la entregue; nos corresponde por derecho histórico y por decreto presidencial.
SEGUIMOS EN LUCHA, no hemos permanecido de brazos cruzados ante la intención de robar nuestra agua; por eso te informamos para que te unas a la defensa activa de nuestro derecho al agua y a una vida digna para nuestros hijos.
Para rescatar lo nuestro hemos interpuesto una demanda de restitución de agua en el Tribunal Unitario Agrario # 35 de Ciudad Obregón; donde reclamamos se de cumplimiento al decreto y se entreguen todos los volúmenes de agua que nos corresponde para crear y delimitar nuestro distrito de riego en 80 mil hectáreas, pero además exigimos que se reviva el río yaqui con escurrimientos mínimos para detener la intrusión salina y mantener la flora y fauna en las bahías, esteros, marismas y humedales.
Si el acueducto independencia no nos afecta, entonces ¿por qué no consultaron a la tribu para realizar dicha obra?; según las leyes nacionales e internacionales en caso de obras de esa magnitud que pudiera afectar los pueblos y territorios con población indígena los gobiernos están obligados a la consulta previa e informada en sus lugares de origen y según sus usos y costumbres.
La SEMARNAT violando las leyes nacionales e internacionales emitió el manifiesto de impacto ambiental para la obra del acueducto independencia; mismo que impugnamos y solicitamos un amparo ante el Juzgado Décimo de Distrito radicado en la ciudad de Hermosillo el cual ya resolvió a favor de la tribu y ordena anular, dejar sin efecto el permiso otorgado para construir el acueducto independencia, la SEMARNAT interpuso recurso de revisión por lo que la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación ejerció su facultad de atracción por ser un caso de impacto e interés nacional y en estos momentos se está resolviendo en el máximo Tribunal de México.
LOS TOROCOYORIS, históricamente han sido los que han traicionado y servido incondicionalmente a las ordenes del gobierno; por esta razón se les repudia y lamentablemente esta persona arrastra consigo a sus familiares mas cercanos, quedan marcados y señalados por las acciones de sus padres o familiares. En la comunidad son ampliamente conocidos y señalados pero su ambición personal los ciega y justifican su actuar argumentando que no se puede luchar contra el gobierno, porque es poderoso y primero está la seguridad de su familia.
Con miles de argumentos tratan de justificar sus cobardes acciones y normalmente hacen acciones paralelas contrarias a las que llevan acabo los que defienden el territorio y el agua. Un ejemplo claro se dio cuando el plantón sobre la carretera internacional en septiembre pasado; mientras miles de yoremes se plantaron sobre la carretera en protesta por la construcción ilegal del acueducto ellos promovieron una reunión con funcionarios de gobierno y algunas Autoridades Tradicionales engañadas en la Loma de Guamúchil. El resultado fue que los obligaron a firmar un desplegado donde difamaron y desconocieron la lucha justa y digna en defensa del agua; no les importó que con estas acciones justificaron y avalaron el uso de la fuerza pública en contra de sus mismas tropas.
En recompensa a su traición, el gobierno les dio el titulo de “auténticos consagrados” y les prometió 20 puntos que vendría a ratificar Felipe Calderón para resolver todos los problemas de sus seguidores…hasta el día de hoy, este grupo encabezado por profesores bilingües lo único que han recibido del gobierno es la burla y el desprecio; pues ni un punto de los veinte se ha resuelto y mucho menos ha venido FECAL a consagrarlos.
DEFENDEMOS EL AGUA Y EL TERRITORIO, porque si el gobierno de Guillermo Padrés logra conectar el acueducto, las tierras de cultivo se afectaran en 10 mil hectáreas aproximadamente, nuestra cultura se verá amenazada pues la Tribu Yaqui, agua, el territorio y el Río Yaqui son uno sólo. Sin territorio no hay río, sin río no hay yaqui.
ATENTAMENTE
BRIGADAS EN DEFENSA DE AGUA
Thank you to Alice Holemans, NAIS, for Dutch translation!
* YAQUI STRIJDERS VOOR WATERRECHTEN IN DE GEVANGENIS.
