3 June, 2009The international labour community mourns the death of labour and human rights defender, Dr. Manual Arroyo Galván, and calls for an immediate and transparent investigation.
MEXICO: The IMF calls on Mexican authorities to urgently investigate the assassination of a well-known workers' rights advocate, Dr. Manual Arroyo Galván in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on May 29.
Dr. Arroyo cooperated with the IMF on a range of worker rights projects and research on working conditions in the maquiladoras.
Dr. Arroyo was a professor of sociology at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez and had been involved for many years with different social justice organizations, including the " Organización Popular Independiente" which he formed.
He was currently writing a book to call on the social movements to join forces to improve human rights and working conditions in the maquiladoras and was a long time advocate and coordinator for the campaign to defend freedom of association and labour rights in Ciudad Juárez.
Dr. Arroyo was 44 years old and was shot six times in the head on the open streets in Ciudad Juárez, but so far no perpetrator has been arrested. According to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Mexico D.F (FESMEX), Dr. Arroyo is the seventh university professor killed in the last two years. All of those killed have been involved in non-government organization activity or human and labour rights projects.
Ciudad Juárez is one of the most violent cities in Mexico. In the last year around 1600 people have been victims of violence and in most cases these crimes have not been investigated and have gone unpunished, despite the fact that some 8500 soldiers are stationed in the city.
The IMF joins the international labour movement in mourning Dr. Manuel Arroyo Galvan's death and demands that the State of Chihuahua and the Federal Government take urgent action to identify and punish those guilty of his murder, and to guarantee the right to life and physical integrity of human rights defenders and the population in Ciudad Juárez.