Added March 31, 2006

New York, USA

Laborer Who Killed Housewife On Trial 

A year ago this April, Mary Nagle was alone in her New City, N.Y., home. Her husband had gone to work.

But just hours after Daniel Nagle got to the office, he received a phone call from his mother-in-law telling him that his wife had been killed, allegedly by the handyman they had hired to work on their deck.

The couple had contracted with a company called Color-On. The company had sent Douglas Herrera Castellanos, 30, to do the job.

Prosecutors say Castellanos, an undocumented worker, raped Mary Nagle before killing her and left the home in Daniel Nagle's clothes.

Testimony in Castellanos' case resumes later this week. If he is convicted, the accused handyman could face life in prison without parole.

- ABC News

March 29, 2006

Added March 31, 2006

Illinois, USA

Man Allegedly Grabbed, Fondled Schoolbound Girl

Chicago - For the third time in a week, a Chicago girl was attacked while walking to or from school.

[In one of the three cases] Police have caught 34-year-old Juan Ramirez, who is accused of trying to kidnap a 15-year-old girl. On Monday, a judge set bond at $750,000 for Ramirez.

Police said Ramirez drove a van near a girl who was walking to school at 4320 W. 61st Street. They say he showed her a weapon, she resisted and witnesses helped her. When police caught Ramirez, they found a machete in his van.

These attacks have residents guarding their children.

“We never know what’s going to happen later, so we don’t want to take a chance,” said Nora Dempster.

- CBS News

Chicago

March 27, 2006

Added March 26, 2006

California, USA

Between 500,000 And 1 Million Rally Against Stricter Immigration Laws

March 25, 2006 immigration rally in Los Angeles, California Photos: Indymedia

Los Angeles: migrantes realizan marcha histórica.

- El Universal

Mexico City

March 26, 2006

Megamarcha en Los Angeles.

- La Jornada

Mexico City

March 26, 2006

Los Angeles - Police said more than 500,000 people marched Saturday to protest a proposed federal crackdown on illegal immigration.

U.S. President George W. Bush during his weekly radio address...

- IndyMedia

 3/26/2006

Added March 25, 2006

El Salvador

Government Laments ‘Diss-apearance’ of Two Girls In 1980s-1990s Civil War

Salvadoran Chancellor Francisco Laínez

Gobierno lamenta desaparecimiento de niñas en la Guerra

The chancellor of the Republic of El Salvador has declared that, in the name of the Government of El Salvador, they 'lamented' the disappearance of two children during the 1980’s period of the Salvadoran Civil War.

Chancellor Francisco Laínez traveled from the capital of San Salvador to the city of Chalatenango, where he tried to make amends to the relatives of Erlinda, age 3, and Ernestina Serrano Cruz, age 7, who disappeared on June 2, 1982 during an armed confront-ation.

Salvadoran Chancellor Francisco Laínez …

The announcement complies with an order issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case.  The court’s decision on March 1, 2005 also required El Salvador to pay reparations to the family of the victims.

The ceremony was held in front of the cathedral of Chalatenango.  The president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Agustín Calderón, and the Solicitor for Human Rights, Beatrice de Carrillo, attended.

At the same time the ceremony was taking place, more than 100 children and parents marched to the legislature in the capitol city, San Salvador, asking that a “Day for the Disappeared Children” be declared by Congress, to honor child victims of the civil war that El Salvador experienced from 1980 to 1992.

- La Prensa

El Salvador

 3/22/2006

See Also:

LibertadLatina note:

The United Nations Truth Commission report for the civil war in El Salvador determined that an estimated 75,000 people were killed during the conflict, and that government soldiers were responsible for 95% of the cases of human rights abuses.

LibertadLatina

Anti-Indigenous genocide in El Salvador's Civil War

El Mozote Massacre

The U.S.-trained
Atlacatl Battalion
massacred hundreds of unarmed villagers.

The women were disposed of next. "First they [the soldiers] picked
out the young girls and took them away to the hills," where they were raped before being killed, Amaya reported. "Then they picked out the old women and took them to Israel Marquez's house on the square.  We heard the shots there."

The children died last.  "An order arrived from a Lt.
Caceres to Lt. Ortega to go ahead and kill the children
too," Amaya observed.  A soldier said "Lieutenant,
somebody here says he won't kill children." "Who's the son-of-a-bitch who said that?" the lieutenant answered.  "I am going to kill him.'"  I could hear them shouting from
where I was crouching in the tree.

A boy named Chepe, age 7, was the only child to survive the siege. He later described the terrors he witnessed:

- Parascope.com

The United Nations Truth Commission report on the El Mozote Massacre

- Parascope.com

El Salvador:

Where are the "disappeared" children?

From Amnesty International

In June 1982, Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz, 7 and 3 years old at the time, were caught up in an operation undertaken by the Salvadoran Army and became separated from their parents, brothers and sisters. They were captured by soldiers and, according to witnesses, were taken by helicopter to an unknown destination. Despite efforts made by their mother and others they are still unaccounted for.

For 21 years the Salvadoran judicial system and the state have failed them and their family, to such an extent that on  June 18, 2003 the

Inter-American Commission of Human Rights submitted the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

- Amnesty international

Press release

Washington, DC 7/30/2003

Added March 25, 2006

California, USA

COHA Report: AIDS In Latin America

Council on Hemispheric Relations Report

Faced with the looming threat of a merciless human-itarian crisis, Latin American govern-ments must hack through an entangled web of patent laws, corporate loopholes, and misguided U.S. initiatives, before they can even begin to deliver life-saving drugs to a mounting number of AIDS victims in their countries.

In the shadow of the more-publicized African crisis, the AIDS epidemic in Latin America has slowly infected the most vulnerable, poverty-stricken stratums of society, exacerbating the plight of an already economically handicapped region.

In 2005 alone, 1.8 million Latin Americans were newly infected by the disease, which claimed the lives of 200,000 victims that same year. In the Caribbean, where the AIDS epidemic ranks second only to that of Sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS claimed an estimated 24,000 victims in 2005, making the disease the leading cause of death among adults in the region, ages 15 to 44. As the relationship between AIDS and poverty is bidirectional, these alarming statistics attest to an ominous trend. Immediate action must be taken before the epidemic further devastates the fundamental fabric of Latin American societies.

As underdevelop-ment and debt tie the hands of Latin American govern-ments, global neglect has further prevented a strong response to the region’s growing crisis.

- Council on Hemispheric Relations

Washington, DC 3/23/2006

See Also:

LibertadLatina

HIV-AIDS Issues

Added March 25, 2006

New York, USA

Trial Underway In Shocking Rape, Murder

Rockland County - Ronald Douglass Herrera, a 30-year-old undocumented immigrant worker, has been charged with the rape and murder of Mary Nagle.

On April 29th of 2005, the victim's sister found the 42-year-old mother of two in the upstairs master bedroom of her New City home. Nagle's naked, lifeless body was on the bed. Blood stains covered the carpet and walls.

On the day of the murder, police say Herrera was at the Nagle house working for a contractor hired by the family to power-wash the back deck.

Investigators say he fled the scene, eluding police for hours, before cops found him wearing some of Mr. Nagle's clothes. Days later police found a bag full of bloodstained clothes allegedly worn by the killer.

- WABC

New York City

March 24, 2006

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Added March 25, 2006

Mexico, United States

Advocates Decry Treatment of Migrant Women During Deportation

Federal prisoners, including detained undocumented migrants, are transported via U.S. Marshal Service's "Con-Air" flights. Photo: Chris Barfield - U.S. Marshals Service

Denuncian maltrado a mujeres deportadas.

Tijuana, Baja California state - Migrant advocates here say that U.S. border patrol agents working south of Phoenix, Arizona chained recently chained and handcuffed 20 women migrants being transported for deportation into Mexico at San Diego, CA.  During their two days of captivity, the women's Mexican identification documents were withheld, and they were denied adequate food and heat at their detention center.