Yaqui woordvoerder in de strijd voor waterrechten werd gearresteerd terwijl Mexico het water van Rio Yaqui steelt!
Door Brenda Norrell, Censored News: www.bsnorrell.blogspot.be
Vertaald door NAIS: www.denaisgazet.be
Yaqui activisten die strijden tegen de diefstal van hun water door de Mexicaanse regering in de gevangenis.
Het National Indigenous Congress, Zapatistas, enAmnesty International hebben de vrijheid geëist van de woordvoerder van de ‘Traditional Authority ‘in Vicam, Sonora.
De Yaqui in Vicam strijden om hun rivierwater te behoeden tegen een aquaduct ten voordele van de stad Hermosillo, Sonora.
Vicam Yaqui hielden de blokkering van een snelweg doorheen hun gemeenschap in stand.
Censored News vervoegde de anderen in hun eis voor de vrijlating van onze Yaqui broeders Mario Luna Romero en Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez.
Mario Luna Romero, secretaris en woordvoerder voor de ‘Traditional Authority of Vicam Pueblo’, werd door Censored News geïnterviewd tijdens het internationale Waterrechten Forum in 2012.
Luna werd ook gearresteerd in september en in de gevangenis opgesloten.
Amnesty International zegt: “ Op 11 september werd, vroeg in de ochtend Mario Luna Romero, een van de leiders van de Yaqui inheemse gemeenschap in de staat Sonora, gearresteerd door de gerechtelijke politie in Ciudad Obregón.
Contact met familie en advocaat werd hem pas in de late namiddag toegestaan, nadat hij overgebracht werd naar een gevangenis buiten de hoofdstad Hermosillo.”
“ Mario Luna Romero is een vertaler en woordvoerder van de inheemse Yaqui gemeenschap in de stad Vicam. Hij heeft meermaals het protest geleid en wettelijke stappen ondernomen tegen de constructie van de Independence Auquaduct, die het water uit de Yaqui rivier trekt bij de Novillo dam.
De Yaqui gemeenschap zegt dat de aquaduct hun traditionele cultuur en bestaansmiddelen bedreigt.” ( Volledige verklaring onderaan)
Het ‘National Indigenous Congress en Zapatistas zeggen: “Wij eisen de onmiddellijke annulering van alle bevelen tot arrestatie en de misdaad complotten tegen de leden van de Yaqui stam, en wij veroordelen het criminaliseren van hun strijd.
Wij zeggen aan de slechte regering van de politieke partijen: de Yaqui rivier was steeds de historische drijver voor het voorvaderlijk voortbestaan van de cultuur en territorium van de Yaqui stam.
Wij van het National Indigenous Congress herhalen nog maar eens dat wanneer u iemand van ons raakt, dan raak u ons allemaal, en zullen wij iedere poging om de waardige strijd van de Yaqui’s of eender welke strijd te onderdrukken gepast beantwoorden.
Fronline Defenders zeggen: “ Op 23 september 2014 werd in de vroege ochtend mensenrechtenactivist Mr.Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez, op weg naar zijn werk gearresteerd.
“ Terwijl hij door Benito Juárez straat stapte kwamen er mannen in grijze pakken uit twee witte ongemerkte bestelwagens die hem vastgrepen.
Een advocaat hoorde van Fernando Jiménez Gutiérriz in the Third Penal Court, CERESO 1 in Hermosillo Sonora dat de mensenrechtenactivist van zodra hij in de bestelwagen zat, de mannen hem een zwarte kap over zijn hoofd trokken en daar ter plekke op uitermate intimiderende manier ondervraagd hebben.
“ Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez is een woordvoerder van de Yaqui stam, dezelfde groep als zijn kameraad mensenrechtenactivist Mr Mario Luna Romero.
Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez heeft uit naam van de Yaqui stam en Mexico city deelgenomen aan meetings over het conflict met Aquaduct Independence.
De Yaqui stam heeft hard gewerkt om te voorkomen dat het Yaqui rivierwater afgeleid zou worden naar de Independence Aquaduct.
Voor de volledige verklaringen van Amnesty Iternational, Zapatistas, National Indigenous Congress en Fronline Defenders zie:
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