| Background: On December
29, Martin Barrios Hernández, President of the Mexican Human
and Labour Rights Commission of the Tehuacan Valley, was arrested
by the intelligence division of the Puebla state police and transported
from his home city of Tehuacan to the state capital of Puebla where
he is being held in state prison. The arrest comes exactly two years
after Barrios was kidnapped and beaten by unknown assailants.
Barrios is accused of blackmail, based on a charge filed by Tehuacan
maquila owner Lucio Gil Zarate. In Mexico, there is no possibility
of posting bail when facing blackmail charges, and a guilty verdict
could result in a 2-10 year prison term.
According to Barrios, the charge is completely groundless, since
he was attending an assembly at a local church at the time and date
he was alleged to have attempted to blackmail Mr. Gil. Barrios’
only contact with Mr. Gil’s company has been in carrying out
his responsibilities as a human rights advocate in regards to the
severance pay owed to 163 workers unjustly fired by Mr. Gil.
Over the past few months, the Commission has been providing advice
and assistance to workers employed at the Calidad de Confexiones
maquila, which is owned by Mr. Gil. In early November, the Commission
assisted workers in filing a complaint before the local Conciliation
and Arbitration Board, charging the employer with worker rights
violations. On November 10, Gil signed an agreement to resolve the
outstanding issues, but, according to the Commission, has failed
to comply with the agreement. On November 22, Gil fired all 163
workers who had been part of the original complaint.
The workers responded to the firings by staging peaceful protests
outside the local offices of the Conciliation and Arbitration Board,
the FROC-CROC (an “official” union that has failed to
defend the workers’ rights), and Mr. Gil’s home, demanding
the severance pay they were owned.
Despite the fact that the blackmail charge against Barrios was
filed on December 16, he was not informed of the charges until December
29 when he was picked up by the police without warning outside his
home as he was going to assist a maquila worker.
The charge against Martin was filed on the same day as independent
journalist, Lydia Cacho, was arrested by Puebla state police in
Cancun and transported to Puebla on defamation charges brought by
maquila owner Kamil Nacif, Mexico’s denim king concerning
allegations that he was involved in a child prostitution ring. The
improper out-of-state arrest has been widely condemned by human
rights and journalists’ organizations. Barrios has been publicly
supporting Cacho.
Gil is a subcontractor for AZT, an apparel company in which Nacif
is a part owner. Nacif is also a part owner of in the Tarrant Apparel
Group, which closed its factories in 2003 after workers tried to
organize an independent union at the Tarrant Ajalpan factory. The
Commission provided advice and support to Tarrant workers who lost
their jobs as a result of the factory closures. The US and Canadian
labour ministries and the International Labour Organization (ILO)
have issued reports documenting violations of worker rights in the
Nacif-owned factory.
According to the Commission, Martin’s arrest is part of an
ongoing campaign by maquila owners in the Tehuacan region to discredit
and obstruct the work of the Commission. In recent months, maquila
owners in Tehuacan have been making public accusations against Martin
and the Commission, charging them with organizing protests and strikes
that discourage foreign investment in order to blackmail the owners.
Barrios, who is also an advisor to the Mexican Federal Electoral
Institute in Tehuacan, is internationally known as a defender of
worker, indigenous and environmental rights in Tehuacan, one of
Mexico’s major apparel producing regions. Last year the Commission
was awarded the prestigious Tata Vasco human rights award by Mexico’s
Jesuit universities.
Barrios is also a co-author of “Tehuacan: Blue Jeans, Blue
Waters and Worker Rights,” a joint publication of the Commission
and MSN documenting environmental and worker rights violations in
Tehuacan’s garment maquila industry.
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