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September 25, 2003

The Honorable Juan Jose Bremer
Ambassador to the United States
1911 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

Your Excellency,

We are writing to express our concern about the abduction and killings of women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua and the failure of the competent authorities over the last ten years to take action to investigate these crimes and bring those responsible to justice.

This region of Mexico has realized spectacular growth in the last decade due to the development of the maquiladoras that provide employment to many people and other jobs that have been created because of the growth in industry. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men represent approximately 100,000 sisters, brothers and religious priests in the U.S. Many of our member congregations have a substantial presence on the Mexico-U.S. border working among the Mexican communities on both sides of the border. The Conferences advocate reform in U.S. policies that will protect the rights of the migrants working in this area. They also advocate justice for workers in both the U.S. and in the maquiladoras in Mexico.

The members of the Conferences are greatly concerned about the reports of the hundreds of women who are missing or have been brutally murdered since 1993. Many of those who have been murdered were also tortured and sexually assaulted prior to their deaths.

We are aware of your government’s commitment to protect the human rights of your citizens and improve response to human rights violations. With this in mind, we would like to urge your government to recognize and condemn the torture, abductions, and killings; to ensure an impartial and thorough investigation into all the cases of abductions and killings in Cuidad Juarez and Chihuahua; and to recognized the legitimacy of the relatives’ efforts to obtain truth, justice and reparations.

As long as these cases remain uninvestigated and the perpetrators of these crimes remain at large, Mexico’s commitment to improving human rights is severely undermined. On behalf of the members of our Conferences, we urge you to fully implement the necessary measures to investigate these crimes, bring those responsible to justice, and send a clear signal that these egregious human rights violations will not be tolerated in Mexico.

Sincerely,

Stan DeBoe, OSST
Director, Office of Justice and Peace

Marie Lucey, OSF
Associate Director for Social Mission

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