MEXICAN LABOUR ACTIVIST ATTACKED - URGENT ACTION ALERT
On December 30, at 9:30 a.m., Martin Barrios, Coordinator of the Human
and Labour Rights Commission of the Tehuacan Valley was attacked and
brutally beaten by an unknown assailant. Barrios was about to enter his house, which also serves as the Commission office, when he heard a voice
behind him, turned and saw a man coming at him with a brick. He was
brutally beaten on the face and head, but managed to throw off the
attacker who fled to a taxi driven by an accomplice that had been parked
outside the house. Barrios suffered serious injuries to his face and
skull as a result of the attack, and has laid a formal complaint with
the local authorities.
It appears the attacker had been waiting for Barrios to return home, and
that the attack had been planned ahead of time. The attacker made no
effort to enter the house or to steal anything from Barrios. The
Commission believes the attacker was paid to carry out the assault in
order to intimidate Barrios, his family and other members of the
Commission.
During the past year, the Commission has defended the rights of hundreds
of workers who were unjustly fired from various blue jean factories
owned by the Los Angeles-based Tarrant Apparel Group as well as workers
from other smaller Tehuacan maquilas. It has succeeded in pressuring
Tarrant and local labour authorities to ensure that fired workers
received severance payments that are at least close to what is required
by the Mexican Federal Labour Law. The Commission in Tehuacan and the
Worker Support Centre (CAT) have both been working on the Tarrant
campaign, covering different sites owned by the company.
Last year the Commission and the MSN released a joint publication, "Blue
Jeans, Blue Waters and Worker Rights," exposing the systematic
violations of workers' rights and environmental standards in Tehuacan's
blue jean industry. This features the, quite literally blue river that
the No Sweat study group visited that flows from the Mexmode factory
into the local village, taking carcinogens and poisons with it into the
homes and water supplies of local workers.
The Commission believes that the attack and threats that had been made
against Barrios previous to the attack are part of a campaign by maquila
owners to silence Barrios and other Commission members and discourage
them from continuing to expose worker rights violations and defend
workers' rights. According to the Commission, the attack on Barrios
should be added to the list of recent attacks on human rights activists
in the State of Puebla, including the murder of lawyer Griselda Tirado
Evangelio in Huehuetla and threats and abuse against members of CADEM in
Cuetzalan, and threats and intimidation against the CAT and members of
the independent union at the Tarrant Ajalpan facility.
Representatives of No sweat met Barrios outside the gates of Tarrant and
we want to make sure he doesn't think that we have forgotten him - TAKE ACTION AT:
 http://www.nosweat.org.uk/article.php?sid=755&mode=thread&order=0