The group, mainly from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, was received in Mexico at the women’s shelter Assunta Madre.  Social worker Mary Galván Romero said that this case shows that the U.S. continues to violate bilateral agreements governing the process of repatriation.

Abuses and humiliations continue being a common practice, according to deported women. 

The number of women detained and deported increases daily, as the rate of female migration continues to grow.

The women were transferred in handcuffs and with a chain around their waists during a [prisoner] flight from Phoenix to San Diego, California, where they were returned to Mexico.

Galván Romero noted that the number of women seen at their shelter has increased from three to four per day to an average of five or six.

Four out of ten women detained are accompanied by their children, who range in age from a few months old to 17 years of age.

- Julieta Martinez

El Universal

Mexico City

March 25, 2006

See Also:

Justice Prisoner & Alien Transportation System (JPATS).

Note: All prisoners traveling on JPATS flights are hand-cuffed and chained.

---

Added March 25, 2006

California, USA

An Estimated 100,000 Protest Proposed New Immigration Laws

Marchan en EU contra leyes antiinmigrantes.

- El Universal

- Miami Herald

March 25, 2006

Los Angeles - Tens of thousands of immigrant rights advocates from across Southern California marched Saturday in protest of federal legislation that would build more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border and make helping illegal immigrants a crime.

The march followed rallies on Friday that drew throngs of protesters to major cities around the nation.

The crowd was estimated at more than 100,000.

- CNN

 3/25/2006

LibertadLatina note:

Two immigration rallies were held in Los Angeles on both March 25 and 26, 2006.

---

Added March 25, 2006

Mexico, United States

Bush´s Statement On Immigration Reform Seen As ´Positive´ In Mexico

The government described as "very positive" the statement made by U.S. President George W. Bush in calling on the U.S. Congress to debate immigration "in a civil way" and approve reforms that include a guest-worker program.

Bush´s statement "seemed very positive to us and is in line with the current trend in the United States toward opening an interesting discussion on possible immig-ration reform," Fox spokesman Rubén Aguilar said on Friday.

At a news confer-ence, he said immigration will be the "primary topic of discussion" during the meeting Fox and Bush will hold next Thursday in Cancún, just before their trilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"When we discuss this debate, it must be done in a civil way. It must be done in a way that brings dignity to the process. It must be done in a way that doesn't pit people against each other," Bush said after meeting Thursday with more than a dozen business, civic and religious leaders.

- El Universal

- Miami Herald

March 25, 2006

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Added March 23, 2006

California, USA

Ex-Immigration Official Is Accused Of Groping; Santa Ana Police Say The Federal Employee Abused A Woman Applying For U.S. Citizenship

Santa Ana – A former district adjudications officer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been charged with refusing to process a 29-year-old woman's request for U.S. citizenship unless she submitted to his sexual demands, Santa Ana police reported.

Eddie Romualdo Miranda, 60, of Fontana surrendered Tuesday and was booked on charges of attempted oral copulation and sexual battery under color of law, said Sgt. Lorenzo Carrillo.

The arrest stems from Miranda's interview Jan. 20 with the woman, an immigrant from Vietnam seeking to become a U.S. citizen. She was required to be interviewed by Miranda in his office at the federal building at 34 Civic Center Drive in Santa Ana. He had the authority to recommend approval or denial of her request for citizenship, Carrillo said.

Carrillo said Miranda told the woman he wanted her to meet him in a nearby parking structure.

"She felt her citizenship was in jeopardy if she refused," he said. "She met him and there was groping. He demanded oral copulation but she refused and immediately reported what had happened to police."

Carrillo said that detectives believe there may be other victims.

- Orange County Register

California

3/23/2006

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Added March 23, 2006

The World

Two Million Underage Girls Become Prostitutes Each Year

According to the Atlas of Women in Development, 2 million underage girls are caught up in prostitution each year around the world.  The Atlas also indicates that 70% of all persons in poverty are female.

The Atlas is the first Spanish language work that explores the geography of the gender gap at a global level.

- El Diario Montañés

Spain

3/23/2006

Texas, USA

Parents, School Discuss Sex Abuse Charges Against Teacher's Aide

San Antonio - Parents of several mentally disabled students at Brackenridge High School met privately with school administrators on Tuesday night to discuss the recent arrest of a teacher's aide on sexual abuse charges.

Ernest Huizar, 55, is accused of having sexual contact with three mentally disabled students.

Huizar remained at Bexar County Jail.

Cecilia Castillo, a parent...

Several parents told administrators they believe there may be more victims who have yet to come forward.

Liliana Ramos, the sister of a special education student...

- KSAT

San Antonio, Texas

3/16/2006

Texas, USA

Man Who Beat Toddler To Death Executed: Child's Injuries Were Worse Than Car Crash Victims

Huntsville, Texas - In the moments before his execution, Robert Salazar Jr., age 27, continued to deny he was responsible for the death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter.

"I am sorry that the child had to lose her life, but I should not have to be here," Salazar said Wednesday night before he was executed for the beating death of Adriana Gomez in April 1997.

...Authorities said Salazar delivered at least three life-threatening injuries to the girl: a blow to the head that left it feeling like gelatin, a blow to her chest that left her heart on the verge of rupturing and a blow to her abdomen that pushed internal organs against her backbone.

- Denise laVoie

Associated Press

3/22/2006

See Also:

No less than six million children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean are subjected to severe aggression. Some 80,000 of these die each year as a result of violence unleashed in their own families.

- Carol Bellamy

Former UNICEF Executive Director

Massachusetts, USA

In 3rd Trial, Boston Man Convicted of Rape

Boston - A rape suspect who twice won mistrials because key DNA evidence could have come from either him or his twin brother was convicted Wednesday in his third trial.

Darrin Fernandez, 31, was convicted in an April 2001 attack on a Boston woman who said she was repeatedly raped by a man who climbed up a fire escape and broke into her second-floor bedroom while she slept.

...Prosecutors introduced evidence they said showed Fernandez committed a series of home break-ins, sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults with characteristics similar to the rape in 2001.

- Denise laVoie

Associated Press

3/22/2006

Added March 23, 2006

Ecuador

Added March 22, 2006

Ten-Year-Old Girl Kidnapped During Town Celebration  

Fabiola María Sandí Gómez

Niña de 10 años desaparecida.

Esparza - Authorities are investigating the disappearance of 10-year-old sixth-grader Fabiola Maria Sandí Gomez, who went missing while her mother cele-brated the town's patron saint's day on March 5th.

According to one version of events given by the girl’s mother, Aurora Gomez Estrada, an ex-neighbor by the name of Jose kidnapped the child. 

Gomez Estrada had also told police that her daughter had gotten into a taxi with a man, and was later seen on a bus.

Jose has a white complexion and a beard, according to Gomez Estrada.

Anyone with information about the case may contact the Office of Judicial Investigations (OIJ) in Liberia, costa Rica, at 690-0128.

Added March 22, 2006

Violence Against Indigenous Women Examined At United Nations Conference

The plight of indigenous women was a critical topic of discussion at the fiftieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW50), which took place at United Nations headquart-ers in New York from February 27 to March 10, 2006.

- El Universal

- Miami Herald

March 20, 2006

Betrayed - by Linda Diebel When, in 2001, the body of Mexican human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa was found shot in the leg and head, covered in starch and arranged beside a written death threat, her friends and colleagues had no doubt she had been murdered. Why, then, did the Mexican government pronounce Ochoa a suicide? - Review Publisher's Weekly

Data regarding conditions in Paraguay is alarming, according to a United Nations report by special representative Juan Miguel Pitt.  The report documents the rates of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in Paraguay.  According to the analysis, two thirds of sex workers are minors.  The majority of them began working in prostitution at the age of 12 or 13.  Most adolescent victims are 16 to 18 years of age. 

The report also mentions that 8-year-old girls are involved in prostitution.

In 98% of these cases, minors in prostitution receive 30,000 to 50,000 Guaranies per sex act, or 5 to 8 dollars.  The investigators who authored the report also listened to the testimonies of girls who prostituted themselves for 5,000 Guaranies (80 cents) or a plate of food.

