Chiapas: Conflict erupts in Venustiano Carranza, with two dead and several injured

On 5 May in Venustiano Carranza, there were seen confrontations between members of the campesino organizations Casa del Pueblo and the Emiliano Zapata Campesino Organization-Chiapas (OCEZ-Chiapas), resulting in several injured and two dead.  According to information provided by the diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the confrontation began during the early morning of Sunday 5 May, when masked persons entered into different residences firing guns and burning homes.  In their respective communiques, both groups blamed the opposing organization for having initiated the conflict.  During the course of the happenings, which engulfed nearly the entire urban zone of Venustiano Carranza with the exception of two neighborhoods, two persons died and several more were injured.  For its part, the OCEZ-Carranza Region (OCEZ-RC) distanced itself from the events.

Following the confrontations, the state government indicated that it all had to do with an agrarian conflict, and for this reason it did not consider itself competent to attempt resolution of the problem.  Regardless, on 7 May, toward the end of seeking a solution to the conflict Noé Castañón, General Secretary for Governance, Raciel López Salazar,  state Attorney General, and Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca, head of the Secretary for Public Security and Citizens’ Protection, visited the area to try to find a solution to the conflict, in accordance with media reports.  It was proposed that families belonging to OCEZ-Chiapas, which presently find themselves outside the offices of Citizens’ Protection, that they be relocated to the Berriozabal municipality, a proposal they rejected.  The same journalistic source indicated that a military check-point had been established at the entrance of a community of the municipality, with several fly-overs reported.

For more information (in Spanish):

Proceso: Enfrentamientos entre pobladores dejan tres muertos en Chiapas (05/05/2013)

Proceso: Pasividad del gobierno de Manuel Velasco causa violencia en Chiapas: ONG (06/05/2013)

Proceso: Campesinos de Chiapas temen más agresiones de supuestos paramilitares (08/05/2013)

Comunicado de la OCEZ-FNLS

Comunicado de la OCEZ-Chiapas

Comunicado de la OCEZ-RC

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Denunciation of residents of Candelaria El Alto, Venustiano Carranza regarding the “El Desengaño” territory (25 March 2012)

Chiapas: new public denunciation from the Candelaria El Alto community (16 January 2012)

Chiapas: confrontation in Candelaria El Alto, Venustiano Carranza (28 September 2011)

Chiapas: Confrontation in Petalcingo leaves one dead

Photo @Contrapoder

The Tila City Hall, located in northern Chiapas, has reported that one person died from gunshot wounds, with six others injured, in the Petalcingo ejido following a confrontation that occurred during the early morning of 5 May.  “The situation in the ejido has worsened after the murder of a youth, given that the followers” of Eliseo Trinidad Trujillo Hernández, ex-mayoral candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for Tilia, “set ablaze the ejidal house and the library there located,” beyond the fact that “several men armed with pistols, machetes, and sticks have now besieged Petalcingo with trees and rocks.”

“The disturbances in the Nueva Esperanza neighborhood of Petalcingo have been developing for several months now, but the indifference of the authorities in terms of justice has resulted in the growth of shock-groups and the creation of a hostile environment; even the State Attorney General’s Office and the Subsecretary for Governance were aware of this all.”  The differences among the groups of Petalcingo have been exacerbated after the municipal elections in Tila, held on 2 July 2012, with the triumph of Limberg Gutiérrez Gómez, representative of the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) over the PRI candidate Trujillo Hernández.

For more information (in Spanish):

Un muerto en enfrentamiento (Cuarto Poder, 6 de mayo de 2013)

Mueren 3 en Chiapas por enfrentamientos (La Jornada, 6 de mayo de 2013)

Enfrentamientos entre pobladores dejan tres muertos en Chiapas (Contrapoder, 6 de mayo de 2013)

Oaxaca: Disturbances during May Day march; human-rights defender among those arrested

@ CODIGO-DH

On 1 May in Oaxaca City, there was held a commemorative march for International Workers’ Day which resulted in confrontations between protestors and the municipal police, leaving 34 arrested, including 7 minors.   In a communique, the Committee for Comprehensive Defense of Human Rights Gobixha (CODIGO-DH) reported that the police opened fire with live ammunition, firing into the ground before the protestors and the air above them.  Furthermore, Gobixha demanded the liberation of Susana Ramírez Jiménez, a CODIGO-DH member, who was arrested as she was documenting abuses on the part of the police, having identified herself as a human-rights defender; however, this did not prevent her from being arrested.  Due to the context in which her arrest was performed, and given the lack of communication and violation of the right of habeas corpus, an Urgent Action was released demanding her immediate release, as well as that of those who were “arbitrarily arrested.”  On 2 May, in an update on the situation of Ramírez Jiménez, who at that time still was incarcerated, CODIGO-DH indicated that “our fear is that they could fabricate crimes against her, due to her mere presence at the time and space of the protest, so as to systematically criminalize human-rights defenders and social activists.  We denounce the excessive use of public force on the part of the police, who used their firearms to ‘contain the protestors’ by firing high-caliber weapons, including R-15′s, just in front of the protestors, both into the air as into the ground.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Acción Urgente: Nuevas detenciones arbitrarias en Oaxaca, entre ellas una integrante de CODIGO-DH (01/05/2013)

