Author: Emma Buckhout
August 11, 2016
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Scroll down to thank the members of Congress who spoke out to demand an end to the human rights crisis in Mexico!
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On August 10, 2016, sixty-nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Congressman Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urging the State Department to put strengthening the rule of law and defense of human rights at the top of the U.S. bilateral agenda with Mexico. LAWG is sincerely grateful to the grassroots supporters whose action made this possible through their countless calls, and over 650 emails, in July to their members of Congress demanding they take a stand.
The letter expresses concern over the “27,000 unresolved cases of people who have disappeared in Mexico since 2007, and the slow pace of reforms in the military, law enforcement and justice sectors,” as well as the persistent use of torture in criminal investigations. It also calls for continued U.S. support of the ongoing investigation and search for justice for the families of the 43 disappeared students from the Ayotzinapa rural teacher’s college, and accountability and justice in the cases of grave abuses committed by Mexican security forces in Oaxaca and Tlatlaya.
The letter comes at a crucial moment as the U.S. State Department is currently reviewing the Mexican government’s progress in meeting human rights conditions required in the Merida Initiative, a U.S. security aid package. A few weeks ago, the Latin America Working Group (LAWG) joined a group of seven other human rights organizations in submitting a memorandum demonstrating that the Mexican government had not met these human rights conditions.
Your activism to get Congress to speak out is a crucial part of creating change in the human rights situation in Mexico.
Help us thank those members of Congress who signed! The full list of signers is below, with their Twitter handle. Use the following sample tweets, or create your own!
Sample tweets:
- @RepLowenthal thanks for standing up for human rights in Mexico by signing letter to Sec Kerry: http://lawg.org/LowenthalMexicoHR2016 #justiceforMexico
- @RepLowenthal thanks for demanding #JusticeforMexico, end to disappearances, killings, torture: http://lawg.org/LowenthalMexicoHR2016
You can also call offices via the U.S. Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121.
| Representative | Twitter Handle |
| Beyer, Donald S. | @RepDonBeyer |
| Blumenauer, Earl | @repblumenauer |
| Bonamici, Suzanne | @RepBonamici |
| Brown, Corrine | @RepCorrineBrown |
| Bustos, Cheri | @RepCheri |
| Capuano, Michael E. | @RepMikeCapuano |
| Cardenas, Tony | @RepCardenas |
| Cicilline, David N. | @RepCicilline |
| Cleaver, Emanuel | @repcleaver |
| Cohen, Steve | @RepCohen |
| Conyers, John | @RepJohnConyers |
| Davis, Susan | @RepSusanDavis |
| Davis, Danny K. | @RepDannyDavis |
| DeFazio, Peter | @RepPeterDeFazio |
| DeLauro, Rosa | @Rosa_DeLauro |
| DeSaulnier, Mark | @RepDeSaulnier |
| Doggett, Lloyd | @RepLloydDoggett |
| Edwards, Donna F. | @repdonnaedwards |
| Ellison, Keith | @keithellison |
| Farr, Sam | @RepSamFarr |
| Gallego, Ruben | @RepRubenGallego |
| Grijalva, Raul | @standwithraul |
| Gutierrez, Luis V. | @RepGutierrez |
| Hahn, Janice | @Rep_JaniceHahn |
| Hastings, Alcee L. | @RepHastingsFL |
| Honda, Michael M. | @RepMikeHonda |
| Jackson Lee, Sheila | @RepJacksonLee |
| Johnson, Hank | @RepHankJohnson |
| Keating, William R. | @USRepKeating |
| Kelly, Robin | @RepRobinKelly |
| Kennedy, Joseph P. | @RepJoeKennedy |
| Kildee, Daniel | @RepDanKildee |
| Larsen, Rick | @RepRickLarsen |
| Lawrence, Brenda L. | @RepLawrence |
| Lee, Barbara | @RepBarbaraLee |
| Lewis, John | @jlewiscongress |
| Lieu, Ted W. | @RepTedLieu |
| Lowenthal, Alan | @RepLowenthal |
| Lujan Grisham | @RepLujanGrisham |
| Luján, Ben Ray | @repbenraylujan |
| Lynch, Stephen F. | @RepStephenLynch |
| McCollum, Betty | @BettyMcCollum04 |
| McDermott, Jim | @RepJimMcDermott |
| McGovern, Jim | @RepMcGovern |
| Napolitano, Grace F. | @gracenapolitano |
| Norton, Eleanor Holmes | @EleanorNorton |
| O’Rourke, Beto | @RepBetoORourke |
| Peters, Scott | @RepScottPeters |
| Pingree, Chellie | @chelliepingree |
| Pocan, Mark | @repmarkpocan |
| Polis, Jared | @RepJaredPolis |
| Rangel, Charles | @cbrangel |
| Roybal-Allard, Lucille | @RepRoybalAllard |
| Rush, Bobby | @RepBobbyRush |
| Sanchez, Linda T. | @RepLindaSanchez |
| Sanchez, Loretta | @LorettaSanchez |
| Schakowsky, Jan | @RepSchakowsky |
| Schiff, Adam B. | @RepAdamSchiff |
| Serrano, José E. | @RepJoseSerrano |
| Smith, Adam | @RepAdamSmith |
| Takano, Mark | @RepMarkTakano |
| Tonko, Paul D. | @RepPaulTonko |
| Torres, Norma J. | @NormaJTorres |
| Van Hollen, Chris | @ChrisVanHollen |
| Vargas, Juan | @RepJuanVargas |
| Veasey, Marc | @RepVeasey |
| Waters, Maxine | @MaxineWaters |
| Welch, Peter | @PeterWelch |
| Yarmuth, John | @RepJohnYarmuth |
More Resources:
- Read the full text of the congressional letter to Secretary Kerry here.
- See Representative Lowenthal’s press release here.
- See LAWG’s press release here.
- For more details on the human rights situation in Mexico, see the summary of the memo on the Merida Initiative human rights requirements sent by LAWG and partners to the State Department.
- For more information on the case of the disappeared Ayotzinapa students, see LAWG’s research page here.