- www.ABC.com.py Paraguay

March 17, 2006

Paraguayan youth are trafficked in large numbers outside of Paraguay.

Approximately half of these child victims are trafficked to Argentina, and the other half are taken to Europe.

[Former president] Alfredo Stroessner came to power in 1954, but European correspondents who visited Paraguay during his rule used the term the "poor man's Nazi regime" to describe the Paraguayan government. The parallels may have been more than a coincidence, for many Nazi war criminals, such as Joseph Mengele, had settled there with Stroessner's blessing.

From the Nazis the Paraguayan military learned the art of genocide. The native Ache Indians were in the way of progress.

The Indians were hunted down, parents killed, and children sold into [sexual] slavery. Survivors were herded into reservations.

Mark Munzel, a German anthro-pologist, was the first to call attention to the massacre of the Paraguayan Indians, with whom he lived for a year.

In manhunts with the cooperation of the military, the Indians are "pursued like animals," the parents killed, and the children sold (citing professor Sardi). Machetes are commonly used to murder Indians to save the expense of bullets. Men not slaughtered are sold for field-workers, women as prostitutes, children as domestic servants. According to Sardi, "there is not one family in which a child has not been murdered."

Munzel was offered teenage Indian girls by the Director of Indian Affairs of the Ministry of Defense, who "sought my goodwill," and he comments that "slavery is widespread and officially tolerated." Slaves can be found in Asuncion, the capital city.

Official state tolerance for the murder, kidnapping, rape and sex trafficking of indigenous women and children was (and is) a fact of life throughout Latin America. 

Wherever colonial-era 'traditions' of anti-indigenous genocide continued into the 20th and 21st centuries in a major way (especially in Guatemala, El Salvador, Brazil and Paraguay), femicide and large scale sex trafficking have become critical issues today. 

While the western powers advocate strongly against human trafficking, they also supported these major genocidal campaigns while they were taking place.  Will the West apologize for the aftermath of racial genocide - massive sex trafficking, if not for their support for the actual genocide?

- Chuck Goolsby

March 19-21, 2006

Illinois

An Estimated 100,000 Gather For A Rally In Chicago To Support Immi-gration Rights And To Protest House Resolution 4437, the Border Security Bill

Photo: IndyMedia

Mar humano contra ley antiinmigrante.

- Leticia Espinosa

HoyInternet.com

March 11, 2006

Chicago - [On March 11, 2006] police estimated that more than 100,000 marchers came from all over the Chicago area, many carrying - or wearing - Mexican and American flags. The protest was spirited, but peaceful, and there were no reported arrests or incidents.

Marchers gathered on the plaza across from the Dirksen Federal Courthouse to listen to speeches voicing support for pro-immigrant legislation and opposition to a measure that would toughen penalties for illegal immigrants.

"Raise those American flags!" shouted U.S. Rep Luis Gutierrez, D-Chicago. "This is our country, and this is where we will stay."

The march and rally came as the U.S. Senate struggles with a bill to stiffen border enforcement and a new report estimates the illegal immigrant population has grown from about 8.4 million in 2000 to nearly 12 million.

- Joshua Lott

Associated Press

March 11, 2006

---

Added March 18, 2006

Guatemala

For International Women's Day -

Violence Against Women Continues Unchecked

On February 8, the bodies of two young women were found on the outskirts of Guatemala City. They had been stoned to death. Their skulls were destroyed. In Guatemala, where genocide against the Mayan people occurred in the 1980s, femicide is now the order of the day.

More than 2,000 women have been murdered in Guatemala in the last five years, and the annual death toll continues to grow: in 2001, 303 women were murdered; in 2005, the number reached 650. The brutality of the murders also increases each year. According to the statistics of the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombuds-man’s Office, 66 percent of the murders between 2002 and mid-2005 were carried out with “sadism and extreme force.”

The murders of women are brutal, often involving rape, torture, and mutilation.  Last year the murderers began using chain saws to hack women’s bodies apart.

The United States, for the last half century a close ally of Guatemala’s, has a critical responsibil-ity to help protect Guatemalan women and bring the violence to an end.

- Guatemalan Human Rights Commission-USA

March 8, 2006

---

Added March 18, 2006

Maryland

Man Kidnapped And Raped Teen Over Several Days

A Laurel, Maryland man was arrested Thursday and charged with raping a teenage girl after allegedly holding her against her will for several days.

The teen said Santos Amaya, 21, offered her and a friend a ride on March 6 in the Gaithersburg, Maryland area. She told police that once her friend was dropped off, Amaya held her in the car against her will and took her to various locations in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. Police said Amaya raped the teen during her confinement.

"He confined her to residences and hotels within Montgomery and Prince George's counties" [in Maryland], said Jim Collins, spokesman for the Laurel police department.

- NBC4.com

Washington, DC

March 8, 2006

---

Added March 18, 2006

Illinois

Rapist Is Deported

Chicago - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-ment (ICE) deported a Colombian man yesterday who was convicted of kidnapping and raping his female victim at knifepoint.

Jorge Granada-Velasquez, 36, of Armenia, Colombia, first entered the United States in 1990 as a perma-nent resident. On May 15, 1991, Granada-Velasquez held a female victim against her will and raped her at knifepoint, stabbing her numerous times in the nose, leg and shoulder and causing permanent disfigurement.

He pleaded guilty in 1993 in Cook County Circuit Court to 12 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, four counts of aggravated kidnapping, and three counts of aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

- U.S. ICE

March 14, 2006

---

Added March 18, 2006

Massachusetts

Agents Arrest 60

Boston - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-ment (ICE) agents arrested 60 aliens during a two-day long enforcement operation.

Those arrested have extensive criminal histories that include either convictions for or charges of violent crimes that include Rape, Armed Robbery, Assault and Battery on a Child With Injuries, Armed Assault to Murder, Attempted Murder, and Kidnapping, and Assault and Battery on a Child.

Those arrested will be deported to  Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ghana, Greece, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Nigeria, St. Vincent, Trinidad, United Kingdom and Vietnam.

- U.S. ICE

March 16, 2006

---

Added March 17, 2006

Guatemala

Guatemala: Authorities Search For Child Sex Traffickers

Agents raid hotels Photo: Prensa Libre

Prosecutors and agents of the National Civil Police (PNC) have conducted a search of 14 hotels, hostels and pensioners homes in the city of Coatepeque, in Quetzaltenango department (state).  The searches were carried out with the objective of finding people responsible for forcing children into prostitution.

Neighbors had complained to police that is several hotels in the city, children were forced to have sex with hotel and hostel guests.

- Prensa Libre

Guatemala

March 15, 2006

---

Added March 17, 2006

New York

Elmhurst Rapist Is Sentenced to 20 Years In Prison

Un padre ecuatoriano era el violador de Elmhurst, lo condenarán a 20 años.

Queens  - Ecuadorian immigrant Jofre Bautista, a 34-year-old father of two girls, has pleaded guilty to the rape of two girls, ages 13 and 15, in Queens County Court.

Bautista was arrested in October, 2005, after the 13-year-old victim recognized him as the man who raped her.  The victim told her mother, and police, that the man had forced her into his van, taken her to an isolated area, had beaten her, and then proceeded to rape her.

After his arrest, Bautista was linked to the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Queens during December, 2003.

Queens County prosecutor Richard Brown said that the long walks that the girl victims had to take to and from school became experiences of horror.  The experienced a trauma that they will never recover from.

Bautista asked to be sent to a safe jail, as he has received threats.  On March 27, 2006, he will be sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by 5 years of monitoring.  Any violation of his parole will activate two additional 25 year sentences.  Bautista will most likely be deported from the U.S. to Ecuador after his release from prison.

- El Nuevo Diario

Dominican Republic

March 17, 2006

---

Added March 16, 2006

United States, Canada, Australia, England

27 Charged In Child Porn Sting - Web Site Containing Live 'Molestation On Demand' Shut Down

 27 acusados de pornografía infantil en EEUU y otros países.

