2012

The National Immigration Law Center,
the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, and the
Women’s Refugee Commission cordially invite you to:

MIGRANTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS AT THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER: A NORTHERN MEXICO PERSPECTIVE

Thursday, March 29th, 2012
10:00am-12:00pm

AFL-CIO - President’s Room
815 16th Street Northwest 
Washington, District of Columbia 20005

Panelists representing migrant shelters and migrant rights organizations from cities along Mexico’s northern border will discuss their new report on human rights abuses in U.S. detention and deportation processes, as reported by recently deported Mexican migrants. The report is a result of a border-wide initiative to document such abuses and points to how U.S. immigration practices put migrants at greater risk of abuse and violence upon deportation.

PANELISTS:

•    Gabriela Morales and Lizeth Martinez, Centro de Derechos Humanos del Migrante in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua
•    Esmeralda Flores, Coalición Pro Defensa del Migrante in Tijuana, Baja California
•    Pedro Uriel Gonzalez, Casa YMCA de Menores Migrantes in Tijuana, Baja California
•    Jose Luis Manzo, Casa del Migrante Nazareth in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
•    Perla del Angel, Centro de Recursos de Migrantes in Agua Prieta, Sonora

Space is limited. Please RSVP to Ben Leiter at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Event in Spanish and English – simultaneous interpretation provided

Migrant rights centers and shelters in cities along Mexico’s northern border serve thousands of migrants each year, many of whom have been deported from the United States just hours earlier.  These centers provide a refuge for migrants who too often fall victim to violence and exploitation upon repatriation to unfamiliar or unsafe Mexican border cities.  They also have a unique vantage point to document abuses that migrants have experienced in the U.S. immigration system.  At this event, panelists will discuss their new report that highlights documented patterns of human rights abuses against migrants in apprehension, detention and deportation by U.S. officials; present recommendations to inform the efforts of policymakers and advocates in Washington, DC; and share how growing threats against migrants and migrant rights defenders in Mexico affect their ability to defend and protect the rights of migrants.

If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Ben Leiter at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202.546.7010.

March 14th, 2012

Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and 93 other members of the Congress sent a letter on March 12th, 2012 to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing grave concern about human rights violations in Honduras, particularly the murder of 45 people associated with small farmer associations in Bajo Aguán.

"This is a wake up call for the Lobo Administration,” said Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director of the Latin America Working Group.   “Forty-five campesino leaders in a small area of Honduras have been murdered.  Human rights defenders of all stripes -- campesino leaders, lawyers, LGBT community members, women defenders, journalists, opposition activists -- are being threatened and killed. And not only is the Honduran government failing to do enough to protect them and prosecute those who endanger them, but in too many cases, police or military agents are involved directly or are collaborating with those who commit abuses.  We need to see greater effort to protect the rule of law in Honduras."

To read the congressional letter, click here (unofficial Spanish translation, here ).

I know you have a lot going on. Whether it’s that big project at work or a 20-page paper for school, making dinner or getting the car fixed (or in my case, the bike!), free time is hard to come by.

But sometimes, we just need to take a break from everyday life, and do something that inspires us, rejuvenates us, and teaches us something we didn’t know before. For activists—especially those of us who are in it for the long haul—we need to renew our energy so we can continue our important work for justice and human rights.

That’s why we’re so excited to invite you to join us in Washington, DC on March 23-26th for Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2012, where you will hear women and men from across Latin America and the United States talk about the most pressing issue of our time: Economic Justice and Our National Priorities.

Information on Cuba can often be biased, misinformed and confusing.  Two recently published articles, one from the Wall Street Journal and the other from the Council on Foreign Relations, highlight this constant conflict in the U.S. media.  These articles provide two starkly different opinions of Cuba. When presented with two contradictory portrayals of the same topic, how do you know what to believe?

We’ve got just one simple, but critical action for you to take today:

Join our new Facebook campaign “STOP the Violence in Mexico” and help us grow the movement for justice and human rights in Mexico.  In communities across the United States, there are concerned people like you who are passionate about human rights. But unlike you, a lot of them haven’t heard about what’s been going on in Mexico or don't know how to turn their passion into action; action that can make a huge difference in real people’s lives.

