|
Added Aug. 5, 2008
Mexico
 |
|
|
Vandalized office at CIMAC
Alfredo Domínguez
La Jornada
|
|
LibertadLatina
Our new
special section on the ransacking of the
offices of the CIMAC women's news association in
Mexico City
The Mexico City offices of the women's news agency
CIMAC (Women's Communication and Information) were ransacked on July 28, 2008.
The level of vandalism and theft of document archives leads activists to
believe that this was an act of intimidation and retaliation against CIMAC for
its effective work in defense of women's rights.
We at
Libertad
Latina
stand 100% in solidarity
with CIMAC.
We encourage
everyone to express their support for CIMAC.
Please contact:
Lucía Lagunes Huerta,
General Director, CIMAC
Let's express our
solidarity with the journalists of CIMAC!
Silence is also violence!
End impunity now!
- Chuck Goolsby
Libertad Latina
August 5 , 2008
|
Added Aug. 9, 2008
The Americas
Incredible injustice for
indigenous women
Editor's note: The
following was named Best Editorial of 2007 by the
Native American Journalists Association at its
annual awards banquet July 26. It was originally
published in Volume 26, Issue 47. Indian Country
Today presents it again in appreciation and
acknowledgment of those who work tirelessly toward
justice for Indian girls and women.
''From the oldest to the
youngest, Native women are disrespected and treated
in the most humiliating fashion, living and dying
without justice or the knowledge that their
granddaughters will live free of the violence they
experienced.'' This passage, taken from
testimony by Sacred Circle on the Violence Against
Women Act, helps breathe life into the devastating
statistics at the center of a groundbreaking report
on violence against indigenous women.
Amnesty International's 113-page report, ''Maze of
Injustice -
The Failure to Protect
Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA,''
released April 24, [2007], asserts that the U.S.
government has ''created a complex maze of tribal,
state and federal jurisdictions that often allows
perpetrators to rape with impunity,'' and that these
crimes are ''compounded by failures at every level
of the justice system.''
American Indian and Alaska Native women are nearly
three times more likely to be raped or sexually
assaulted in their lifetimes. According to the
Department of Justice, nearly 90 percent of the
reported cases of rapes and sexual assault of Native
women are committed by non-Native men. It is a
staggering legacy for women to ''fully expect to be
raped,'' as one elder stated in the report, because
they are Indian.
The report contains interviews with courageous
survivors and advocates, including stories of abuse
and injustice so vivid, the mind does not want to
believe they are true. Each story illustrates why so
many survivors describe their experiences seeking
justice as being raped ''all over again.''
Incompetent medical personnel, non-responsive or
slow-moving law enforcement, conflicting
jurisdictions and underlying racism that affects
court proceedings are common obstacles...
- Indian Country Today
August 01, 2008
The Americas
Día Internacional de los
Pueblos Indígenas 2008 (9 de agosto)
OPS: Podemos evitar otro
patrimonio en extinción
International Day of
Indigenous Peoples 2008
PAHO: We can avoid the
extinction of another endangered heritage
Washington, DC - ...On the occasion of International
Day of Indigenous Peoples 2008, the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) stated that "recent and
historical processes in the [Latin American] region
have identified different cultures where coexist a
range of relationships that, with regards to the
indigenous in most societies, are asymmetric,
subordinated and conflicted."
Studies and reports prepared by the hemispheric
organization reiterate that most of the 45 million
indigenous people living in the Americas today are
confronted by a growing inequity in health and
access to basic sanitation. Dr. Jose Luis Di Fabio,
Area Manager of Technology and Health Services
Delivery within PAHO, said that illiteracy,
unemployment, lack of land and territory, high rates
of morbidity and mortality from preventable causes,
and limitations on access and utilization of basic
health services, education, housing and others, "are
problems that still affect the majority of
indigenous communities and affect their quality of
life and their health."
"Minimum results"
The International Decade of the World's Indigenous
People (1995-2004) was proclaimed by the UN General
Assembly in 1993 with the purpose and commitment to
strengthen international cooperation to help solve
the problems affecting indigenous peoples in areas
such as human rights, environment, development,
education and health...