- Orlando Sentinel

March 15, 2006

 An Internet chat room that streamed video of live child molestations has been shut down and 27 people have been charged with online child pornography offenses, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials still are looking for one suspect after an undercover sting operation shut down a Web site called "Kiddypics & Kiddyvids."

One of the seven molestation victims was younger than 18 months, according to the Justice Department.

Four minors under the age of 12 also were shown on the Internet site being molested.

Immigration and customs Assistant Secretary Julie Myers on Wednesday described the chat room as "molest-ation on demand."

- CNN

March 15, 2006

See Also:

Dozens Charged In International, Internet-based Child Pornography Investigation.

- U.S. ICE

March 15, 2006

Washington, DC - A massive online child pornography sting that started in Edmonton, Canada has nabbed 27 suspects from four countries after police infiltrated a private Internet chat room used to trade images and videos of molestations.

- CANOE Network

Canada

March 15, 2006

In 2003 Toronto's top cop, Paul Gillespie  wrote to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates in frustration, asking for help in creating a tool to catch online pornographers.

Microsoft Canada pumped $4.5 million Cdn into creating the Child Exploitation Tracking System, which was instrumental in a four-country pornography sting announced Wednesday by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

- CANOE Network

Canada

March 15, 2006

---

Added March 16, 2006

Florida , USA

Murderer of 11-Year-Old Carla Brucia Sentenced To Death

Sarasota - A Florida judge formally sentenced mechanic Joseph P. Smith to death Wednesday for the 2004 murder of Carlie Brucia, whose abduction was captured by a security camera and shown around the world.

Judge Andrew Owens...

"Based upon your actions, you have forfeited your right to live freely among us in society, and pursuant to the laws of Florida, have forfeited your right to live."

Smith, who will turn 40 Friday, showed no reaction as the sentence was pronounced.

His victim would have celebrated her 13th birthday Thursday.

"I thought I'd feel a lot different, but it still hurts. It doesn't change anything," Steve Kansler, Carlie's stepfather, said after the hearing...

Absent from the courtroom Wednesday was Carlie's mother, Susan Schorpen, who is incarcerated on drug charges.

At the February hearing, a statement from Schorpen was read in which she said that Carlie's death had "forever destroyed my family."

Schorpen added in her statement that she had been institutionalized three times and turned to drugs "because the pain within my reality is too much to bear."

- CNN

March 15, 2006

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Added March 15, 2006

Arizona, USA

Immigrant Journey Ends With Girl's Death

Yuma - Juan Cruz-Torralva brought his 12-year-old daughter through the desert along the U.S.-Mexico border because he wanted a better life for her in the United States.

Three days into the journey, a U.S. Border Patrol agent spotted the group of illegal immigrants, and as the agent chased them, the Border Patrol truck hit Cruz-Torralva and his daughter, Lourdes, killing her.

 Yuma County sheriff's detectives determined the death was an accident, but Cruz-Torralva was arrested on charges of endangerment. Deputies argued that he had placed the child in "risk of imminent death" by bringing her into the desert.

A prosecutor on Monday refused to pursue the case, saying there wasn't enough evidence to prove the charge.

Cruz-Torralva, meanwhile, sat in jail and said he didn't understand why he was there.

"They said it's my fault for bringing her here, that it's my fault my daughter died. But I wasn't driving the truck," said the 28-year-old farm worker from Oaxaca, Mexico, who speaks limited Spanish.

He said he can barely walk since the accident, and his parents in Mexico are ill and don't have jobs.

"I just wanted her to get a good education," he said tearfully.

He had planned to take her to Oxnard, Calif., where his wife was living with the couple's 2-month-old son. He wanted to enroll Lourdes in school and work in the area's strawberry fields, he said.

"I was looking for a better life," he said. "I needed money to send to my family."

According to a report by the Yuma County Attorney's office, Cruz-Torralva and his daughter were among a dozen illegal immigrants followed by a Border Patrol agent.

After they stopped, the agent got out of his truck, heard moaning and discovered he had run over Cruz-Torralva and his daughter.

- Amanda Lee Myers

Associated Press

March 14, 2006

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Added March 14, 2006

Argentina

Police Discover Child Sex Traffick-ing Network In Santiago De Estero  

Descubren una red de prostitución infantil en Santiago del Estero

Police in Santiago de Estero state have rescued 20 youth between the ages of 11 and 14 who were enslaved by a child prostitution network.

In a coordinated raid that followed a patient investigation by a crimes against children and women unit, authorities broke up the ring, based in the city of Frías. 

The majority of male clients were men between 50 and 60 years of age.  They would pay a pimp on the street, and were then lead to residential houses where the minors were kept. 

Immediately after the gang was uncover-ed, judge Gabriela de Chelbe issued arrest warrants for those involved.

The members of the gang were jailed, with the exception of an 82 year old man, who is now under house arrest.

- El Carin

March 13, 2006

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Added March 14, 2006

Peru

Prosecutors Seek Life In Prison For Man Who Raped And Murdered His 3-Year-Old Niece

Exigen cadena perpetua para acusado de violar y matar a una niña de tres años

On May 22, 2005, in a humble house in the city of Huaycán, Miguel Angel Cahuana Cusirimay, age 25, is alleged to have raped his 3-year-old niece.  He denied the accusations, but forensic evidence proved signs of molestation.  Based on that evidence, Lima prosecutor Pablo Libia Robles is seeking life in prison for the accused.

This would be the first case of child sexual abuse in which life in prison has been sought.

- El Carin

March 13, 2006

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Added March 14, 2006

California, USA

Young Woman Allegedly Raped As "Pay Back" To Boyfriend

Police Chief "One of The Worst Rapes I've Seen in My 35 Years Experience."

Anaheim — Ten suspected gang members are accused of beating and raping a 23-year-old woman, to reportedly "teach her man a lesson."

Police say the attack took place at Zaby's Motor Lodge on Katella Avenue in Anaheim. According to investigators, the young woman was lured to a room where a female gang member initially beat her, then encouraged a group of young men to rape, orally copulate and digitally penetrate her over a seven- hour period.

In custody are Jolean Disbrow, 23; Jesse Bess, 23; Randy Calderon, 18; Keizzy Fierro, 22; Adrian Flores, 18; Raymond Jaramillo, 19; Luis Nava, 19; and Gilbert Ortiz, 15, who was charged as an adult.

Also in custody, so-called "gang mother," 38 year old Connie Herrera Retana. She's accused of encouraging the attackers, who included her 18-year-old son, Martin Carlos Delgado.

Bail is set for 100-thousand-dollars apiece.

Police are still searching for 19-year-old Oscar Jose Barajas, who also goes by the name "Sporty."

- KTLA.com

March 13, 2006

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Added March 14, 2006

Kansas, USA

KC Man Charged With Raping 11-Year-Old

Kansas City - Jackson County Prosecutor Mike Sanders announced that Juan L. Alcantar, 20, was charged with first degree statutory rape Monday following a March 8 incident involving an 11-year-old girl.

According to investigators, Alcantar drove the 11-year-old, who he knew, to his home. On the way, the victim said he had tried to touch her. The victim said he raped her at his home, then drover her back to her residence and ordered to not to say a word and to take a shower.

- KSHB.com

March 13, 2006

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Added March 14, 2006

California, USA

Man Arrested For Alleged Rape In Benicia

Police arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly raping his neighbor late Saturday night.

When the 47-year-old female victim arrived at her East I Street home shortly before midnight 19-year-old Willi Valdo Lopez engaged her in conversation and followed her into her residence, according to police.

Lopez allegedly made sexual advances and when the victim resisted he disrobed her, attempted intercourse and forced her to orally copulate him, police reported.

The woman called police after Lopez left.

- CBS5.com

March 13, 2006

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Added March 12, 2006

Indigenous Latin America

Conditions Not Improving For  Indigenous Peoples

President Evo Morales dances with Indigenous women at Carnival celebration in Bolivia Photo: Associated Press

Despite promising advances, such as the first-ever inauguration of an Aymaran Indian as president of Bolivia, World Bank econo-mists painted a bleak picture for Latin America's indigenous inhabitants in a recent report. 

