Justice
For Our Sister
Marcella Sali Grace!
An Appeal
27 September,
2008
Countercurrents.org
Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca.
Thursday, September 25
Brother and sisters,
Our hearts are full of sadness and rage because our sister Sali was
brutally raped and murdered 20 minutes from San Jose del Pacifico
and up to this moment the Oaxacan Attorney General's Office, as is
its custom, is not doing anything regarding the fact that there exist
witnesses who have information to identify those responsible.
Marcella Sali Grace was born in the United States, with a big heart
in solidarity with just causes. She had many friend because she was
always inclined to help, using her artistic talents to paint a banner
or a wall or dancing Arabic dance to raise funds for the struggle,
or putting on punk shows, or giving self-defense courses to the women
because she knew very well how the men accosted them. This was one
of her struggles, that women were free and respected. Sali was so
involved in the struggle that she was an international accompanier
of brothers and sisters who felt harassed by the bad government of
Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.
Unfortunately, on September 24, a woman's body was found with the
physical characteristics of Sali, in a deserted cabin twenty minutes
from the village of San Jose del Pacifico and at the moment when a
village member went to feed some dogs around that area, he was struck
by a fetid odor coming from this cabin and notified the municipal
authorities of the village, who proceeded to removed the body that
was found which was already in a state of decay, and after these events,
they did not give any more information to the people in the village.
Yesterday, companera Julieta Cruz (who knew Sali was headed for San
Jose del Pacifico) was informed that a young, foreign woman was found
in the Miahuatlan amphitheatre, where she went, and where she recognized
the body of Sali because of the tattoos she had, as her face was unrecognizable.
Julieta thinks it is because of burns, but it doesn't explain why
the rest of her body has less visible damage. When we asked for the
case number we were denied as well from seeing the results of the
autopsy, as they argued with us that because we weren't relatives
they couldn't give us any information.
Due to her solidarity work with the popular struggle of the people
of Oaxaca, in other struggles in the world and against the racism
on Mexico's border with the U.S., on different occasions and to different
people, Sali mentioned that recently in Oaxaca she had suffered political
persecution and surveillance. This makes us think that her cowardly
murderer is related to the widespread repression against the social
movement and directed particularly at international observers. Because
of this, we don't dismiss that the intellectual authors are the same
who ordered the repression against the people of Oaxaca in their struggle
for justice and freedom.
In the face of these bloody events, and for the brutal cruelty used
against companera Sali, we don't disregard that this could be a clear
message directed at all the people of Oaxaca, as well as the companeros
in solidarity from different parts of the world; we say this based
on the recent national and international news which says that "APPO
members were the ones who killed U.S. journalist Bradley Roland Will"
and as there is no justice in Oaxaca, we worry that the distortion
of information could interfere in procuring true justice for our companera
and the clear bureaucratic slowness with which the involved authorities
are already treating this investigation.
In the face of these lamentable events, WE DEMAND:
The
immediate speeding up of the investigations.
The immediate clarification of the facts.
Punishment for the intellectual and material murderers.
Justice for our sister Marcella Sali Grace!
Enough is enough with of the murders, violence and hate against women
who fight for justice!
We ask
you to sign on (at the email indicated) to this demand for justice
and to become a part of the urgent activities to demand the clarification
of these cowardly acts.
[email protected]
Information: (01 951) 5178190 CIPO
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25
9:00 am Presence at the U.S. Consulate in Oaxaca
(Santo Domingo Plaza, Col. Centro, Oaxaca)
12:00 noon Rally at the State Attorney General's Office: To demand
the case is brought to Oaxaca and to speed up the bureaucratic procedures
for the administration of justice.
(Domicilio conocido, San Antonio de la Cal, Col. Experimental).
Signed:
Encuentro de Mujeres Oaxaquenas "Compartiendo Voces de Esperanza"
Colectivo Mujer Nueva
Consejo Indigena Popular de Oaxaca Ricardo Flores Magon
Voces Oaxaquenas Construyendo Autonomia y Libertad
Colectivo Tod@s Somos Pres@s
Encuentro de Jovenes en el Movimiento Social Oaxaqueno
(...)
Translation by Scott Campbell