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Campaign Update: Sierra Club and Amnesty International Urge Mexico's New President, Vicente Fox, to Release the Mexican Earth Defenders
January 5, 2001
Now that the holidays are over and Mexico has sworn in a new president, Vicente Fox, the time has come to renew our efforts to free Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera Garcia. Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera have been in prison since May 2, 1999, when they were detained by members of Mexico's 40th Infantry Battalion. They were subsequently tortured until they signed false confessions of drug-trafficking and illegal possession of weapons. Their only crime -- caring about the forests and organizing efforts to prevent excessive and illegal logging in their community in Guerrero, Mexico.
Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera were convicted last August to serve 8 and 10-year terms
respectively. In October, an appeals court judge upheld their convictions despite an
extensive body of exculpatory evidence. A report issued last year by Mexico's National
Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos - CNDH) confirmed the
allegations of torture and further states that the two men were not carrying weapons at
the time of arrest - as the authorities have claimed. The findings of the report were not
reviewed by the appeals court judge even though by law he was entitled to review the
material.
Since their arrest, lawyers for Montiel and Cabrera warned of the lack of impartiality
and rule-bending by the court.
On May 2, 1999, when members of Mexico's 40th Infantry Battalion stormed into the town of
Pizotla, in the southern State of Guerrero, Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera became victims of
shocking human rights violations. The two environmentalists endured several days of
threats, beatings, and torture until they signed blank pieces of paper, which were later
presented to the judge in the form of "signed confessions."
Their detention, torture, and now sentence to prison appear to be retaliatory acts against
the environmental movement they represent. Sierra Club and Amnesty International have been
working on behalf of these activists for more than a year.
Protecting Mexico's old-growth forests
In 1995 US-based Boise Cascade set up a wholly owned subsidiary (Costa Grande Forest
Products) in Guerrero, Mexico, and formed business partnerships with ejidos -- communal
farming associations that hold the title to most of Mexico's forests. Boise's operations
began to work around the clock, purchasing logs from the local ejido bosses and forest
managers. Rodolfo Montiel and other campesinos were concerned about the magnitude and
extent of the logging, especially when people began noticing changes in the local ecology.
In a recent interview, Montiel described how the rivers began to dry up soon after the
logging operations began in 1995. "By ninety-seven, there was nothing but garbage and
plastic in the riverbed. Everyone knew it was the fault of the logging - without the
trees, the rivers dry up."
In response to the rampant logging, Mr. Montiel founded the Organization of Campesino
Environmentalists in 1998, which began a letter-writing campaign to Mexican environmental
officials. When their letters did not receive a response, the group began peaceful
blockades of the logging roads. Eventually, these protests put a halt to the logging.
Environmentalists under fire
Boise Cascade left Mexico in April of 1998 "due to difficult business
conditions." Soon after, threats and intimidation against Mr. Montiel's organization
and its sympathizers began in earnest. In the course of thirteen months, four members of
the organization were killed and one remains "disappeared."
According to Mr. Montiel and other members of the Organization of Campesino
Environmentalists, the caciques hired gunmen and, according to the allegations, were
coordinating with the military in the area as they looked for local leaders of the
environmental group. Locals tell stories of how the army would come into small towns
asking the whereabouts of Mr. Montiel and other activists. These inquiries were often
accompanied by death threats.
International recognition
On April 1, 2000, Amnesty International declared the two environmental activists
"Prisoners of Conscience", and just a few days later Mr. Montiel was awarded the
prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, considered to be the equivalent of the Nobel
Prize for environmental protection. Unfortunately, Mr. Montiel could not travel to San
Francisco (where the awards are usually given) and had to receive his prize inside the
jail in Iguala. "The only prize I was expecting was a bullet from the Mexican
government," Mr. Montiel said upon receiving the Goldman award.
Environmentalists must be released
Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera Garcia are certain they have not broken any
laws. In fact, their only "crime" was to protect the forests from destruction
for short-term profit. Bewildered at his situation, Mr. Montiel stated at a press
conference in April: "First, the [Mexican] government tells us to protect the
forests, but when we do it, they throw us in jail."
The report by the CNDH acknowledged that Montiel and Cabrera were tortured, and that they
were framed by soldiers of the Mexican army. Article 8 of Mexico's Federal Law to Prevent
and Punish Torture prohibits using confessions and information obtained under torture as
evidence. Thus, the Mexican government must drop the charges and release Montiel and
Cabrera immediately and unconditionally.
Your letters work
Already, letters from activists worldwide have contributed to the government of Mexico's
decision to investigate the environmental consequences of logging in Guerrero. We must
continue to pressure the government to release the two environmentalists and ensure that
existing human rights and environmental laws in Mexico are enforced.
The coming of the new administration of President Vicente Fox provides renewed hope that
Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera will be treated justly at last. It is critical that President
Fox take every available step to ensure that the rights of all Mexicans are respected. We
must urge President Fox to acknowledge that the peaceful protection of the environment is
not a crime by freeing Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera immediately and unconditionally.
*******************************************
TAKE ACTION: Write a letter to President Vicente
Fox urging him to release Montiel and Cabrera immediately and unconditionally.
Also, use this opportunity to contact local Amnesty International and Sierra Club leaders
in your area to urge them to join us in these efforts.
Thank you for your continued interest and activism in the cause of defending those who
give the earth a voice. Together we are making a tremendous difference.
Good luck!
Cristina Mestre
Conservation Organizer
Sierra Club
(202) 675-7907
cristina.mestre@sierraclub.org.
-----------------------------------
Sample letter
President Vicente Fox
c/o the Mexican Embassy
1911 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20006
Dear President Fox:
As a concerned citizen of this planet, I urge you to fully review the case
of Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera Garcia, two forest activists from Guerrero
who were illegally arrested and tortured by members of the Mexican army. Mr. Montiel and
Mr. Cabrera have been imprisoned since May 2nd, 1999, when they were forced to sign false
confessions for crimes they did not commit. Amnesty International has declared both men
Prisoners of Conscience. Rodolfo Montiel was a 2000 recipient of the prestigious Goldman
Environmental Prize.
Mexico’s own National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional
de Derechos Humanos — CNDH) and the Danish organization Physicians for Human
Rights confirmed the allegations that Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera were tortured. The CNDH
also reported that both men were illegally detained and that the incriminating evidence
against them might have been planted.
Based on these facts and on your stated commitment to making human rights
and environmental protection a cornerstone of your administration, I urge you to take all
available steps to ensure that Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera are released immediately and
unconditionally. I also urge you to ensure that civilian authorities conduct a thorough
and impartial investigation into the reported torture by the military. The findings of
this investigation should be made public and those responsible should be brought to
justice.
Sincerely,
Your Name
For more information or to sign-up to the Human Rights and the Environment Campaign,
please contact Cristina Mestre, (202) 675-7907, cristina.mestre@sierraclub.org.
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