Washington - Twelve years after the U.N. Assembly declared the Decade of Indigenous Peoples, the Native population of Latin America still barely gets by, said a recent report by World Bank economists.

The report focused on countries where Native numbers are the largest: Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. Native peoples are a majority in Bolivia and comprise large pluralities in Peru and Guatemala. Latin America's indigenous number about 30 million, the authors wrote, or 10 percent of the regional population.

Health care is at the root of the poverty divide, the authors said. In Mexico, 44 percent of indige-nous children suffer from stunted growth, a fact which inhibits education and later limits employability. The cycle of poverty, they noted, begins before children ever go to school.

Native people are four times more likely than other Mexicans to be illiterate. Two-thirds of indigenous women in Guate-mala have no knowledge of modern contra-ception. In Bolivia, Native people are twice as likely to live in extreme poverty as their neighbors.

Whatever the general picture, the fate of women is worse. ''Across the board, particularly with health and employment, the worst thing to be that we know of in these countries is an indigenous woman,'' said Hall, noting that descendants of the African population have yet to be properly studied.

- Indian Country Today

March 3, 2006

LibertadLatina Commentary

A recently released World Bank report stated that...

"The worst thing to be that we know of in these countries is an indigenous woman."

The strongest issue and theme that LibertadLatina advocates in regard to is the fact that indigenous women are targeted for rape, slavery and other forms of injustice with complete impunity.  Today, they cannot depend upon governments, police forces or global leaders to ever look their way and help them as they and their girl children face unspeakable gender crimes that are committed en-mass.

That is the way it was 500 years ago, and that is the way it is today across many nations of the Americas.

These nations, who are today being asked to unite in the global fight against human trafficking, now face a dilemma.

The exploitation of Native peoples for labor, and as rape victims, has been a 'tradition' in Canada, the United States, and in Latin America for generations.  To end modern human slavery, all of these societies will have to give up their long-held beliefs that say "God gave us these lands, and the right to do whatever we want to the original inhabitants."

While some nations in the Americas have made progress in moving past these tired, racist beliefs, other cultures see Native peoples and lands as a valuable resource to exploit, rather like cattle. 

I have seen these ideas discussed in person in Latin America, and this web site documents how this ugly reality plays out in daily life. 

The attitude is...

"If the U.S. did this to Native people 100 years ago, what's the problem with us 'wrapping up' the same 'process' of conquest today?"

The Guatemalan Army murdered 200,000 innocent Mayans in the 1980's including 50,000 women.  They raped the surviving young girls, a 'tradition' that has lead to 'femicide' as an ongoing crime against women.

U.S. support for committing and hiding these atrocities grew as much out of a kind of 'solidarity with the cause' of conquering Native peoples ... as it did with cold war aims to defeat leftist political enemies. 

The Mayan villagers were not leftists.  But being Indigenous justified their mass murder.  Today being indigenous justifies the enslave-ment, rape and mass murder of children, women and men once again.

Are the peoples and the governments of the Americas willing to give up having a free (enslaved) farm hand, a free domes-tic worker, a free rape victim and a free commercial child or adult sex slave, who are today  available to them at the snap of a finger?

That wish is, in reality, very optim-istic.  There is no remorse for slavery among the elite in Latin American societies.  Ending these Roman-era feudal customs will take a very long time to achieve.

The needed social reforms are starting to take place.  The annual Trafficking In Persons Report (TIP) produced by the U.S. State Department threat-ens economic sanctions for those nations who sit by and do nothing about trafficking.  To avoid getting their funding cut-off, they will do the minimum of work needed to comply with the demands of the U.S. anti-slavery effort.

Many nations were given a reprieve in regard to sanctions by President Bush in 2005, for failing to act against human trafficking.  

In the real world, deep, ongoing  economic crises will always send the wealthy running to see what else they can steal from Native peoples (land, water, women & children) to make up for some of their losses.

The kidnapping, rape, and enslave-ment of Indigenous children, women and men continues to be the norm in Latin America, not the exception.

While issues of exploitation do not affect Indigenous victims alone, if we focus on this, the very worst part of the crisis of impunity, all of the rest of Latin America will benefit as well.

Only our strong and aggressive activism will save current and future victims of exploitation from the torture and death associated with these terrible crimes against humanity.  we cannot sit back and think that governments will do an effective job.  So far, they have not.

- Chuck Goolsby

March 12, 2006

See Also:

ILO: One million slaves exist In Latin America - most are Indigenous peoples.

- Prensa Libre

Guatemala City

March 11, 2006

LibertadLatina

Native Guatemala -

   Femicide & Genocide

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Added March 12, 2006

China

U.S. Demand For Adoptions Drives Baby-Trafficking

In tragic irony, a thriving foreign adoption program has made once-unwanted Chinese girls prime targets of baby-trafficking.

Last year, the United States issued nearly 8,000 visas to Chinese-born children adopted by American parents. More than 50,000 children have left China for the United States since 1992. And more than 10,000 children have landed in other countries, according to Chinese reports.

The foreign adoption program has matched Chinese babies with foreign families eager for them, while delivering crucial funding to orphanages in this country. But it has also spawned a tragic irony, transforming once-unwanted Chinese girls into valuable commodities worth stealing.

- The Washington Post

March 12, 2006

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Added March 12, 2006

Mexcio

Advocates Praise Recent Agreement By The Oaxaca State Government To Address Women’s Human Rights

Photo: CIMAC

Saluda ONG compromiso de Gobierno Oaxaqueño

Oaxaca (pronounced Wahaca) state - Lawyer Aline Castellanos Jurado is celebrating the results of a recent hearing before the Inter-American Commission of Human rights (CIDH).  The session resulted in the government of Oaxaca promising to address human rights violations and advance the cause of justice for women.

Castellanos Jurado, lawyer for Patronage For-Defense of Oaxaca indicated that the case was made before the CIDH that the human rights of women in the state are frequently abused.  Those abuses include domestic violence, homicides, and institutional violence.

Castellanos Jurado, who is also a member of the Consortium for Parliamentary Dialog in Oaxaca, indicated that the CIDH session was also made aware of impact that political and agrarian conflicts have on women in Oaxaca.

A third issue raised involves health issues, because of the high rates of maternal deaths and the lack of available legal processes that allow a woman who has been raped to exercise her right to abortion.

These human rights abuses involve a wide variety of forms of violence that target women.  The authorities justify abuses of authority as a part of tradition.  They do not see the problem as being one of a lack of attention to the problem.  That constitutes discrimination against women, and it should not be allowed to continue.

Given these circumstances, the CIDH was asked to visit Oaxaca to verify that the recently made promises by the state are actually put into practice.  The CIDH gave Oaxaca a period of 6 months to present a plan to address all forms of violence against women, not just domestic violence, as is currently the case.

The nongovern-mental organizations who addressed the CIDH court session asked that Oaxaca enact a transparency law, allowing public access to state records regarding the conditions for women.

Jurado Castellanos noted that during the CIDH session, the representative of the government of Oaxaca, state Undersecretary for Human Rights Rosario Villalobos Rueda promised to work to bring state laws into line with international human rights standards.

En closing, the Jurado Castellanos indicated that if the federal and state governments accept allowing the CIDH to visit Oaxaca, it would be a very significant event, because it would “open the door” to follow-up visits.  Such inspectors can bring focus to this ‘hot zone’ of crisis in Oaxaca, which deserves attention.

The CIDH session’s report will be made available in the coming week.

- CIMAC Noticias

News for Women

Mexico City

March 10, 2006

See Also:

Oaxaca state compromises with Inter-American Commission on Human Rights - Mexican state to change its law permitting "honor killing" of women.