In its assessment of the progress in health of
indigenous populations since 1995, PAHO concluded
that the results were "minimal" and that the most
serious problems remained "still unresolved..."
- Pan American Health Organization
August 7, 2008
Guatemala
Celebran Día Nacional e
Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas
In Celebration of
Indigenous People's Day
The city of Santa Cruz del Quiche - Organizations of
the Quiche Mayan ethnic community have organized a
wide range of activities to celebrate Indigenous
People's Day on August 9, 2008.
Among the organizations that are presenting the
events are the Academy of Mayan Languages of
Guatemala (ALMG), the association Ajb'atz Quiché
network, Defensoría K'iche [Quiche Defense] and the
municipality of the city of Santa Cruz del Quiche.
Quiche liaison Tomas Matias Gutierrez told Cerigua
that there is progress in recognizing the rights of
indigenous peoples in the world. The Indigenous were
previously thought to be an obstacle to development.
The United Nations must recognize the existence and
importance of native peoples because, despite the
exclusion, marginalization and ethnocide to which we
have been subjected, we are contributing to the
welfare of the world.
The celebration allows sharing capabilities of
science and technology with Maya people throughout
society, since there are now more likely to open
opportunities for participation of different
sectors, changes occur in the educational system
with the introduction of various Mayan elements the
school curriculum.
For true harmony to exist within Guatemalan society
we should strengthen the principles that to
understand and accept other cultures is the only way
to eliminate these prejudices, that only exist to
hurt people.
- Héctor Tecúm
Cerigua
Guatemalan Human Rights News
August 7, 2008
The World
U.N. celebrates International
Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
August 9th is the 14th International Day of the
World's Indigenous Peoples, and we hope you will
join us in celebrating a particularly momentous year
in indigenous rights. Among the milestones this
year, the UN General Assembly adopted the
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in a
near-unanimous vote, and the governments of
Australia and Canada formally apologized for their
egregious forced-assimilation policies. The event is
being celebrated at the United Nations today with
presentations by a range of UN dignitaries from
UNESCO and the UN Development Program, as well as
chair the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
(and Cultural Survival board member) Victoria
Tauli-Corpuz, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Ban's statement, released before the event,
acknowledges indigenous peoples' "marginalization,
their extreme poverty, the expropriation of their
traditional lands and other grave human rights
abuses" and also makes special mention of the
disappearance of indigenous languages.
- Ellen L. Lutz Executive Director
Cultural Survival
August 8, 2008
See also:
United Nations celebrates the
2008 Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
Mexico, Latin America
Mujeres En La Conferencia
Internacional Sobre Sida
Women's Participation at the 2008 AIDS Conference in
Mexico City
About 33 million people are living with HIV
globally. Some 1.6 million of these people live in
Latin America. In its latest report, announced for
the first time a decline in the spread of the
epidemic, but it also warned of its feminization.
Sixty percent of the young people between 15 and
20-years-old who are living with HIV / AIDS are
women.
In Mexico, official data estimates that 115,651
cases exist. Their statistics show an accelerating
increase in the rate of feminization. Over the past
two decades the gender ratio of victims has risen
from 23 men to three men for every female affected.
Faced with this reality, public policies, care,
prevention efforts and the budgeting for them, have
been limited.
Violence against women is both a cause and
consequence of HIV, and one of the main factors
associated with the accelerated process of
feminization of the pandemic.
For thousands of women, the threat of violence
prevents access to information, access to HIV
testing, disclosure of their HIV status, access to
services to prevent HIV transmission to infants, and
the receipt of treatment and counseling, even when
they know they are infected.
Mexico is the first country in Latin Americas to
host the global AIDS conference, which gathers
health professionals, scientists, donors,
personalities and decision makers, as well as
non-governmental organizations and people living
with HIV.
That is why CIMAC has opened this space to make
visible to women living with HIV with the creation
of print and radio news stories, statistics and
links to other organizations dealing with the issue.
- CIMAC Noticias
Women's Rights News
Mexico City
August 8, 2008
Mexico, the U.S.
!!CAMINO A CASA!! A program to
support integrity and rights of immigrant kids
Something unusual is happening at the U.S.-Mexico
border. Every day thousands of innocent hearts
embark on a trip (for many of them without return).