Today, March 1st, marks the 30th anniversary of Cuba’s placement on the State Department’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.  In 1982 Cuba was added to this list because, according to the Congressional Research Services 2005 report, “At the time, numerous U.S. government reports and statements under the Reagan Administration alleged Cuba’s ties to international terrorism and its support for terrorist groups in Latin America.” The report goes on to recall Cuba’s involvement in supporting revolutionary movements in Africa and other Latin American countries. In “1992 Fidel Castro stressed that his country’s support for insurgents abroad was a thing of the past,” mainly due to the fall of the Soviet Union and subsequent loss of resources following the fall. 

Are the Florida Straits getting smaller, or are more bridges being built?

In mid-January of 2011, President Obama eased travel restrictions for ordinary U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba through organizations holding "people-to-people" licenses, granted by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He also granted general licenses (no pre-authorization required) for religious organizations and educational institutions. While this is substantial progress, our work is far from over.

*Spoiler alert! Details of Demián Bichir’s Oscar-nominated performance in A Better Life exposed here!

Bummed all the hype surrounding the Oscars is over? Hopefully the annual awards show opened your eyes to some fantastic films. One that I would personally urge you to see is A Better Life.

Mexican actor Demián Bichir was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in this timely film about immigration. Bichir plays Carlos Galindo, an honest, hardworking gardener and undocumented Mexican immigrant living in East Los Angeles with his teenage son. The struggles Carlos faces as a single father are exacerbated by his undocumented status and the gangs that are constantly trying to recruit his son, Luis.

Below you will find the text of the letter written by Representative Jan Schakowsky that is circulating for signatures in the House of Representatives right now. Current signers include:

1.    Schakowsky (IL)
2.    McGovern (MA)
3.    Davis (IL)
4.    Woolsey (CA)
5.    Grijalva (AZ)
6.    Jackson (IL)
7.    Lee (CA)
8.    Doyle (PA)
9.    Rush (IL)
10.    Lewis (GA)
11.    Honda (CA)
12.    Clarke (NY)
13.    Price (NC)
14.    Capuano (MA)
15.    Gutierrez (IL)
16.    Van Hollen (MD)
17.    Cohen (TN)
18.    Farr (CA).

We will update this list as it grows. To ask your representative to sign on, click here.


The Honorable Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
 
Dear Secretary Clinton,

We are concerned with the grave human rights situation in the Bajo Aguán region of Honduras and ask the State Department to take effective steps to address it.  The abuses taking place in this area of the country reflect a larger pattern of human rights violations in which human rights defenders, journalists, community leaders and opposition activists are the subject of death threats, attacks, and extrajudicial executions. We appreciate the November 9, 2011 State Department statement urging Honduran authorities to take measures to end the violence and impunity in the Bajo Aguán. We urge you to continue to pressure the Honduran government to protect the fundamental human rights of its citizens, and to investigate and prosecute abuses.

Forty-five people associated with peasant organizations have been killed in the Bajo Aguán area between September 2009 and February 8, 2012.  One additional peasant association member, Francisco Pascual López, remains disappeared since May 2011. Seven security guards, a policeman, a journalist and his partner, and three other persons have also been killed.

This critical situation was the subject of an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) hearing in October 2011. The IACHR concluded that it is “particularly concerned about the situation in the Bajo Aguán region of Honduras…. The Commission received information regarding the criminalization of the campesino struggle and the militarization of the area, which has reportedly placed the peasant farmers and human rights defenders in the Bajo Aguán in a state of high risk.”

Private security guards on farmlands in dispute are cited by witnesses as the perpetrators of many of these crimes, according to information presented to the IACHR by human rights groups.  In some cases, the security guards are reported to have acted in collusion with army and police agents. In mid-August, the Honduran government initiated a joint military-police action in Bajo Aguán known as Operation Xatruch II.  At least nine peasant organization members, including two principal leaders, have been killed since this operation was launched.

According to information presented to the IACHR by human rights groups, police and military associated with Xatruch II tortured community members.  In one case, the 17-year-old son of a peasant leader was allegedly tortured by police and military, doused with gasoline and threatened with being burned or buried alive. On November 1, a group of small farmers and their families returning from visiting a cemetery were fired upon, allegedly by private security guards. One was killed and four wounded, one of whom subsequently died.

