Death threats for Morales Montaño

José Enrique Morales Montaño was kidnapped by unknown men who threatened to kill him on 15 May 2012. Morales was a member of the Workers Support Centre (CAT) in Puebla. He was on his way to a hearing of the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board where the CAT was defending the rights of a group of garment workers.

As a result of the campaign of violence against the Workers Support Centre (CAT) members, the CAT has now been forced to close its office in Puebla, Mexico.

The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) has contacted the Mexican authorities and the EU delegation in Mexico. The EU delegation confirmed that they had raised the case with the Mexican Ministry of the Interior.

The Mexican Secretariat for Work and Social Security replied to CCC that the kidnapping and the threats against Jose Enrique Morales Montaño from the Workers Support Centre do not lie within the department’s scope of work. The Secretariat stated that they had consulted other labour-related bodies, but that the case did not fit their scope of work either.