To Stop Violence...

Peter Gabriel, Diego Luna, and Jaguares' Saul Hernandez Meet With President Calderon to Stop Violence Against Women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua

MEXICO CITY, March 27, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Today, rock legend Peter Gabriel, actor Diego Luna, Jaguares' Saul Hernandez, and Patricia Cervantes, the mother of Neyra Cervantes, who was disappeared and murdered in 2003, met with President Felipe Calderon to urge him to increase his efforts to end the violence and murders of women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua.

Mr. Gabriel said, "We came to bring a message from thousands of people around the globe. The world has not forgotten the hundreds of women who were brutally murdered in Juarez and Chihuahua in the past sixteen years." He added, "The families have waited long enough for answers. "

During the meeting, President Calderon suggested that participating NGOs provide him with a list of priorities related to feminicide and that authorities meet with these NGOs periodically to review progress on these issues. Within the confines of legal proceedings, he also committed to make this process transparent to the general public.

The Attorney General and the Minister of Interior, who also participated in the meeting, both committed to personally follow up on the cases of Neyra Azucena Cervantes who disappeared in 2003 and her cousin, David Meza, who spent three years in jail after being tortured into confessing to her murder. These stories are the focus of the film, "Dual Injustice," co-produced by WITNESS, the human rights NGO founded by Mr. Gabriel, and Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH: undefined, undefined, undefined%).

The artists, along with Patricia Cervantes, presented President Calderon with a petition signed by thousands of people from around the world. They thanked him for this groundbreaking meeting and the renewed hope it offered for the women of Juarez and Chihuahua.

Since 1993, over 470 women have been violently killed in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico - in a phenomenon known as feminicide. More than half of the victims have been women and girls between the ages of 13 and 22 years. Their mangled bodies often show signs of sexual violence and many have yet to be positively identified. Explanations for the murders have ranged from forced prostitution and organ trafficking, to satanic rituals and the production of snuff movies. However, there has been no sufficient evidence pointing to one particular theory.