On Monday October 27th 2008, the 2nd anniversary of Brad’s murder, Friends of Brad Will in Mexico, New York, Houston, San Francisco, and Portland held press conferences and rallies to publicize our cause and our new demands.

In New York, Free Speech Radio News covered the hunger strike and protest. Photos are online at nyc.indymedia.org.

In Houston, activists met with press and representatives from the Consulate. Read: Houston Indymedia coverage, hear: KPFT radio news coverage.

In San Francisco, Friends of Brad Will gathered at the Mexican Consulate to remember Brad and the people of Oaxaca and issued a statement of demands to the Mexican Consulate. Coverage on indybay.

In Portland, The Friends of Brad Will, along with supporters of Oaxaca, gathered in front of the Mexican Consulate to call for justice in the case of Brad Will’s murder by Mexican paramilitaries, and justice for the people of Oaxaca. Coverage on Portland Indymedia.

In Mexico, actions were covered in El Universal (in Spanish), and the LA Times blog.

In Uruguay, activists issued a solidarity statement (in Spanish).

Ed. this is a strong statement, well-worth the read for briefings to U.S. govt. reps. RJ

http://www.cndh.org.mx/recomen/2008/050.html
Recommendation 050/2008

National Human Rights Commission issued on September 26, 2008
Translated by Scott Campbell [Spanish original]

Summary: On October 27, 2006, Mr. Bradley Roland Will, video journalist for the business Indymedia, was deprived of life, and due to this, on the 28th of that month and year personnel from the National Commission went to the city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, to gather pertinent information and documentation, in respect to the beginnings of preliminary investigation 1247/C.R./2006 by the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Oaxaca.

From the analysis of the facts and evidence that make up case file 2006/4886/5/Q, it was verified that the public servants of the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Oaxaca who participated in compiling preliminary investigation 1247/C.R./2006, as well as those in the Federal Attorney General’s Office charged with compiling enquiry 11/FEADP/07, based in the Special Prosecutor for Attention to Crimes Committed Against Journalists, violated fundamental rights of legality, of judicial security, of access to justice, according to information contained in articles 6; 14, second paragraph; 16, first paragraph; 17, second paragraph; 20, subsection B; 21, first paragraph; and 102, subsection A, second paragraph, of the Constitution of the United Mexican States, as well as 21 of the Constitution of the state of Oaxaca. (more…)

Link to Albert Covelli’s Video

By David Gonzalez for NY Times

Harry Bubbins likes to plant things. When his friend Bradley Will was shot dead covering antigovernment protests in Mexico nearly two years ago, he planted a tree in the South Bronx to honor the slain journalist. This week, days after the Mexican government arrested two leftist protesters in connection with Mr. Will’s murder, Mr. Bubbins is again planting things.

Himself, on a Midtown sidewalk.

In an admittedly extreme move to draw attention to what he — and numerous human rights groups — say is a cover-up by Mexican authorities, Mr. Bubbins is on a four-day hunger strike outside the Third Avenue office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
More

CALL U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton at her office:
(212) 688-6262 (see talking points/demands, below)
Harry Bubbins (hunger-striker) reports that she was in the office this a.m.
You don’t have to live in NY to make this crucial phone call!

Stop by the vigil at 780 Third Ave (between 48th & 49th St.) Manhattan

Friends of Brad Will are in their 2nd day of a 4-day round-the-clock vigil and Hunger Strike at Sen. Hillary Clinton’s office (no food, no drink, no water)

Remembering Brad Will (1970-2006)
New York journalist assassinated in Oaxaca, Mexico
by right-wing paramilitary death squads

Friends of Brad Will, including human rights advocates Robert Jereski and Harry Bubbins, will be engaging in a 4-day vigil and fast as part of an international “Week of Action and Remembrance” of our friend Brad Will, to call attention to the Mexican government’s cover-up of the U.S. journalist’s murder and in opposition to Senator Hillary Clinton’s support for U.S. funding for Mexico’s military operations under Plan Mexico (the “Merida Initiative”).

The vigil will last for 4 days and nights outside Senator Clinton’s office. It is calling on Sen. Clinton to order protection for witnesses who saw Mexican government paramilitaries shooting at demonstrators, including Brad Will, in Oaxaca, and who are currently being threatened by Mexican Authorities. (more…)

By John Gibler

On October 27, 2006, Brad Will stood on Juarez Avenue in the municipality of Santa Lucia del Camino, Oaxaca, Mexico. He was filming a violent clash between armed, civilian-clad municipal police and officials and members of the Oaxaca Peoples’ Popular Assembly, or APPO

Brad, a longtime New York City activist and independent journalist, traveled to Oaxaca in early October 2006 to report on the protest movement led by the state teachers union that sought to oust governor Ulises Ruiz of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which had ruled Oaxaca with an iron fist for almost 80 years.

Brad stood amid the APPO protesters and other journalists, filming down the length of Juarez Avenue where armed officials were firing at the protesters. Brad was shot and fell to the ground, his camera still running, having recorded the sound of the shot that hit him. Brad was shot from straight on, just below the chest, and yet his killer does not appear in the camera frame at the moment of the gunshot. Brad died on the way to the hospital. He had been shot twice.

Two years later, on October 16, 2008, the Mexican federal government arrested two members of the APPO, charging Juan Manuel Martinez as the gunman and Octavio Perez with helping to cover up Brad’s murder (Perez was later released on bail). Federal police were still looking for other suspected accomplices, all members of the APPO who had tried to carry Brad to safety and save his life.

The arrests came after a series of human rights reports criticized the government’s investigation for failing to follow leads pointing to local officials who were widely photographed by the press shooting at APPO protesters on October 27, 2006.

