GUEST VIEWPOINT: Refugee from Oaxacan conflict granted asylum in Oregon
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By Lynn Stephen
Appeared in print: Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009
Opinion: Editorials & Letters: Story
On the third anniversary of his detention, torture and imprisonment under false charges, biologist Ramiro Aragon Pérez can breathe freely. He’s the first person from the Oaxaca, Mexico, conflict of 2006 who has received political asylum in the United States, granted in the state of Oregon.
Aragon Pérez’s asylum case was built from careful documentation provided by Mexican and international human rights organizations and delegations.
From June through November 2006, a pluralistic social movement interrupted the usual functions of the Oaxaca state government. The movement was centered on a democratic teacher’s union, Local 22 of the National Educational Workers Union; and a coalition of more than 300 labor, indigenous, student, women’s, human rights, peasant and left organizations known as the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca.
The movement began to construct a parallel police force, constitution and state assembly that was geared toward a more inclusive and participatory political vision for the state.
They were met with strong repression. In the course of just six months, at least 23 individuals were killed, hundreds were arrested and imprisoned, and more than 1,200 complaints were filed with human rights commissions.
Aragon Pérez is a biologist specializing in ornithology. At about 1 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2006, he was detained forcibly with his brother-in-law Elionai Santiago Sánchez and Juan Gabriel Ríos, both teachers.
Aragon Pérez’s face was burned with a cigarette. He was continuously beaten and kicked.His hair was pulled out, and he was threatened with death and rape.
Santiago Sánchez’s ear almost was severed from his head.
When Aragon Pérez was processed through the federal attorney general’s office on Aug. 12, 2006, in the city of San Bartolo Coyotepec, he was told he was charged with a federal crime — possession of a mosqueton, a musket from 1924 — which was for exclusive use of the Mexican armed forces. The charges were federal charges for which bail was not permitted.
The two teachers were also charged with illegal possession of firearms, but those charges were of a lesser nature, and that permitted them to released on bail. Later, they were found guilty and sentenced to three years in jail. They avoided prison by paying a large fine, but if they ever are arrested for anything again, the three-year sentence will be added to whatever new sentence they might receive.
They perceive this order as a way of discouraging them for participating in any political activities, such as marches. They continue vehemently to label the original charges as fabrications.
For almost three months, Aragon Pérez remained in jail while his parents and many others maintained a daily vigil. He was freed mysteriously on Oct. 30, 2006, after being presented to the public in a press conference in a government building.
The criminal case against him was left in legal limbo; he was released while still charged with a federal crime. He feared that he could be attacked or arrested at any time if he returned to Oaxaca.
Aragon Pérez fled to the United States with his wife, Ruth Guzmán, and his two small children, who are U.S. citizens. In January 2008, Aragon Pérez and his wife filed for political asylum in Oregon.
On July 28, 2009, Guzmán and Aragon Pérez received notification from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that their political asylum application had been accepted.
The case is significant in light of the ability of the Oaxacan state government and the federal government of Mexico consistently to deny the seriousness of the human rights abuses in Oaxaca during 2006-07.
On July 31, 2007, Amnesty International presented a report that documents “grave violations of human rights” in Oaxaca between June 2006 and April 2007. Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz dismissed the report in a press conference.
Unlike Ruiz Ortiz, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security apparently found credible this and other Amnesty reports. Based in part on the documents, Aragon Pérez was granted political asylum.
This is no small feat. A recent report from the Mexican magazine Milenio, based on data from the U.S. Department of Justice, states that of the 75,000 Mexicans who have solicited political asylum in the United States during the past 10 years, only 548 have had their cases accepted — a rate of less than 1 percent. Thus it seems that if the case can hold up and receive a positive decision by the U.S. authorities, it should receive similar treatment in the Mexican justice system.
Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case. So far, there has been no investigation of the people who abducted and tortured Aragon Pérez and his two companions, and no compensation for the emotional and physical damage they suffered or for the time spent in prison on false charges.
While he’s free in the United States, Aragon Pérez — like many others in Oaxaca — still is waiting for justice in Mexico.
Lynn Stephen is distinguished professor of anthropology and ethnic studies and director of the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies at the University of Oregon. “Making Rights a Reality,” her digital ethnography Web site about the Oaxaca social movement of 2006, can be found at .uoregon.edu.