2006 Oaxaca Protests

2006 Oaxaca Protests

The Mexican state of Oaxaca was embroiled in a conflict that lasted more than seven months and resulted in at least seventeen deaths and the occupation of the capital city of Oaxaca by the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). The conflict emerged in May 2006 with the police responding to a strike involving the local teachers' trade union by opening fire on non-violent protests. It has since grown into a broad-based movement pitting the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) against the state's governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Protesters demand the removal or resignation of Ortiz, whom they accuse of political corruption and acts of repression. Multiple reports, including from international human rights monitors, have accused the Mexican government of using death squads, summary executions, and even violating Geneva Conventions standards that prohibit attacking and shooting at unarmed medics attending to the wounded.

One human rights observer has claimed over twenty-seven killed by the police violence. The dead include Brad Will, Emilio Alonso Fabian, Jose Alberto Lopez Bernal, Fidel Sanchez Garcia, and Esteban Zurita Lopez.