Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that charges have been brought against Martín Amaru Barrios Hernández, and that Reyna Ramírez has been attacked and threatened. The two human rights defenders are members of the Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Laborales del Valle de Tehuacán (CDHLVT – the Commission of Human and Labour Rights in Tehuacán Valley), an organisation which documents and reports labour and environmental human rights violations in Tehuacán Valley, Puebla.

Further Information

Posted 26/06/2008 On 12 June 2008, Martín Amaru Barrios Hernández was summoned before the Public Ministry of Common Law in Tehuacán for ministerial proceedings. He has been accused by the head of a textile factory in Tehuacán of having threatened him and caused damage to other people's property during a workers' march in Tehuacán. On the same day, Reyna Ramírez was attacked by a woman who allegedly had links with the Confederación de Trabajadores de México (CTM – the Confederation of Workers in Mexico) in the Local Arbitration Settlement facilities in Tehuacán.

After the attack the woman threatened Reyna Ramírez, telling her “van a saber lo que es meterse con la CTM (you're going to know what it means to mess with the CTM)”. The CDHLVT had previously reported on corruption within the CTM.

In 2007 the CDHLVT worked with the Vaqueros Navarra company and the Sindicato 19 de Septiembre to promote a legally-binding collective work contract, against the efforts of organisations like the CTM and the Confederación Revolucionaria de Obreros y Campesinos (CROC – Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants). Since then, harassment against the CDHLVT has worsened. Its members have been put on black lists, have been excluded from local textile companies and have been defamed. On 29 December 2007, Martín Amaru Barrios Hernández was arrested and he spent some weeks in detention under fabricated charges of blackmailing the owner of a textiles company. On 12 January 2008, after national and international lobbying, the authorities warned the prosecution to withdraw the charges and Martín Amaru Barrios Hernández was released. After his release, he and other members of the CDHLVT received anonymous death threats. Furthermore, in December 2004, Martín Barrios Amaru Hernández was attacked and beaten by unknown persons who intimidated him because of the work he does for CDHLVT.

Front Line believes that the accusations against Martín Barrios Hernández and the attack and threats against Reyna Ramírez are related to their legitimate work in the defence of human rights, in particular their work in defence of workers' rights in the Tehuacán Valley. Front Line believes that this represents part of a pattern of harassment against human rights defenders in Mexico.

Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Martín Amaru Barrios Hernández and Reyna Ramírez, as well as that of all the members of the CDHLVT.