2
Colosio Prisciliano Fernández, based on the ground that Inés Fernández and her
husband had been threatened, on several occasions, by informants of the Army in
order to impede the search for justice in the case before the Commission.
Furthermore, on June 27, 2008, the Commission expanded the precautionary
measures MC 6-05 in favor of another 41 members of the OPIT,1 after the extralegal execution of Lorenzo Fernández Ortega due to his activism and participation in
said organization and for being the brother of Inés Fernández Ortega. The
Commission requested the Mexican State to adopt the necessary measures to
preserve the life and physical integrity of the beneficiaries and to inform on the
actions taken to investigate into the facts that gave rise to the adoption and
expansion of the precautionary measures. According to what the Commission
informed during the enforcement of said measures and in spite of them, the
beneficiaries continued receiving threats against their lives and physical integrities
and were subjected to harassment acts, which had increased in the last months;
b) As a preliminary matter, the Commission indicated that México has been
increasing the presence of the Army in indigenous territories since 1994. Said
situation would has caused tension and problems with the civil population and
complaints about several human rights violations of the indigenous people in the
state of Guerrero committed by municipal authorities or members of the police or the
army. In said context, the OPIT and the Organización para el Futuro de los Pueblos
Mixtecos (hereinafter, "OFPM”) [Organization for the Future of Mixteco Peoples] were
formed in the county town of Ayutla de los Libres, in order to defend the rights of the
indigenous people of the area. Moreover, Tlachinollan has been with the indigenous
people of Guerrero, helping in the fight for justice and respect for human rights for
14 years. These organizations carry out joint activities very frequently. According to
the Commission, the facts that gave rise to the request for provisional measures
would have taken place in the State of Guerrero and the potential beneficiaries of the
provisional measures are, most of them, Me’ Phaa (tlapanecos) and Na Savi
(mixteco) indigenous people; all of them related to the OPIT, the OFPM and
Tlachinollan;
c)
In this context, defender Obtilia Eugenio Manuel has been subjected to constant
and direct harassment acts and threats against her life and physical integrity; these
acts had increased in the last months, particularly between January 19 and March
20, 2009. In this sense, she received death threats by means of messages and
telephone calls, she was followed by different vehicles driven by persons who
appeared to be military officers; she heard gunshots on one occasion and she
received warnings by state officials in relation to her safety and her role in the
defense of human rights. Due to these facts, she was forced to leave Ayutla de los
Libres and restrict her work as defender of the Tlapaneco indigenous people;
1
Victoriano Eugenio Manuel, Gabino Eugenio Manuel, Juan Remigio Guzmán, Raúl Hernández Abundio, Rafael
Rodríguez Dircio, Severo Eugenio Remigio, Manuel Cruz Victoriano, Orlando Manzanares Lorenzo, Natalio Ortega
Cruz, Romualdo Santiago Enedina, Braulio Manzanares Lorenzo, José Eugenio Cruz, Félix Ortega Dolores, Merced
Santiago Lorenzo, Arturo Cruz Ortega, Leopoldo Eugenio Manuel, Ubaldo Santiago Eugenio, Arnulfo Cruz
Concepción, Silverio Remigio Guzmán, Crisóforo Manzanares Lorenzo, Taurino Fernández Santiago, Ocotlán
Fernández Ortega, Mauricio Cruz Morales, Viviano García Santiago, Julio Bolanos Santiago, José Espinoza Eugenio,
Ramón Ortega Cruz, Virgilio Cruz Ortega, Victoriano Ortega Cruz, Marcelino Santiago Flores, Justino García
Santiago, Crispín Santiago González, Natalio Eugenio Catarino, Fausto Santiago González, Leopoldo Eugenio
Rufina, Vicente Díaz Luciano, Socimo Manuel Sierra, Santiago Manuel Sierra, Ramiro Flor Cresencio, Milenio Flores
de Jesús and Romualdo Eugenio Estrada.