- CIMAC Noticias

News for Women

Mexico City

March 6, 2006

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Added March 12, 2006

New York, USA

Human Rights School Has Unusual Mission

New York - The School for Human Rights is one of nearly 150 "small" public schools that opened in New York City in the last three years under a national movement to raise student achievement by shrinking school sizes. Such schools often have specific themes. Although it's normal for schools to discuss human rights, one built around the concept is rare.

"We're not teaching the kids what to think, but to think," Principal Kevin Dotson said, adding that some topics require "scaffolding" first. "We don't just hit sixth graders with 'Let's talk about torture today!"'

The school strives to produce "socially engaged young adults committed to equity, dignity and social conscious-ness," according to its mission statement.

The school, in its second year, consists of grades six, seven, nine and 10 and will add more levels as students advance until in contains grades six through 12. It has about 300 students, most of whom are of Caribbean descent. Admission is open to students across the city, but most come from nearby neighborhoods.

Karen Robinson, director of the human rights education program for Amnesty International USA, said as word of the school has spread, other educators have contacted her to see how they can promote similar programs elsewhere. She's working with teachers in Florida who want to establish human rights academies within their existing schools.

- Associated Press

Via CNN

March 10, 2006

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Added March 12, 2006

Chile

Michele Bachelet Is Inaugurated As  First Woman President

Santiago - Michelle Bachelet, a lifelong socialist, former political exile and ex-prisoner of the military dictatorship, was sworn in Saturday as Chile's first female president with the luminaries of South America's new leftist leadership and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the audience.

"Our strength will be the women," Bachelet, 54, told an animated, largely female crowd of thousands downtown as she made her initial address as chief of state from the ornate presidential palace, La Moneda. "In Chile, there will be no forgotten citizens. This is my promise."

- Los Angeles Times

March 12, 2006

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Added March 12, 2006

Mexico

The Inevitable Discussion Of Abortion

On Tuesday, the government finally agreed to award financial compen-sation to Paulina Ramírez, a Baja California woman who at age 13 was denied a legal abortion seven years ago after being raped and impregnated.

Almost simul-taneously, and perhaps not coincidentally, the international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report bursting with evidence that Ms. Ramírez´s experience was no aberration.

According to the 92-page document (entitled "The Second Assault: Obstructing Access to Legal Abortion after Rape in Mexico"), "Mexican officials actively prevent rape victims from gaining access to legal and safe abortion."

The officials´ tactics will never be mistaken for subtle.

"A social worker in Jalisco, for example, showed scientifically inaccurate anti-abortion videos to a 13-year-old girl who had been raped and impregnated by a family member," the report reads.

"Some public prosecutors threatened rape victims with jail for procuring a legal abortion, and many doctors told women and girls, without cause, that an abortion would kill them."

The low estimate of the number of abortions performed in Mexico each year is 500,000. The high estimate is more than a million.  That means more than 1,000, and perhaps as many as 3,000, take place on average every day.  Abortion, then, is as common in Mexico as it is illegal.

...Until the abortion issue is faced squarely - and settled publicly one way or the other - honesty will require the nation´s political leaders to tell Mexico´s women up front that when it comes to the most personal, profound issues of concern to their sovereign bodies, they [men] will make the decisions for them.

In fact, they already have.

- Kelly Arthur Garrett

El Universal

March 12, 2006

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Added March 11, 2006

Latina America

ILO: One Million Slaves Exist In Latin America - Most Are Indige-nous People

Brazil - Agricultural slave at work. Photo: Prensa Libre

Latinoamérica tiene más de un millón de esclavos.  La población indígena es la más sometida a condiciones de esclavitud

In a press conference held during the Second International Conference of Agrarian Reform and Development, held by the United Nations in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, the International labor Organization (ILO) has declared that over 1 million people in Latin America are currently enslaved.

According to ILO research,  of the 12.3 million enslaved persons on Earth, 1.3 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay, indigen-ous peoples are the majority of slaves.

In Peru, Native people are forced to work in timber logging as slaves for periods of 12 months.

In Bolivia [which is 60% full-blooded Indigenous], Native people are forced to work in cane harvesting for 12 hours a day, under threat of corporal punishment.

In Paraguay, members of the Guarani Tribe are enslaved on large, rural farms.

By contrast, the ILO praised the decision of Brazil's govern-ment to publicly acknowledge the existence of slavery.  In 2005, Brazilian authorities freed 4,113 enslaved persons.

- Prensa Libre

Guatemala City

March 11, 2006

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Added March 11, 2006

Chile

Michele Bachelet Is Inaugurated As  First Woman President

Chilean president Michele Bachelet Photo: CIMAC

A la reconciliación y memoria histórica, llama presidenta Bachelet

- Prensa Escrita

(The Written Press)

Santiago, Chile

March 11, 2006

Michele Bachelet Photo: Prensa Esctrita

Bachelet apela a integración e igualdad en sus primeras palabras en La Moneda

- CIMAC Noticias

News for Women

Mexico City

March 11, 2006

Valparaiso - Socialist pediatrician Michelle Bachelet, who suffered prison, torture and exile under Chile's military dictatorship, was sworn in as the nation's first female president on Saturday and promised to heed the voices of all Chileans.

In her first official act as president, Bachelet fulfilled a key campaign promise: she swore in her 20-member Cabinet of 10 men and 10 women. She has promised to have equal numbers of men and women in some 300 decision-making posts.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who met with Bachelet for 30 minutes ahead of the ceremony, described her election as a triumph of democracy.

President Michele Bachelet...

"I want a government in which citizens have an active participation." "A government at the service of people."

- Associated Press

Via CNN

March 11, 2006

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Added March 11, 2006

United States

U.S. ICE: 482 Immigrants Were Deported from Georgia And The Carolinas During February, 2006

Atlanta - Four hundred eighty-two criminal and non-criminal immigrants were deported from Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina last month by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and removal officers.

Those deported were sent to: Mexico, Honduras, China, Peru, El Salvador, Jamaica, Haiti, Guatemala, India and Pakistan.

The offenses involved included drug possession, aggravated assault, sex offenses, weapons violations, theft, fraud, robbery, murder, arson, rape, prostitution, selling marijuana, smuggl-ing migrants, counterfeiting, indecent exposure, child molestation, second-degree battery and many others.

Approximately 83% of those removed were convicted as criminals.

- U.S. ICE

March 7, 2006

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Added March 11, 2006

California, USA

U.S. Border Agents To Face Charges

Two U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to prosecute immigrant smugglers were arrested for allegedly releasing border-crossers in exchange for US$300,000 in cash bribes. The two agents had been working in conjunction with the federal Attorney General´s Office (PGR).

Mario Alvarez, 44, and Samuel McClaren, 43, released the illegal immigrants to a smuggling ring that operates in El Centro, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) east of San Diego, according to a federal complaint filed in January and unsealed Thursday.

The smugglers then allegedly took the migrants to Los Angeles.

- El Universal

- Miami Herald

March 11, 2006

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Added March 11, 2006

Guatemala

United Nations Insists That Guatemala Pass Antidiscrimination Law Protecting Indigenous And Afro-Guatemalans

ONU demanda al país ley contra discriminación

The United Nations committee against racial discrimination has demanded that Guatemala pass legislation to protect indigenous [mostly Mayan] Guate-malans, who make up 43% of the nation's 12 million inhabitants.

The committee of 18 experts reported that Guatemala must make all forms of discrim-ination, and violence, illegal.  The report also notes that Native traditions should be respected by the nation's legal system.

- Prensa Libre

Guatemala City

March 11, 2006

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Added March 11, 2006

Mexico

In Mexico City: U.S. and Vietnamese Tourist Women Are Kidnapped And Raped; One Dies

Sufren violación y una muere; se habían parado a pedir ayuda

Mexico City - The body of a 21-year-old Vietnamese woman who was raped and murdered presumably by gang members remains in the morgue of the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo), waiting to hear from any relative who will claim her.

Her companion, a 34-year-old U.S. woman, was also sexually assaulted, but survived the attack.

Mexico City police have not found the four presumed attackers.

The two tourists arrived in Mexico City one week ago, and were staying at the Paseo de la Reforma hotel.

