Oaxaca’s human rights ombudsman is ready to present evidence of government repression in Oaxaca before the International Court of Justice.

Arturo Peimbert Calvo said his office will file charges of crimes against humanity and present the results of investigations into several acts of alleged repression committed by the state and federal governments in 2006 and 2007.

He said a formal investigation by the World Court into the actions by ex-governor Ulises Ruiz Ortíz and senior police and military officials could follow.

“Crimes against humanity like forced disappearance, torture, improper imprisonment and political crimes have no statute of limitations, and we bring these cases before international authorities in order to give the victims justice,” said Peimbert.

The cases to be presented include repression against activists with the Popular Assembly of Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) and teachers with the CNTE union’s Oaxaca local Section 22 in 2006 and 2007, as well as the disappearance of several activists, including Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Cruz, of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR).

Peimbert claimed that such repression continues in Oaxaca and elsewhere in Mexico to counter social protests.

The case was originally filled with the court in March of last year, when Peimbert accused ex-governor Ruiz of crimes against humanity.

Ruiz, who governed the state between 2004 and 2010, is one of several members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) vying for the leadership of its national executive committee.

He has alleged that corruption scandals involving ex-president Enrique Peña Nieto caused the party’s rout in last year’s elections.

Source: Milenio (sp)