On March 25 2011, the members of the Radio Ñomndaa David Valtierra Arango, Silverio Matías Domínguez and Genaro Cruz Apóstol were notified by the judge of first instance of the criminal branch of the judicial district of Abasolo, Alfredo Sánchez Sánchez, that they were acquitted of the charges of deprivation of liberty against Narciso García Valtierra, a process that started in 2004. This notification completed the resolution dictated on March 22 by the first criminal division of the Superior Court of Justice of the state of Guerrero. (1)
It also cancels the sentence of September 2010 of the judge of first instance of the criminal branch based in Ometepec, Derly Arnado Alderete Cruz, which sentenced the Human rights defenders to three years in prison and a fine of $1753 pesos. (2)
In the press release, Acquittal of human rights defenders of Xochistlahuaca, (3) the committee of the Radio Ñomndaa, the word of the water, their legal advisers from the Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre and other organisations (the coordination of to Radio Ñomndaa D.F., Youth for Alternative Resistance and supportive people) emphasise that the sentence confirms that the statements of the judge of Ometepec who said that “the amuzgos tend to be suspicious, aggressive and vindictive people”, reflect “the deep discrimination against the indigenous amuzgo people and that the purveyors of justice can convert themselves into a mechanism to hinder the efforts of the organisation.”
They also stress that the “Justice still has to be done because the very same judge of Ometepec who had condemned the human rights defenders also exonerated José Luis Rocha Ramirez, member of a powerful “cacique” political group from the region of Xochistlahuaca, from the crime that the traditional authorities of the community and the Radio Ñomndaa accuse him of having committed against the same Silverio Matias who lost an eye as a consequence of the lesions he suffered”.
The members of the radio will continue to demand that their community’s right to freedom of expression, as outlined in Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations’ 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, be recognised. (4)
PBI provides accompaniment to the Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre. PBI has also followed the case of the Radio Ñomndaa which appears in the project bulletin <media 5815>Human Rights Defenders Behind Bars</media> about unjustly imprisoned human rights defenders.
References (in Spanish)
(1) www.suracapulco.com.mx/nota1e.php
(2) www.lajornadaguerrero.com.mx/2011/03/29/index.php
(3) lapalabradelagua.org/Members/anti_k/noticias/absuelven-a-integrantes-de-radio-nomndaa