These cases have yet to be effectively investigated and prosecuted.  In September 2011, Human Rights Watch reported that while some arrest warrants have been issued, no one has been arrested or charged for these killings.  While the Honduran judicial system has failed to effectively prosecute perpetrators of extrajudicial executions, it has been remarkably efficient in issuing arrest warrants for Bajo Aguán peasant organizers.  Legal proceedings have been initiated against at least162 small farmers and more than 80 were temporarily arrested, largely on charges of trespassing and theft of farm produce, between January 2010 and July 2011.  

Underlying the violence are long-standing land conflicts that urgently need to be resolved. Land in the Bajo Aguán was titled to small farmers by a government agrarian reform initiative in the 1970s.  According to peasant associations, fraud and coercion subsequently were used to force many to sell their lands.

Several associations reached an agreement with the Zelaya government to resolve the land conflicts, and, when this agreement was not fulfilled after the June 2009 coup, small farmers began occupations of the lands they claim as their own. An agreement reached between the Lobo government and peasant groups in April 2010 to transfer land to their communities has not been implemented. The Honduran government has also failed to comply with provisions of Honduran law that mandate that state-owned land belonging to the former Regional Military Training Center in the Bajo Aguán area be transferred to landless farmers.  Further, the government has not protected the rights of settled communities with long-term legal titles to their land, which have been attacked and evicted.

We know you share our firm belief that given U.S. support for the Honduran government, including assistance for the police, military and judicial system, we have an obligation to ensure that human rights are respected.  Indeed, it is our understanding that the United States is providing training to the 15th Battalion of the Honduran military which is operating in the Bajo Aguán region.

We ask you to urge the Honduran government to take immediate action to protect human rights in the Bajo Aguán region and throughout the country.  This should include investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the murders, threats and other abuses, including the intellectual authors of such abuses, and immediately suspending, investigating and as appropriate prosecuting members of the military and police credibly alleged to have committed or acted in collusion with such abuses.  We urge the State Department to request an accounting of the specific status of these cases and provide us with an assessment on their status rather than just a general evaluation of efforts to strengthen the judicial system.

The Honduran government should provide basic protective measures, in consultation with beneficiaries, to witnesses, victims, human rights defenders, and peasant leaders at risk in the region. We also believe that the Honduran government should regulate the private security companies that have, thus far, acted with impunity.  In addition, the Honduran government should comply with the agreements already signed with peasant associations to address the land conflicts in Bajo Aguán and seek comprehensive solutions to lack of access to land and livelihoods that underlie this conflictive situation.

We also ask you to suspend U.S. assistance to the Honduran military and police given the credible allegations of widespread, serious violations of human rights attributed to the security forces. We note that the foreign operations appropriations bill for FY12 requires the State Department to certify that the Honduran government “is investigating and prosecuting in the civilian justice system, in accordance with Honduran and international law, military and police personnel who are credibly alleged to have violated human rights, and the Honduran military and police are cooperating with civilian judicial authorities in such cases.”  In addition to the Bajo Aguán cases, there are numerous other allegations of police and military involvement in threats, excessive use of force and extrajudicial executions.  For example, the U.S.-supported Truth Commission, which examined 20 emblematic human rights cases resulting in death that took place in the period between the June 2009 coup until the Lobo government took office, determined that more than three-quarters can be attributed to excessive use of force by army or police, or selected killings by government agents.  The overwhelming majority of such abuses remain in impunity.

The U.S. government has an obligation to vigorously enforce the Leahy provisions included in laws governing both foreign operations and defense appropriations funding.  We request specific information about efforts made by the U.S. Embassy to apply the Leahy provisions in relation to abuses allegedly committed by members of the police and military in the Bajo Aguán, including in relation to the 15th Battalion and the various police and military units that have participated in Operation Xatruch II.Thank you for your attention to this important matter concerning strengthening the rule of law in Honduras.