“It is such a coverup,” said Kathy Will, Brad’s mother, in a telephone interview on learning of the arrests. “It is an insult to us and to all of the groups that have tried to help with a meaningful investigation.”

more

Immediate Release ********************** May 13th, 2008

Left and Right Unite to Oppose Mexico Foreign Policy Scheme

Amnesty International Joins Opposition to Bush’s Merida Initiative

Contact:
NYC: Robert Jereski, 212-973-1782
Washington, DC: Harry Bubbins, 646 641 5788

Opposition to the President’s ebbing “Merida Initiative” scheme to give $1.4 Billion in military aid to Mexico’s police and military implicated in widespread human rights violations grew with Amnesty International issuing a statement to Congress.

“Aid for Mexico must not be a blank check for Mexican security forces that have been implicated in crimes like rape and torture,” said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). Amnesty International said that any initiative to support Mexico’s fight against drug cartels and organized crime must focus on the rule of law and should also press for justice in the unresolved killing of U.S. journalist Bradley Roland Will, and other civilians, in Oaxaca in 2006.

“We are encouraged by Amnesty International’s recognition of human rights abuses by Mexican forces,” said Robert Jereski of Friends of Brad Will. “But we hope for more from human rights organizations, especially when top labor unions reject this dangerous scheme outright.” (more…)

Top News:
GOP: Merida plan likely to fail in House

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/13/gop_merida_plan_likely_to_fail_in_house/7239/

WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) — Ranking Republicans predict a $500 million measure to combat drug violence in Latin America will fail when the House votes on it Wednesday.

GOP lawmakers told the Washington Times they did not think the so-called Merida Initiative, named after the historic Mexican city in the Yucatan, would pass because it had been glommed on to a supplemental funding bill for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The supplemental spending bill is the not the appropriate vehicle for this particular funding initiative,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

Some Republicans added that they had doubts about the effectiveness of the plan on the assumption that Mexican law-enforcement agencies were riddled with corruption and would undermine the Merida program.

The Times said Mexico has been urging passage of the plan, which would improve coordination of anti-drug efforts among the United States, Mexico and nations in Central America.

From: Natalia Cardona
Peacebuilding Unit
Latin America & Caribbean Program
American Friends Service Committee
Philadelphia, PA
19102

ANOTHER TRADE AND WAR CONNECTION IN THE AMERICAS
The Americas Policy Program has put together and excellent Primer on Plan Mexico. The report written by Laura Carlsen puts forward detailed analysis regarding the policy, its background and what needs to change. This policy as part of the expansion of NAFTA is a clear connection to what we have been talking about for the past few years on this site, mainly that trade and war are companion policies. Just as Plan Colombia is a failed policy which is now accompanied by an unjust trade agreement so are Plan Mexico and the expansion of NAFTA. Click here to read a summary of the Primer and link to the entire document.

URGENT ACTION: NO MORE FUNDING FOR WAR!
Congress is preparing to vote on the Iraq Supplemental. The vote is scheduled for next Thursday (May 15, 2008). A new drug war policy known as the Merida Initiative is being put forward as part of this package. The policy nicknamed Plan Mexico for its similarities to Plan Colombia will provide $1.4 billion to the corrupt Mexican military, its police and U.S. contractors. It will also significantly increase military aid to Central America. This initiative is part and parcel of NAFTA expansion and is based on the same failed drug war model that Plan Colombia was built on. While Mexico is not a country at war there are certain lessons that can be learnt from the failures of Plan Colombia. We encourage you to call on your representatives and tell them to stop funding for this fatal policy. Click here to make your voice heard. Click here to make your voice heard.

JOIN ONE OF THESE DELEGATIONS TO COLOMBIA

A Raw Trade, June 12-23, Application Deadline: May 19
Join Witness for Peace and visit farmers and union leaders who are resisting this trade agreement, see the impact of U.S supported fumigations, and plan actions in solidarity with Colombians. Click here for more about this delegation.

Building Justice Across Borders, August 2-16, Application Deadline: June 20. Join the Fellowship of Reconciliation on a powerful delegation to visit communities and organizations that struggle for the right to say no to armed conflict and are creating peace and justice from the grassroots up. Click here for more about this delegation.

Natalia Cardona
Peacebuilding Unit
Latin America & Caribbean Program
American Friends Service Committee
Philadelphia, PA
19102
Tel: (215) 241-7162
Fax: (215) 241-7177
www.afsc.org/colombia
www.tradeandwar.org

Congress Holds 3rd Hearing on Mexico Foreign Policy Scheme
Opposition growing to Bush’s Proposed “Merida Initiative”

Will the Democratic Party and inside-the-beltway human rights organizations remain silent about its dangers?

(May 8, New York/Maryland) Opposition to the President’s ebbing “Merida Initiative”, a scheme to give $1.4 Billion in military aid to Mexico’s police and military forces implicated in widespread human rights violations, has led to an extraordinary 3rd oversight hearing by Congress. On May 1st, the AFL-CIO, the powerful U.S. parent union, sent letters detailing their opposition and warning of the dangers of the pact to Democratic Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman and to Congressman Delahunt Chair of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, urging them to reject the Bush Administration’s request for military aid to Mexico. Yet critics questioned the witnesses Congress has called to testify on the Bush “security” plan as being uncritical boosters or vaguely indicating support under a pretense of concern and questions. Not a single opponent of the Merida Initiative has been called to testify.

“Labor organizations like the AFL-CIO and the US Steelworkers have demanded that Congress not fund this “Plan Mexico”, said Robert Jereski of Friends of Brad Will, likening it to the notorious failures of “Plan Colombia”. “We are extremely disappointed that a few inside the beltway human rights organizations have yet to issue statements against it.” Jereski went on to single out the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) (more…)