November 1, 1999
November 1, 1999
Contact HRF Communications (212) 845 5245 media@humanrightsfirst.orgHuman Rights First Calls on Mexican Authorities to
Ensure Safety of Mexican Human Rights LawyerDigna Ochoa Attacked and Interrogated in Mexico City Home
New York--In letters to President Zedillo and Interior Minister Diódoro Carrasco, Human Rights First called last Friday for urgent measures to ensure the safety of human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa, and other staff members of Mexico City's Miguel Agustín Pro Juarez Human Rights Centre (PRODH).
The letter was prompted by the most recent in a series of linked attacks and threats over the last three months against Ms. Ochoa and PRODH staff, apparently in relation to legal defense work of clients accused of having ties to insurgent organizations in southern Mexico. It indicates that Ms Ochoa was attacked in her home late last Thursday evening, rendered unconscious, blindfolded and tied to a chair in her home, and then subjected to a prolonged all-night interrogation on PRODH activities by at least two unidentified individuals. PRODH offices, which have received several written death threats and have been broken into on several occasions recently, were again broken into the same night. Written death threats were again left behind.
Citing the UN's new Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights First’s letter notes that States must adopt measures to guarantee the rights of individuals, groups and institutions to promote respect for human rights. It also cites international principles obliging governments to guarantee that lawyers can carry out their professional functions without improper interference. According to Principle 18 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions.
"The authorities have been promising for some time that threats and attacks would be fully investigated and PRODH staff protected," said Human Rights First Protection Director Robert O. Varenik. "But more must be done. Lives are in danger. This an extremely serious situation that calls for vigorous, extraordinary measures."