Sincerely,
 
cc: Ambassador Lisa Kubiske
Maria Otero, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs
Roberta Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs
Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Frank Mora, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs
Daniel Restrepo, Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, National Security Council
Kathleen FitzPatrick, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Senator Patrick Leahy, Chair, Senate Foreign Operations Subcommittee

Just a a few steps south of the U.S.-Mexico border, President Calderón unveiled a towering billboard last week wielding a message written in plain English: “No More Weapons!” Weighing over 3 tons, the billboard itself is made of seized firearms that have been chopped, melted and welded together.  Visible from the United States, the call is clear: halt the southbound flow of guns that fuel violence in Mexico. 

Back in October I was lucky enough to see Sonia Pierre, a longtime activist for Dominicans of Haitian descent, speak at what would be one of her last public events before her death the following month. Like the people she spent her life defending, Sonia was born on a batey to Haitian parents who migrated to the Dominican Republic in search of better jobs. Bateys are Dominican sugar plantations where Haitian migrant workers and their offspring face appalling working conditions and live in poverty, marginalized from the rest of Dominican society.

Did you know that 60% of flowers bought in the United States come from Colombia? Nearly 100,000 mostly female flower workers have been working 16- to 18-hour days for poverty-level wages to get us the flowers that thousands of people will buy today.

This Valentine’s Day, take action to support these flower workers in their struggle for fair wages, equal treatment, justice, and dignity!

I was not prepared when I opened Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives. One moment I was sitting at my desk, and the next I was with Roberto, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. I followed him as he moved from one underpaying, exhausting job to the next; working even harder once he had his own family. I was by his side when he received amnesty, but his family didn’t. They voluntarily left the country while he stayed behind to continue working to support them. Here Roberto recounts his own experiences, providing me a glimpse into his struggles and feelings of profound loneliness and loss.

Taking advantage of President Obama’s liberalized regulations that have re-established people-to-people licensed travel to Cuba, members of LAWG staff partnered with Witness for Peace and led a delegation of 25 people to study and learn about the art and culture of Cuba. Our delegation met with artists such as Sandra Ramos, Kadir and Kelvin Lopez, saw performances by students in one of Havana’s many schools for the arts, visited Ernest Hemingway’s home, witnessed the magic of the Cuba National Ballet, participated in folkloric dance led by a community group “Okantomi,” dialogued with members of the Cuban National Assembly, Ministry of Foreign Relations, Ministry of Tourism, Union of Artists and Writers, and the United States Interests Section in Havana.

“It’s hard for us to do human rights work where we are. We have to hide what we are doing so they don’t watch us. Our comings and goings are monitored.  Our emails are monitored.  Our leaders are in a permanent state of stress, not just for themselves but for their children. It was hard for us to even get out to talk to you.”

This is what I heard from one activist when I visited Colombia on an international mission to investigate the status of human rights defenders this past December. Unfortunately, he was not alone in describing this systematic persecution and attacks against those working for justice in Colombia.

“On horseback, on motorcycles, in canoes, in jeeps, on unpaved roads, over mountains and through jungles, we arrived to listen to the voices of women.”

This account of a powerful Colombian women’s movement is brought to us by Winifred Tate, a LAWGEF Board Member and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Colby College. Ms. Tate translated and edited the following interview with Nancy Sanchez of the Colombian human rights group Asociación MINGA about the Putumayo Women’s Alliance, a network of women’s organizations and activists working together for peace and justice in the middle of a conflict zone. This is the first of two posts about the Putumayo Women’s Alliance.

By most accounts, Mexico has become an increasingly dangerous place to stand up for human rights over the past several years. According to the Mexican nongovernmental organization CENCOS, at least 24 human rights defenders and journalists were murdered in 2011 alone. The Mexican government has not adequately responded to threats and attacks against defenders, leaving 99% of all aggressions against them in impunity. Until Mexico’s judicial and law-enforcement institutions are fully able to uphold the rule of law, a special mechanism is needed to protect human rights defenders so they may continue their important work without fear. The Mexican government is in the process of developing such a protection mechanism, but has failed to fully include the participation of civil society--the very people these measures are being designed to protect.

Several members of the U.S. Congress concerned with the high levels of danger facing human rights defenders in Mexico have raised their voice. Together, they sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her make a priority in her dialogue with Mexico the importance of civil society participation in the development of a protection mechanism for human rights defenders.

To read the letter, click here.