The survivor told authorities that she and her companion were driving a rented pickup truck to the airport to pick up two brothers of the Vietnamese victim.  They were attacked by a group of men traveling in another pickup truck, after the women had asked for directions.

- El Universal

Mexico City

March 11, 2006

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Added March 11, 2006

Guatemala

Endurance Of Corruption Shakes Guatemala Anew

Guatemala's top anti-drug cop laughed out loud last fall when U.S. drug agents came to arrest him at a hotel near Dulles Airport on cocaine smuggling charges.

Adan Castillo, once head of Guatemala's anti-drug agency, was arrested in Virginia in November and is now awaiting trial on drug smuggling charges.

And when reality hit in Guatemala, the sense of shock was just as profound.

Many had been counting on the new leader of Guatemala's equivalent of the DEA to put an end to years of official collusion with drug traffickers. Instead, the emerging details of the five-month U.S.-led sting operation that netted Castillo and two of his deputies -- all of whom have pleaded not guilty and now await trial in U.S. District Court -- offer a vivid illustration of the pervasive corruption that has undermined Guatemala's battle against narco-trafficking.

- N.C. Aizenman

Washington Post

March 11, 2006

See Also:

Posponen juicio en EE.UU.

Adan Castillo's trial is postponted in Washington, DC.

- N.C. Aizenman

Washington Post

Jan. 26, 2006

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Added March 9, 2006

Mexico

Veracruz Is Major Trafficking Center

Lucy Tacher Photo: Diaro del Istmo

Mexico City, Puebla and Veracruz

According to Lucy Tacher, coordinator of the Assistance Program for the Rule of Law in México, women from the city of Veracruz, who have been tricked into forced prostit-ution with fake offers of modeling jobs, can be found trapped in prostit-ution across Mexico in its ports, big cities and border states.

This trafficking in persons includes the sale of human organs, the exploit-ation of the elderly, sexual and labor exploitation, and other forms of the abuse of persons.

Many trafficking networks have replaced drug traffickers, which has diminished due to strict law enforce-ment on the U.S. border.  These criminals have jumped into the business of human trafficking, a phen-omenon that is growing exponen-tially.

Tacher called on legislators to criminalize human trafficking Mexico, given that traffickers are not punished today.  She said that each state should also pass anti-trafficking legis-lation.  Currently, Tacher said, traffick-ing crimes are treated as a form of sexual abuse.

Mexico is a transit point for traffickers bringing enslaved women from South America to the U.S. and Japan, among other countries.  Internally, women from Veracruz, for example, are trafficked to border regions.

Women from every social class are at risk of trafficking, especially those who suffer from low self esteem, domestic violence.

Tacher warned women to avoid being tricked.

“They manipulate us.  They advertise jobs for office assistants, and actually the applicants are trafficked into prostitution.”

- Diario del Istmo

(Isthmus Daily)

March 9, 2006

LibertadLatina Note:

The city of Veracruz, on Mexico's east coast, has long been a center for criminal sex trafficking.  In 1999, we found a statement by a Veracruz women's rights activist on the Internet that said:

"There exists the trafficking of girls as young as 8-years old from Veracruz, to become prostit-utes in the base-ments of New York City."

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Added March 9, 2006

Mexico

Institute Dramatizes Sexual Harassment

Mexican television is showing jarring scenes of inflatable sex dolls dressed as office workers - part of a campaign by the National Women´s Institute to dramatize the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace.

The campaign - which also includes billboards and radio ads - shows the wide-mouthed sex dolls dressed as secretaries, sitting at desks or photo-copiers as men leer at them or try to grope them.

"No woman should be treated like an object," a somber-voiced narrator says in the background. "Sexual harassment is not just demean-ing, it´s a crime."

Launched on International Women´s Day, the campaign will run through mid-April, said Patricia Espinosa, the institute´s head.

Officials acknow-ledged on that the country still has a problem with machismo, discrimination, harassment and violence against women.

President Vicente Fox...

"Our society still has a long way to go in overcoming holdovers from the past, eradicating prejudice and changing habits."

Fox himself drew criticism from anti-discrimination groups and legislators when he joked last month that "75 percent of the homes in Mexico have a washing machine, and not the kind with two legs."

Gilberto Rincón Gallardo, president of the National Committee to Prevent Discrimination, wrote in a letter to Fox made public Tuesday...

"Apart from whether it was intentional ... there are certain forms of expression that stereotype and create prejudices toward women, and that translates into a sexist language."

On Wednesday, front-running presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised to give at least half the posts in his Cabinet to women if he wins the July 2 election.

Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca noted that "violence against women is present in all classes of society, regardless of education levels, and is also present in the workplace and in the family."

- El Universal

- Miami Herald

March 9, 2006

See Also:

Quieren erradicar lenguaje sexista

Efforts are underway to remove commonly used sexist language from the business of federal public administration.

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Added March 9, 2006

Mexico

Mexico Gets Bad Report

'Corrupción e impunidad se asientan en México'

The U.S. Department of State said in a report released Wednesday that Mexico respects human rights "in general," but violations persist and efforts to improve are impeded by "a profoundly entrenched culture of impunity and corruption."

The annual human rights report prepared by the U.S. government was presented to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. Included in the report were charges that among the principle human rights problems in Mexico are that police and authorities are often involved in murders and kidnappings and the use of torture to obtain "confessions."

Furthermore, the report indicated that there is "corruption at all levels of government," as well as criminal intimidation of journalists, human trafficking "presumably with official involvement," economic and social discrimination against indigenous people.

Treatment of women was also singled out, with assertions that women in Mexico suffer unequal pay, as well as inordinate levels of criminal and domestic violence. The report cited the violence against women that has been chronicled in Ciudad Juárez [Juarez City].

- El Universal

- Miami Herald

March 9, 2006

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Added March 9, 2006

California, USA

Deputy Pleads Not Guilty In Videotaped Shooting

Airman Elio Carrion

San Bernadino - A sheriff's deputy pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted voluntary manslaughter in the videotaped shooting of an unarmed serviceman after a high-speed car chase.

Deputy Ivory J. Webb, who fired three shots into Senior Airman Elio Carrion on Jan. 29, surrendered voluntarily and was arraigned at the San Bernardino County Superior Court.

Webb, 45, is the first peace officer in San Bernardino County history to be charged as the result of an on-duty shooting. He could be sentenced to as much as 18½ years in prison if convicted.

- KABC-TV and Associated Press

March 9, 2006

See Also:

The Elio Carrion

   Shooting Case

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Added March 9, 2006

Jamaica

US Gives Jamaica Passing Grade For Addressing Human Trafficking

One year after being threatened with sanctions by the United States Government, Jamaica has received improved ratings for its efforts to fight human trafficking.

High-level government officials, including the Prime Minister, have spoken out against trafficking. Additionally, the government has created an interagency task force to coordinate anti-trafficking matters and appointed police officers to handle trafficking related investigations.

From June to November, the JCF conducted raids at 15 nightclubs and businesses across Jamaica where credible evidence suggested that trafficking was taking place.  The raids resulted in the closure of four establishments and the arrests of 39 people.

- Radio Jamaica

March 6, 2006

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Added March 9, 2006

Jamaica

State Urged To Get Tougher On Rapists

Member of Parliament Hay Webster wants tougher laws introduced to punish rapists, especially repeat offenders.

Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Webster suggested that the authorities consider harsher punishment, including life imprisonment for sex offenders.

According to the MP, the incidence of rape, carnal abuse and incest is rising leaving many women including children scarred for life.

The St. Catherine MP said there are a number of young girls including children, living in inner city commun-ities being gang raped by criminals.

She suggested that the authorities consider beefing up the current legis-lation to include the establishment of a sexual offenders' registry; and a process of notifying the victims and wider community once the offenders are released from prison.

- Radio Jamaica

March 8, 2006

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Added March 9, 2006

Mexico

Save the Children: 60 Million Girls Die Each Year From Discriminatory Practices Around The World

60 millones de niñas mueren al año por trato discriminatorio.

