Important Alternative Resources For Victims

Recently, my friend Michelle sent me this copy of an article from the Harvard Human Rights Journal. Written by the lead counsel, Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, the article describes a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights filed on behalf of Jessica Gonzales against the United States Government.

Ms. Gonzales is a U.S. citizen whose three daughters were abducted by her estranged husband in June 1999. Despite having a restraining order against her husband because of previous incidents of domestic violence, local law enforcement officers ignored Ms. Gonzales' repeated calls for help. As a result, the Gonzales' girls were brutally murdered by their father.

Ms. Gonzales filed a lawsuit against the local police department in federal court, but her case was dismissed before discovery even began. The case went on to the Supreme Court, which decided that enforcement of protective orders was not manditory.

The Supreme Court's ruling shocked and outraged victims' rights and other groups across the country. Normally, Ms. Gonzales' case would have ended there, but she and her supporters decided to try an obscure legal remedy. They filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) claiming that the U.S. was responsible for human rights violations. Although the Commission has no enforcement authority, because it is an arm of the Organization of American States, its decisions "...carry significant moral and political weight and contribute to international standard setting" (p. 185).

Upon examination of Ms. Gonzales' petition by the Commission, it was upheld. This was the first time a domestic violence survivor had filed a case against the U.S. in an international court. The Gonzales case exposed serious human rights violations committed by a U.S. Government used to accusing other countries. For the first time, the U.S. was held accountable for its own actions at the international level and was shown to not be in compliance with international human rights standards.

At the same time, Ms. Gonzales also pursued other international avenues for relief. Although none of them offer any enforceable remedies, all of these have provided forums for exposing the violations of human rights involved and put pressure on the U.S. Government to fix their problems or risk being labeled a Third World country with regard to their stance on human rights.

As a result of the Gonzales case, various other victims and victims' rights groups have also filed petitions against the U.S. Government with the Commission. These petitions are designed to add to the pressure on the government to clean up its act with regard to human rights violations.

Victims of domestic abuse, organized crime, organized/gang stalking, police corruption, hate, and other crimes who are unable to obtain the justice or relief they are entitled to through normal means within the U.S. Government need to be aware that these international options are open to them. At the end of the article, I'm also posting contact and other basic information for victims from the IACHR's website, where additional information is available. Victims from countries other than the U.S. should check to see if they are also eligible to petition the IACHR. (For example, Canadian citizens also have this potential remedy.) Citizens of other countries should look into some of the other international possibilities mentioned in the article as well.

Unfortunately, for many of the most serious U.S. victims of human rights violations like myself and my children, these international remedies are not currently accessible due to the fact that some of the human rights violations being committed against us involve extensive conspiracies to deny us any sort of proper legal representation. We and many others are being victimized by persons with essentially unlimited legal and financial resources and contacts and associates at the highest levels of the U.S. Government. Until ALL American victims are able to obtain the legal help they desperately need, human rights violations in the U.S. are likely to continue and, sadly, expand.

The Muegge Murder

How many coincidences are too many? You be the judge!

Linda Muegge (55) was found murdered inside her burning home in Fredericksburg on May 14, 2007.

The following is a list of interesting facts connected with this case that I've referenced to various newspaper accounts by number for documentation purposes.

1) Locals first tried to pass off Ms. Muegge's death as having been due to a house fire.

2) First responders just happened to be training nearby at the time of Ms. Muegge's death, resulting in their being at the crime scene unusually quickly.

3) Ms. Muegge happened to be attacked on the one day everyone who knew her knew she was always at home.

4) The newspapers published conflicting information about previous local homicides.

5) The friend who admitted to being at the murder scene very quickly happened to also have lost her mother to a suspicious death. (See "Boot Ranch" on this blog.)

6) This same friend happens to have her office in the same building as a doctor who is currently developing property close to mine.

7) Ms. Muegge's boyfriend died shortly after she did. He had worked for the Texas Office of the Attorney General.

8) Ms. Muegge had worked at a local title company.

9) An animal of Ms. Muegge's was shot a year before her death.

10) Both Ms. Muegge and her friend's late mother were born in Buffalo, New York.

Update, 2/14:  According to KXAN Investigates, the Muegge case is active again, and they are asking for any tips anyone might have.  In their recent coverage, KXAN stated that Ms. Muegge was stabbed in the head, which is different from the accounts of her death above.  KXAN reports that Ms. Muegge's ex-husband is considered a suspect in the case but that there are also a number of other suspects being looked at.

Update, 5/14, from legal notice published in the Fredericksburg Standard:

Bryla is a lifelong close personal friend of my ex-husband's and the partner of my ex-'s divorce lawyer.  The area described in the notice is Ms. Meugge's general neighborhood.

Now see

http://vocct.blogspot.com/2014/01/unsuitable-for-building.html

and

http://vocct.blogspot.com/2014/10/nonconforming-uses.html

Updated material from the Muegge case can be found at

http://vocct.blogspot.com/2012/10/remember.html

Update 9/15:

Note that Bruce Curry has also repeatedly impeded the investigation into the murder of Phillip Shue in Boerne.

Pickups And Port-A-Potties

This graphic was published recently in the San Antonio Express-News as part of an article entitled "Cartels Targeting Pickups". It illustrates quite nicely many of the things I discussed here a year ago in my post entitled "Hill Country Holidays" (12/29/09).

It also serves as a very effective response by me to a large number of ugly comments left all over this blog by my ex-husband.

How Do I Love Thee?

Let me count the ways. (Feel free to add the names of other Central Texas youths who have died suddenly and far too young to this list, which is only partial.)

1) Zobek Zapeda
2) Nicole Bryla
3) Preston Nelson
4) Scott Bain
5) Tori Eckert
6) Sherry Oestreich
7) Glenda Hoerster
8) Leighton Burrer
9) Cassie Ann Hough
10) Krista Vollmar
11) Luke Whiting
12) Cody Brown
13) Brown teen
14) Andrew Quasnitschka
15) Austin Wright
16) David Allen Walker
17) Jorge Montalvo
18) Rodolfo Alvarez
19) Tom Webb IV
20) Demetrios Nicholas
21) Courtney Foreman
22) John Dilday
23) Dylan Ross
24)  Sammy Herrera
25)  Doug DeVos
26)  Quinn Kott

...

A Tribute To Carlos Guerra

Last Monday, noted South Texas journalist and civil rights activist Carlos Guerra was found dead at a condo at the coast as reported by the San Antonio Express-News.

I'm also including a copy of fellow columnist Cary Clack's moving tribute. Guerra was widely known to be principled, outspoken, and aggressive about seeking the truth--just the sort of writer to be hated by the corrupt.

Carlos Guerra will be sorely missed.

Update, 12/17/10:
Today I'm adding tributes by others that have also been published in the San Antonio Express-News.

Secret Sippers

As you make your rounds of various holiday functions, be sure to keep an eye out for these bargain beauties.

Today the DOJ Said

I received this letter in today's mail, and frankly, I'm not sure why. It's been quite a while since I last asked the DOJ for help. Also, this response is ridiculous, given the level of police and public corruption here, the fact that my children and I are under illegal surveillance with federal equipment, the fact that high-level political and law enforcement personnel are involved in committing crimes against us, the fact that I've received a death threat from a law enforcement officer, and MUCH more, all of which is well-documented on this blog.