Their goal is to reunite with their loved ones, who
left before in search of a better future. The
numbers reported are alarming. The list of deported
children who are repatriated from the United States
has forced the border-state government of Sonora to
carry out urgent measures to help these minors, one
of which is the program “On the Road Home.”
The objective of the program is to provide
protection and attention to kids who arrive
completely alone at border ports of Sonora, Mexico.
Their stay in these areas makes them vulnerable to
the violation of their human rights. They are
exposed to physical abuse from authorities, guides
and thieves. They can become victims of negligence
and kidnapping, sexual abuse, accidents or sickness
(such as dehydration, diarrhea, bronchitis, etc.),
organ trafficking, stinging or biting by poisonous
animals, hunger and thirst. The list of risks and
abuses can be endless, which, despite their young
age, they suffer only because they took the chance
of risking everything with one goal in mind: to
reunite with their loved ones.
Due to this alarming situation, Ms. Lourdes Laborin
de Bours, President of the Sonora DIF, made a call
for the solidarity of all the states that drive out
immigrants. The response from the state of Hidalgo
was immediate. In a formal meeting, B.A. Michael
Angelo Osorio Chong, representing the state, signed
a collective agreement with the Sonora Governor
Eduardo Bours Castelo.
At this meeting, Osorio Chong said, “We have to move
on from speeches to actions”… A good example of this
immediate action was the signing of the collective
agreement to create a trust that institutionalizes
support for attention to these immigrant kids...
- Maria de Jesus Rothove
Dos Mundos
Kansas City, Missouri
July 31, 2008
Mexico
Mexico's Social Service Agency
Announces Major Drive to Rescue Trafficked Children
in Tapachula
In Tapachula there is an
entire 'army' of children who are exploited by their
own parents
City of Tapachula in Chiapas state - Alejandra Cruz
Toledo Zebadúa, director of Mexico's federal social
services agency, Integral Family Development (DIF),
has announced that it has begun a major initiative
to rescue street children who are exploited by
mafias.
In a press conference entitled "Rescuing Street
Children", Toledo, together with migration and human
rights authorities as well as officials from the
consulates of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador,
laid-out the details of her strategy for saving
street children from the hands of the exploiters...
DIF director Toledo declared that the primary
objective of this first meeting was to take action
to rescue street children, and to offer them
integrated physical and emotional assistance
services. Director Toledo added that all of the
participating organizations are working hard to
achieve these ends.
The first lady of Tapachula added: "We will offer
[these children] every possible form of assistance.
They will have access to health programs, education,
good nutrition and shelter, so that they have the
support needed to become whole women and men. We
want to avoid the continued growth in this open
wound in society."
The consular officials from Guatemala, El Salvador
and Honduras congratulated federal, state and local
officials, and expressed their support for taking
collaborative action to assist street children. One
of the Central American officials added that these
street children "are not an embarrassment. They are
a reality in our society. We have to help them..."
[Extended
Translation]
- Gerardo Flores
Diario del Sur
August 8, 2008
Mexico
Trata de Personas en Chiapas
Human Trafficking in
Chiapas State
Chiapas state - The Friar Matías de Córdova Human
Rights Center reports that in Soconusco County along
the Guatemalan border is facing an intensive
movement of migrants, mostly from Guatemala, El
Salvador and Honduras, who are attempting to reach
the United States.
According to the Center, the worst part of this
mass-migration is the fact that the county has been
turned into a key border-crossing area for the
trafficking of women for purposes of sexual
exploitation.
Many migrant and also local women are entrapped
either by false job promises, [false romances,] or
violence [kidnapping]. The victims are forced to
engage in prostitution in Soconusco County.
In Mexico no precise figures exist in regard to the
numbers of women and underage girls who are sexually
exploited. Although the nation's first federal
anti-trafficking law was enacted in March of 2008,
to mark International Women's Day, the measure is
inactive because regulations have not been written
and published.
- Lourdes Godínez Leal
CIMAC Noticias Womens Rights News
Mexico City
August 6, 2008
LibertadLatina note: The capitol of Soconusco County
is the infamous city of Tapachula, which is one of
the worst hot spots for child and adult sex
trafficking in all of the Americas.
