Letter to the US Attorney, District of Arizona: Complicity and Collusion with Human Rights Violations in Mexico

Los Comités de Defensa del Barrio

Human Rights Commission

PO Box 24009    Phoenix, AZ 85074

TONATIERRA

December 19, 2014

The United States Attorney’s Office
District of Arizona
Two Renaissance Square
40 N. Central Avenue, Suite 1200
Phoenix, AZ 85004-4408

Attn: U.S. Attorney, John S. Leonardo

It is with great concern and at the petition of the parents of the 43 disappeared students of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero - Mexico that we call upon the Justice Department of the United States to take immediate and appropriate steps to confront the COMPLICITY and COLLUSION of the US government in the ongoing Crimes against Humanity by the State of Mexico in violation of fundamental Human Rights established under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which the United States is a signatory.

We specifically call upon the offices of the US Attorney General to address the issue of criminal complicity and collusion in the acts of violence and impunity in Mexico fomented by the US led "War on Drugs" by:

1. Immediately take appropriate measures to stop transport of armaments to the Mexican State by any entity in the United States whether governmental or private.

2. Investigate any sale or transport of arms from Arizona merchants to Mexico’s Narco Government. As has been attested by documents, videos, and witness testimonies, the disappearance of the 43 students of Ayotzinapa was a joint operation with municipal police, the government of the state of Guerrero, federal authorities, and direct involvement by the national army of Mexico.

3. Make the appropriate investigation to recommend that the United States declare Mexico an outlaw state and stop any cooperation through the Plan Merida until the case of Ayotzinapa students is clarified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

We have become informed that on November 18th, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights entered into agreement with the Government of Mexico and representatives of the 43 Disappeared Students of Ayotzinapa which will allow for an Interdisciplinary Group of technical experts to work collaboratively towards the locating of the disappeared students, punishment for the responsible parties, and assistance for their families. Our understanding is that the essential aim of the agreement is to resolve the underlying structural problems in Mexico regarding forced disappearances, which are not limited to students of Iguala.

For this reason we have submitted a formal Petition for Review before the Interdisciplinary Group that the issue of Complicity and Collusion by the US government's policies, training and funding of the operatives of the narco-state in Mexico be brought to light comprehensively, and the cause of justice be served. 

As was clearly exemplified in the case of “Fast and Furious”, arms sent to Mexico are responsible for the murder of innocent people caught in a drug war out of control. Mexican police and the armed forces are partnered with narco-traffickers in an open war against the Mexican people. The Justice Department must act immediately to address complicity with Human Rights violations financed with the multi-billion dollar “Plan Merida” agreement between the U.S. and the narco-government of Mexico. We demand and end to the impunity afforded to the state of Mexico by the US for these criminal policies that have resulted in over 26,000 disappeared and 100,000 deaths.

We specifically call for the accountability for the training by the US of those Mexican Police and Armed Forces involved in the Massacre of Tlatlaya, Mexico on June 30 where 22 youth were executed by the Mexican army. 

Attentively, 

Salvador Reza
Barrio Defense Committees

CC.

Embajador Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez
Mexican Consulate Phoenix
320 East. McDowell Road, suite 105  Phoenix, Az. 85004

Arizona Congressman, Matt Salmon
 207 North Gilbert Road  Suite 209  Gilbert, AZ 85234

   

Americas Program of the Center for International Policy 

Mexico in Crisis: U.S. Drug War Funding, Ayotzinapa and Human Rights Violations