For International Women’s Day, 2006, Save the Children (STC) has announced that 60 million girls die each year due to gender based forms of discrimination.

STC’s statement said that poverty, traditions, customs and the lack of effective measures on the part of the governments of developing countries to end these practices, are the main reasons why millions of girls, adult adolescents and women are victims continue to be victims of female infanticide, marriages at too early an age, genital mutilations and the trafficking of women.

Statistics developed by STC show that between 85 and 115 million women and children, mostly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, live with the consequences of female genital mutilation in childhood. Between one and two million young girls and women each year become victims of the criminal human trafficking resulting in forced domestic work or prostitution.

In some countries of Africa adolescents are compelled to maintain sexual relationships without protection with older men in exchange for money to pay for school and other needs.

One of solutions that Save The Children insists on involves better access to education for girls.  STC considers that to be the "the best weapon to combat these risks and forms of discrimination that women and children suffer everywhere around the world ", according to Europa Press.

- LaSegunda.com

Madrid, Spain

March 9, 2006

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Added March 9, 2006

Colorado, USA

Saudi Couple Kept Indonesian Woman As Labor/Sex Slave

Denver - A federal judge on Tuesday delayed the trial of a Saudi Arabian couple accused of keeping an Indonesian woman as a virtual slave after prosecutors reported that a key witness was not available.

Homaidan Al-Turki and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, face state and federal charges alleging they required the woman to cook, clean and provide child care in their home in suburban Aurora for little or no pay from 2000 to 2004.

Prosecutors also allege Al-Turki sexually abused the woman, and that she was sometimes loaned out to work for other families.

Al-Turki and Khonaizan also face Colorado charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment and extortion, and Al-Turki faces state charges of sexual assault. Their state trial is scheduled for June 12.

- Associated Press

March 7, 2006

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Added March 7, 2006

Mexico

Supreme Court Justice Olga Sanchez Cordero Speaks For International Women’s Day: The Historic Traditions Of Disdain Towards Women Must Be Eradicated.

Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero

  Exigen fin al desprecio histórico hacia la mujer

During a March 6^th speech, Supreme Court Justice Olga Sanchez Cordero spoke before the group “90 Women, 90 Voices.”  El Universal newspaper gathered the group, who had been selected for being the most influential women in Mexican society.  The group included leaders in social life, politics, academics, the sciences, the arts, culture and sports.

Justice Sanchez Cordero, as keynote speaker, said that Mexican women have lived in submission, which has been translated into a lack of freedom, a lack of comprehension and a lack of support for “what women want to accomplish.”

Justice Sanchez Cordero asked that society’s institutions consider the need for gender equality, an end to discrim-ination, transpar-encey in their affairs, federalism, republicanism, democracy, equal representation, and the principles and values of the Constitution.

“The guardians of  these institut-ions are those who will have to make change happen: public powers-that-be, the churches, the unions, the political parties, non-government-al organizations, business leaders and the press.” “I want us to arrive at a day when we can say at every moment: I have freedom, and that freedom is acknowledged in every space that my imagin-ation can con-ceive of, and that this liberty be not only respected, but promoted."

- Natalia Gomez Quintero

El Universal

March 7, 2006

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Added March 8, 2006

Brazil - Venezuela

Brazilian Police Break Up Child Prostitution Ring

Descubren red de prostitución infantil en frontera de Venezuela con Brasil

The Brazilian police have discovered a child prostitution network that operated on their nation’s border with Venezuela.  The network’s clients, they say, include Venezuelan military personnel.

According to the press agency Globo On Line, the suicide of one of the child victims lead police in the state of Roraima, Brazil to the discovery of this complex network.

The main defendant was identified as Marcia da Silva, age 22, who was detained last Wednesday during a police operation that intended to stop illegal fuel sales in the region.

Authorities discovered that the criminal network had set up a contract with Venezuelan military forces that allowed Venezuelan fuel to be smuggled into Brazil.  In exchange, the traffickers offered the military underage girls in prostitution.

- EFE News

March 8, 2006

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Added March 8, 2006

Mexico

Despite Progress, Women Are Still Subjected to Widespread Violence and Discrimination

UNICEF - A pesar de los avances logrados, las mujeres aún están sujetas a la discriminación y la violencia generalizada

Washington, DC - Despite great progress for women in the past several decades, women throughout the world are still subjected to discrimination, violence and exploitation, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said today.

Veneman gave the keynote address at the Annual Inter-national Women’s Day Luncheon in Washington, D.C.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman...

“Around the globe today, especially in developing countries, girls and women suffer in silence – out of range of the cameras and off society’s radar.” “In too many nations and regions, women are still devalued and denied or treated as second-class citizens. They are the victims of gross inequity or all too often, much worse.”

Stressing the critical link between equality for women and development progress, Veneman drew attention to widespread abuse and exploitation of women and children, such as the sexual violence committed in armed conflict, trafficking, and practices such as honor killings, dowry crimes, early marriage, and female genital cutting/mutilation.

Ann M. Veneman...

“Violence against women is the extreme form of inequality, and it is hard to think of an act against women that can be more damaging or enduring than sexual violence.”

- UNICEF

March 8, 2006

International Women's Day - 2006 We at LibertadLatina  wish every woman and girl on Earth a very happy Inter-national Women's Day!  The struggle for equality and freedom continues as conditions for women and girls at-risk get worse around the globe. In the Americas, poor, marginalized Indigenous, Afro-Latina and other Latina women and girls of all back-grounds face very real dangers as impunity, corrup-tion and greed combine to make the sale of females into sexual slavery as common as buying bread. We will continue to document and present the truth in regard to the impact of impunity on women's lives.  Our efforts aim to build community.  This web site is the common space where everyone in society can read truth that is un-spoken in much of the mainstream press and social and political arenas of life.  We will not stand-by in silence as this preventable catastrophe unfolds. As women and girls face atrocities "off the radar screen," as UNICEF director Ann Veneman states the facts, we will continue to bring that hidden reality into the public spotlight. It is up to you, the readers, to organ-ize in each of your local communities and demand that our governments, religious institut-ions and law enforcement agencies across the Americas do much more to end the wholesale exploitation and femicide of girls, and women with near total impunity. Together, we will make a difference. - Chuck Goolsby Feb. 08, 2006 We also note the below words of wisdom from UNICEF in 1999.  Conditions have gotten worse since these words were first written 7 years ago.

From UNICEF's 1999 International Women's Day Statement...

"Latin America -- 1999 -- "UNICEF, in support of the United Nations’ campaign for the eradication of violence against women, calls on society in Latin America and the Caribbean to eradicate violence against women and children. Violence is a problem that still remains largely hidden from the public eye..." "Society’s silence is the main accomplice in allowing widespread impunity... The region will have to bring out into the open this increasingly disturbing reality; and it will have to struggle against the high degree to which society tolerates or practices inconceivable forms of aggression against the most vulnerable individuals in society." "Sexual harass-ment, maltreat-ment, child labor, violence in the home and sexual exploitation occur with such frequency that they can be considered a daily phenom-enon. All violence leaves physical and psycholog-ical scars on their victims which are to a great extent irreversible."

- Carol Bellamy

Former Executive Director - UNICEF

March 8, 1999

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Added March 7, 2006

Mexico

Rape Victims Denied Legal Abortion: Prosecutors, Health Workers Intimidate Rape Victims With Insults, Threats

Mexico City - Mexican officials actively prevent rape victims from gaining access to legal and safe abortion, and they fail to punish rape and sexual violence inside and outside the family, said Human Rights Watch in a report released today.

Pregnant rape victims are essentially assaulted twice. First by the perpetrators who raped them, and then by public officials who ignore them, insult them and deny them a legal abortion.

The 92-page report, “The Second Assault: Obstructing Access to Legal Abortion after Rape in Mexico,” details the disrespect, suspicion and apathy that pregnant rape victims encounter from public prosecutors and health workers. The report also exposes continuing and pervasive impunity for rape and other forms of sexual violence in states