Lic. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio Nacional
06067 Mexico D.F.
Mexico

Sr. Presidente:

I am writing to express my concern for the safety of Julio Bello Palacios (aged 16), Remigio Ayala Martinez (aged 18), Laurencio Guarneros Sandoval (aged 40), and Carlos Ricardo Ruiz Canada, a restaurant manager (aged 45). They were arrested on 11 January 1997 by members of the judicial police of Yautepec at Yautepec, Tepoztlan, Morelos state.

During the first two hours of their detention, at least two of them -- Julio Bello Palacios and Laurencio Guarneros Sandoval -- were alleged to have been tortured. All four were later transferred to prison in Cuernavaca, Morelos state, where they remain.

Laurencio Guarneros Sandoval, Julio Bello Palacios and Remigio Ayala Martinez are members of the Comite de Unidad Tepozteca (Committee of Tepoztecan Unity), an indigenous peasant organization, and of the volunteer security group for the Tepoztlan tow