On Wednesday, November 3, at 4 pm, the State Police of Guerrero,
Mexico, detained the leader of the "Campesino Ecologist Organization of
Petatlan", Felipe Arreaga Sanchez, in the town of Petatlan.
Felipe Arreaga was accused of having participated in the homicide of the son of one of the local "timber barons", Nino Bautista, on May 30 of 1998, when Felipe Arreaga was actually being treated
for a debilitating back injury in the community of Las Mesas. He was also accused of associating
with criminals. The accusations are unfounded and appear to represent the initiation of yet another
round of repression against these declared defenders of the forests.
Felipe Arreaga Sanchez is currently forced to share his cell at the Zihuatanejo Jail with 15 other
inmates. He has insufficient space to even stretch out on the floor so he is again suffering from
aggravating back pains.
If you would like to help fight for Felipe Arreaga Sanchez's immediate release, please:
1. copy this message and
2. paste it into a new email, adding your name to the list.
3. Send it to all your friends and acquaintances.
4. If you are the 20th (or 40th, or 60th, or 80th, etc.) person on the list, please also send a copy of
the message to colectivo_costalibre@hotmail.com (on the Cc line).
What follows are first, the translation and second, the original of the petition letter we will be
sending to the Governor of the state of Guerrero, the President of the Superior Court of Justice and
the First Criminal Court Judge.
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RENE JUAREZ CISNEROS.
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE.
CHILPANCINGO, GRO.
RAUL CALVO
PRESIDENT OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE.
CHILPANCINGO, GRO.
JOSE J. ORROSTIETA PEREZ.
FIRST CRIMINAL COURT JUDGE.
ZIHUATANEJO, GRO.
We, the undersigned representatives of the civil society, would like to express our indignation at the
unjust detention and inhuman treatment that the leader of the "Campesino Ecologist Organization of the
Sierra of Petatlan", Felipe Arreaga Sanchez, has been subjected to. Felipe Arreaga was arrested and
jailed at the Zihuatanejo Jail on Wednesday, November 3, 2004, on the accusation of a homicide that
occurred in May of 1998.
On the day of the homicide of which he has been accused, Felipe Arreaga Sanchez was in a village six
hours away from the place where the homicide took place, receiving reatment for a serious, debilitating
back injury that prevented him for walking. As this evidence in support of the accused clearly shows,
the arrest and following detention of Felipe Arreaga does not show diligence nor genuine interest on the
part of the government to apply the law or justice as essential elements to guarantee social peace, but
an undisguised support for the timber lords and predators of the environment.
It appears to us that underneath the supposed interest in seeking punishment for a crime is lurking the
most detestable face of partiality in judicial proceedings. A fresh attempt seems to be made to spread
fear among rural communities and to dismember the organizations working on alternative development projects.
Those of us who are familiar with the work that Felipe Arreaga has done in the mountain communities where
he has lived - always busy organizing and training people so that they would know and defend their natural
resources and rights, and would participate in productive, environmentally friendly projects - consider
what has been done to him an act of profound injustice.
We therefore demand that the evidence supporting his innocence should be duly taken into account and that
he should be released immediately.
At the same time we insist that the same interest that was applied in the search for the murderer of Abel
Bautista Guilléan be applied in the many other crimes that remain unpunished, most of all those committed
against the defenders of the forest.
We consider the arrest of the campesino leader especially serious in view of the fact that a new
wood-cutting season is beginning and the defenders of human rights have with renewed vitality started the
fight to shed light on the murder of the attorney Digna choa.
55-year-old Felipe Arreaga Sanchez is in ill health and is suffering inhumane conditions in his jail cell
that was intended for six but is occupied by 15 inmates, without so much as a place to sleep on the floor.
We demand the immediate release of Felipe Arreaga Sanchez and the honest application of the law.
*********
LIC. RENE JUAREZ CISNEROS.
GOBERNADOR DEL ESTADO.
CHILPANCINGO, GRO.
LIC. RAUL CALVO
PRESIDENTE DEL TRIBUNAL SUPERIOR DE JUSTICIA.
CHILPANCINGO, GRO.
LIC. JOSE J. ORROSTIETA PEREZ.
JUEZ PRIMERO PENAL.
ZIHUATANEJO, GRO.
Las personas firmantes del presente, representantes de organizaciones sociales, queremos expresarles
nuestra indignación por la detención injusta y el trato inhumano que se ha dado al líder campesino
ecologista de la sierra de Petatlán, Felipe Arreaga Sánchez, detenido y encarcelado en el Cereso de
Zihuatanejo desde el miércoles 3 de
Noviembre, acusado de homicidio en hechos sucedidos en mayo de 1998.
Como ha quedado demostrado con las pruebas aportadas por el acusado, quien el día de los hechos de que
lo acusan, se recuperaba de una grave lesión de su columna que le impedía caminar, encontrándose en una
población distantes seis horas de camino del punto donde se cometió el homicidio, la orden de aprehensión
y posterior detención de Felipe Arreaga no expresa ni diligencia ni interés genuino del gobierno para
aplicar la ley ni la justicia, como elementos esenciales para garantizar la paz social, sino un apoyo
encubierto para los talamontes y depredadores del medio ambiente.
Nos parece que bajo el supuesto interés por castigar un delito, se muestra el rostro más detestable de
la parcialidad en el actuar judicial y un nuevo intento por sembrar el temor en el medio rural y desmembrar
las organizaciones que trabajan en proyectos alternativos de desarrollo.
Quienes conocemos el trabajo de Felipe Arreaga en las comunidades de la sierra donde ha vivido, siempre
ocupado en organizar y capacitar a las personas para que conozcan y defiendan sus recursos naturales y
sus derechos, y para que participen en proyectos productivos amables con el ambiente, vemos en la acción
cometida en su contra un acto de profunda injusticia.
Por eso demandamos que se valoren debidamente las pruebas de su inocencia y que se le deje de inmediato
en libertad. Al mismo tiempo exigimos que con el mismo interés que se busca castigar el asesinato del
joven Abel Bautista Guillén, se haga lo propio con tantos otros crímenes que permanecen impunes, sobre
todo aquellos cometidos contra
los defensores del bosque.
Nos parece sumamente grave el encarcelamiento del líder campesino cuando se inicia el nuevo ciclo de
corta de madera y cuando los defensores de los derechos humanos han dado vitalidad a la lucha por el
esclarecimiento del asesinato de la abogada Digna Ochoa.
Felipe Arreaga Sánchez de 55 años, está enfermo y sufre en la cárcel condiciones inhumanas en una celda
que siendo para 6 presos están hacinados 15, sin lugar siquiera para dormir acostados en el piso.
Exigimos la Libertad Inmediata de Felipe Arreaga Sánchez y la aplicación honesta de la ley.
1. Silvestre Pacheco León, Zihuatanejo, Mexico
2. Wibke Langhorst, Wagenfeld, Alemania
3. Kristin Sullivan, Pennsylvania, USA
4. Susanna Lantz, Calgary, Canada
5. Alejandro Bello, Zihuatanejo, MX
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