BILL NUMBER: HR 5	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cristina Garcia

                        JANUARY 8, 2015

   Relative to Mexico and human rights.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
             HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, On September 26, 2014, 43 college students from the
Ayotzinapa Normal School in Guerrero, Mexico, disappeared in Iguala,
Mexico; and
   WHEREAS, Mexico's Attorney General, Jésus Murillo Karam, announced
in a televised press conference on November 7, 2014, that the
evidence indicates the 43 missing students had been executed and
incinerated in the municipal dump of Cocula, Mexico, by the Guerreros
Unidos cartel; and
   WHEREAS, It has been estimated that 25,000 to 26,000 people have
disappeared in Mexico since 2006; and
   WHEREAS, The disappeared often include the very vulnerable, such
as poor migrants, indigenous people, and women and children; and
   WHEREAS, According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the state
and federal army units in Iguala failed to intervene to protect the
students; and
   WHEREAS, The director of the American division of Human Rights
Watch, José Manuel Vivanco, described the murders in Iguala, Mexico,
and an earlier massacre in Tlatlaya, Mexico, as "the worst atrocities
we've seen in Mexico in years, but they are hardly isolated
incidents"; and
   WHEREAS, There has been an international outcry regarding the
deaths of the missing students in Mexico from, among others, the
United Nations, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the European
Parliament, and the international human rights community; and
   WHEREAS, On July 20, 2014, A Memorandum of Understanding for
Strengthening Trade and Investment Cooperation Between the Ministry
of Economy of the United Mexican States and the Government of the
State of California of the United States of America was signed by
Governor Jerry Brown of the State of California and Minister
Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal of the United States of Mexico; and
   WHEREAS, The purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding "is to
establish a formal and flexible framework between the Participants to
expand trade and investment cooperation, foster scientific and
technological collaboration for business development in emerging key
sectors, strengthen communication, enhance trust, boost economic
development and create jobs"; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California,  That the
Assembly adds its voice to those in the international community
condemning the disappearance and deaths of the missing college
students from Mexico as a violation of human rights, and offers its
support to all those in Mexico standing up for human rights and
justice against corruption and violence; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Assembly urges Governor Jerry Brown to suspend
the Memorandum of Understanding between California and the United
Mexican States and urges the State of California to divest from doing
business with the United Mexican States until the human rights of
the people of Mexico have been reevaluated; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Assembly urges the government of Mexico to
support further dialogue between the international community,
including the United States, and human rights organizations on human
rights reforms; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.