Mexico
Integrante de OSC de Tapachula
fue secuestrada y violada
Young non-profit worker is
kidnapped and raped in Tapachula
Chiapas state - A 19-year-old woman who is a member
of the non-profit organization Youth Builders, in
the city of Tapachula, was kidnapped, tortured and
raped by an assailant who forced her to bathe after
the attack to eliminate the evidence.
Ignacio San Martin, director of Youth Builders
stated that on July 22, the victim, who is referred
to here as "N," came to the group's offices after
the rape to seek help from her coworkers.
"N" works as a monitor for the youth social service
program Part and Share, reported the rape to
prosecutor's office in Tapachula. She declared that
she was forced into a hotel room and obliged to
disrobe and pose while her assailant took cell phone
pictures of her. "N" lost consciousness from panic,
and woke up bleeding from a sexual assault.
The assailant forced "N" to bathe, stole her
underwear and warned her "you're going to hear form
me."
Co-workers threatened
After a medical examiner confirmed the rape, program
director Martín denounced the crime I the local
media, including on television stations. Since then,
Martín has received a number of threats from someone
that he imagines is the man who assaulted "N." His
house was also burglarized.
St. Maarten reported that case has been taken on by
the Special Prosecutor for the Care of Victims of
Violence against Women and Trafficking in Persons (Fevimtra)
office in Tapachula. "N" was scheduled to testify on
August 7.
- Lourdes Godínez Leal
CIMAC Noticias
Women's Rights News
Mexico City
August 6, 2008
Florida, USA
ICE agents arrest 54 Miami
area criminals
Miami - Fifty-four Miami area criminals are now off
the streets following a targeted enforcement
operation headed by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) special agents.
The operation, which began last week and culminated
yesterday, yielded the arrests of criminals with
egregious backgrounds including lewd & lascivious
molestation on a minor; aggravated child abuse;
kidnapping; attempted murder with a firearm; illegal
drug trafficking; organized fraud; aggravated
battery with a deadly weapon and armed robbery...
Among those arrested was Lenard Castro, a sexual
predator, who is a citizen of Honduras. Castro was
convicted in Miami-Dade County for the offenses of
lewd and lascivious molestation on a child 12-16 and
sexual battery. Castro was among the ten sexual
predators arrested during this operation. He, like
the other 53 arrested, will remain in ICE custody
awaiting the outcome of their cases.
Those arrested represent 18 different countries
including Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Cuba,
Peru, Bahamas, Mexico, El Salvador, France,
Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile, Haiti, Dominican
Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Guyana.
- U.S. ICE
August 8, 2008
Florida, USA
Deputies distribute fliers in
area where rape occurred
On Wednesday, sheriff’s officials say, a man
sexually assaulted a 40-year-old woman who was
walking in the 9400 block of Southwest 32nd Court.
The victim said the man approached her asking for a
cigarette. He then grabbed her and dragged her into
the nearby woods, where he raped her, according to
the Sheriff’s Office.
The suspect was described as a 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-7
Hispanic man with a medium build. The man, believed
to be in his 20s, reportedly was wearing a white
T-shirt, faded blue jeans and white tennis shoes.
The flier gives a brief description of the case, a
sketch of the suspect and telephone numbers
residents and others can call in case they know the
unidentified rape suspect...
“The most important thing is to find this person and
to bring some closure to the victim, her family and
the community. Any assistance will be greatly
appreciated,” said lead Detective Anthony Riggins.
- Austin Miller
The Star Banner
August 8, 2008
Washington, D.C. - Top United Nations experts on
Latin America and the Caribbean warned this week
that global economic shocks could throw some 16
million [additional] people of the Americas into
extreme poverty, threatening important gains toward
achieving [development goals].
[Currently, Latin America and the Caribbean has] 190
million poor people, of which 70 million are
extremely poor...
Under their joint action plan, the U.N. agencies
will:
...PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago noted that,
despite overall improvements in nutritional status
at the aggregate level in Latin America and the
Caribbean, 52 million people in the region are still
undernourished, and 9 million children under 5 are
chronically malnouris
/ Welcome
