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Daniel Feder <danfeder@...> wrote:

To: narconews@yahoogroups.com
From: Daniel Feder <danfeder@...>
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 12:55:35 -0500
Subject: [narconews] Valentina Palma: "They Ordered Me to Lay My Head In a Pool of Blood"


May 12, 2006
Please Distribute Widely

Dear Colleague,

Perhaps nothing so far in the pages of the Other Journalism with the
Other Campaign communicates so clearly the terror and suffering that
the Mexican government unleashed in the town of San Salvador Atenco
last week like the recently published testimony of Valentina Palma
Novoa. Unlike most of the political prisoners of Atenco who continue
to languish in prison, Palma, a Chilean citizen who has lived in
Mexico for eleven years, was quickly released and deported to her
home country. Palma suffered intense physical, emotional and sexual
abuse at the hands of the police, and saw even worse crimes being
committed against others. Upon returning to Chile she began
courageously denouncing this state violence in radio, television and
press interviews. She also wrote an lengthy, eloquent letter
detailing what she had seen and experienced, which we publish today
in English in Narco News:

http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo

An excerpt:

"I came down from the roof slowly, terrorized by the sight of the
boys being beaten in the head. Two police officers took hold of me
and pulled me forward while others beat me on the chest, back and
legs with their clubs. My cries of pain increased when I heard the
voice of someone asking my name for the list of arrested. I
responded, 'Valentina... Valentina Palma Novoa,' while a police
officer ordered me to shut my mouth and another hit me in the chest.

"A man's voice ordered the officers to cover me with shields so
people could not see how badly they had beaten me. They paused to one
side of the church and ordered me to join the rest of the arrested,
then forced me to kneel and put my hands behind my head. They
continued to beat us. My cell phone rang and a voice ordered me to
turn over my bag. In that moment, I was separated from my video
camera, my cell phone and my small purse containing my identification
and fifty pesos.

"They pulled me up by my hair and said, 'Get in the truck, bitch.' I
could barely move but they demanded that we move incredibly quickly.
They tossed me on top of other wounded and bleeding bodies and
ordered me to lay my head in a pool of blood. I didn't want to put my
head in the blood, but the black boot of a police officer forced me
to do it. The truck started and began to move. Along the way, I was
groped by the hands many police officers. I just closed my eyes and
clenched my teeth, hoping that the worst would not happen.

"My pants were down when the truck stopped and I was ordered to get
off. I got down awkwardly and a female police officer said, 'Leave
this bitch to me,' then hit my ears with both of her hands. I fell,
and two police officers took me through a line of police who kicked
us as we moved towards a bus.

"Once on the bus, another female police officer asked me my name,
while two male officers grabbed my breasts violently and threw me on
top of the body of an old man whose face was nothing more than a
crust of blood. The old man cried out in pain when he felt the weight
of my body on top of him. I tried to move but a kick to the back
stopped me. My own shout made the old man scream out again, asking
for God's mercy."

The Mexican government has several hundred more people locked up (not
to mention the scores of missing and "disappeared" whose fate remains
unknown) as a result of the May 4 raid on San Salvador Atenco, each
another story like this one waiting to be told. Each day that these
people remain in prison strengthens the indictment of Mexico's so-
called democracy, only adding credibility to Zapatista Subcomandante
Marcos' case that there is no remedy for the country's political
crisis under the current system of government.

The Other Journalism's reporting from the front lines of that crisis
continues, so stay with us...

http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo

From somewhere in a country called América,

Dan Feder
Managing Editor
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com
webmaster@...

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P.O. Box 241
Natick, MA 01760
http://www.authenticjournalism.org

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------end of forwarded message-------


MMM (Global Million Marijuana March):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction
Newsweek, Nov. 14, 2005, page 36:
"The most recent evidence comes from autopsies of 44 prisoners who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in U.S. custody. Most died under circumstances that suggest torture. The reports use words like 'strangulation,' 'asphyxiation' and 'blunt force injuries.' ...  A few months before the [Abu Ghraib] scandal broke [spring 2004], Coalition Provisional Authority polls showed Iraqi support at 63 percent. A month after Abu Ghraib, the number was 9 percent. Polls showed that 71 percent of Iraqis were surprised by the revelations."

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