Mario Luna, woordvoerder van Vicam Jaqui, werd ontvoerd en een jaar lang ten onrechte opgesloten nadat de Vicam Traditional Authority op Yaqui land een snelwegblokkade opgetrokken had uit protest tegen de diefstal van hun water.

Nu, op 27 juni werd de auto van zijn partner voor hun huis bekogeld met een brandbom.

Twee dagen eerder was Mario een van de woordvoerders op de Havasupai bijeenkomst tegen uranium mijnbouw in de Grand Canyon.

Vicam Yaqui hebben de snelwegblokkades al jarenlang bemand — waarbij het vrachtverkeer naar de kust danig verstoord wordt — uit protest tegen de diefstal van het Jaqui water voor een Aquaduct ten behoeve van de stad Hermosillo, Mexico.

Mario werd ontvoerd en opgesloten omdat hij de woordvoerder van de Jaqui wateractivisten was. Zodra hij vrij was heeft hij hun zaak ingediend bij de Verenigde Naties.

Censored News heeft toen Live verslag gebracht over de strijd van de wateractivisten van Vicam Jaqui.

Zapatistas kwamen toen ook bijeen in Vicam, in solidariteit met de strijd voor waterrechten voor Rio Jaqui en voor inheemse rechten.

Amnesty International heeft onderstaande verklaring vrijgegeven betreffende de autobom en de gevaren die Mario en zijn familie bedreigen.

zie ook: DRINGENDE OPROEP!

Amnesty International


                                        URGENT ACTION

ASSAILANTS BURN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER’S CAR

Unidentified intruders entered the residence of Mario Luna Romero, leader of the Indigenous Yaqui community in Sonora state, northern Mexico, and set fire to his partner’s car. To date, no protection measures have been provided at the defender’s house and investigations are advancing slowly. Mario Luna and his family remain at risk.

In the morning of 27 June, Victoria Anahí Ochoa Domínguez, the wife of Mario Luna Romero, observed smoke rising from their garage and ran outside to find her vehicle on fire. A few hours later, when her husband arrived home from an overseas trip, he reported the incident to the federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, from which he receives protection measures as a defender of the Indigenous Yaqui community’s territory in Sonora state. Representatives of the Protection Mechanism assured him that state security police would promptly be sent, but the police never arrived. In turn, Mario Luna called the local investigative police who came to inspect the scene that same day. They found evidence of a glass bottle filled with gasoline and wrapped in cloth that had been thrown under the car, clearly signaling an intentional attack.

This is not the first time that Mario Luna and his family have faced security incidents. Anahí Ochoa told Amnesty International that in the weeks prior to the 27 June incident, unfamiliar vehicles were stationed outside of their home on repeated occasions. Mario Luna has carried out a number of activities in defense of collective rights of the Yaqui community, especially in relation to the right to water in light of the Independence Aqueduct, a project which could threaten the community’s access to water and cultural survival.

1) TAKE ACTION
 Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

Calling on authorities to urgently ensure effective implementation of the protection measures owing to Mario Luna and his family under the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, especially regarding patrols by Sonora State Police and security cameras in his home;

Calling on them to ensure a prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation into the incident of 27 June, especially in relation to forensic evidence including the analysis of fingerprints found on the burnt vehicle, to make the results public and to bring those responsible to justice;

Calling on them to urgently and publicly recognize the legitimate role of Mario Luna as a human rights defender in order to send the message that attacks against him and his family are unlawful.

Contact these two officials by 21 August, 2017:

Governor of the State of Sonora

Claudia Pavlovich Arellano

Palacio de Gobierno

Comonfort y Dr. Paliza S/N, Colonia Centenario

Hermosillo, Sonora, México, C.P. 83260

Twitter: @claudiapavlovic ‏

Salutation: Dear Governor/ Estimada Señora Gobernadora

Ambassador Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez

Embassy of Mexico

1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington DC 20006

Phone: 1 202 728 1600

Twitter: @EmbamexEUA, @GERONIMO__GF

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

2) LET US KNOW YOU TOOK ACTION

PLEASE EMAIL UAN@AIUSA.ORG TO LET US KNOW YOU TOOK ACTION— PLEASE INCLUDE: THE UA NUMBER; CASE NAME AND COUNTRY; AND THE EXACT ACTIONS THAT YOU TOOK, E.G. “UA 166.17; IDIL ESER. TURKEY; 2 LETTERS; 1 CALL; 1 TWEET.”