CODIGO-DH: Defensora de CODIGO DH sigue detenida (02/05/2013)

Ciudadanía Express: Documentan abusos policiales en detención de manifestantes (02/05/2013)

Quadratín Oaxaca: Liberarán a menores que participaron en disturbios del 1 de Mayo (02/05/2013)

Noticias Oaxaca: Violencia opaca Día del Trabajo (02/05/2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Oaxaca: Harassment of the offices of Código DH (8 April 2013)

Oaxaca: Harassment and robbery of offices of Consorcio (14 November 2011)

Oaxaca: new intimidation directed at Alba Cruz (18 January 2011)

National: Second March for National Dignity

On 10 May, Mother’s Day in Mexico, there was held a “Second March for National Dignity” in which participated Mexican and Central American mothers who are seeking out their disappeared daughters and sons in Mexico.  The caravan was accompanied by civil-society organizations that demand truth and justice for the at least 26,000 cases of disappearances that have occurred in recent years, the majority of which continue without having been investigated.

“Today, May 10, is a very special day for many women who are mothers in Mexico.  However, for these mothers it is a sad memory of the absence of their children,” emphasized Daniel Zapico, representative of Amnesty International (AI) in Mexico.  “It is time that these authorities recognize the dignity of the struggle of these families and act to observe their obligations to clarify their disappearances and hold those responsible to justice,” noted the communique published by AI on the occasion.

For its part, the Network All Rights for All expressed that “it is very worrying that a year after the first March for National Dignity, the demands of mothers and relatives have not been resolved, and the number of disappeared continues to rise.  These realities show us the incompetence and lack of will on the part of local, state, and federal authorities to labor to resolve the disappearances and above all to guarantee, protect, and respect the human rights of all.  The Mexican State should take its responsibility by finding the disappeared, utilizing all the means available to it so that victims have access to truth, reparations, and the security of not continuing to be object of violations that damage their dignity.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Madres con hijos desaparecidos marchan, lanzan globos, cuentan su historia, lloran… (Proceso, 10 de mayo de 2013)

Madres de desaparecidos exigen búsqueda efectiva de sus familiares (La Jornada, 10 de mayo de 2013)

La Red TDT se solidariza con la Segunda Marcha de la Dignidad Nacional (Comunicado Red TdT, 10 de mayo de 2013)

Demandan que se tipifique como delito la desaparición de personas en Chihuahua (Proceso, 9 de mayo de 2013)

Participará Amnistía Internacional en Marcha de la Dignidad Nacional (La Jornada, 9 de mayo de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

National: Mothers of the disappeared on hunger strike before Segob (16 November 2012)

Mexico: Caravan of mothers of Central American migrants seeking out their children (2 November 2012)

National: “March for National Dignity, mother seeking out their children and justice” (18 May 2012)

Mexico: Report of the UN Work Group on Forced and Involuntary Disappearances (24 March 2012)

Chiapas: Civil Observation Mission ends in Tenosique; migrants and rights-defenders in grave danger; caravan of Central American mothers searching for disappeared relatives arrives in Tenosique (14 November 2011)

Mexico: the International Week of the Disappeared and Detained ends (9 June 2011)

Mexico: Preliminary conclusions from the UN relator regarding extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions in the country

From 22 April to 2 May, the Special Relator of the Untied Nations on extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, visited Mexico, where he met with governmental officials, judges, members of civil society, and victims in Mexico City and the states of Chihuahua, Guerrero, and Nuevo León.

Upon finishing his visit, Heyns urged the Mexican government to strengthen the structure of the country in terms of protection of human rights in general and the right to life in particular, so as to reduce the necessity of the use of force.  Mr. Heyns also recommended the reduction of the involvement of military forces in police tasks.

“From my point of view, it is particularly important to diminish the participation of soldiers in police work, to assure that civil courts judge members of the armed forces who have been accused of committing human-rights violations, including murders of civilians; and to establish clear and broadly recognized standards on the use of force on the part of public-security forces,” he said.  The Special Relator also called special attention to the problem of impunity: “All of these lives that have been lost should be investigated with the same rigor, and each perpetrator should be apprehended and judged.  To follow this object it would serve not only to diminish impunity but also to re-establish the value that society places on life,” he emphasized.  Heyns stressed the importance of making justice by solving past homicides, whether committed during the Dirty War, or the more than 100,000 registered during the government of Felipe Calderón.  Whichever strategy is chosen for the future, he noted, must first look to the past.

For more information (in Spanish):

El desastre mexicano pone a dudar al relator Heyns (Proceso, 7 de mayo de 2013)

Comunicado de prensa: Relator Especial de la ONU urge al Estado mexicano a fortalecer la protección de los DH y reducir el uso de las fuerzas militares en labores policíacas(OACNUDH, 3 de mayo de 2013)

La estrategia militar contra crimen no funciona: ONU(El Universal, 3 de mayo de 2013)

Impunidad sistémica y endémica, principal desafío del gobierno federal: Christof Heyns (La Jornada, 3 de mayo de 2013)

Observaciones preliminares sobre la visita oficial a México del Relator Especial sobre ejecuciones extrajudiciales, sumarias o arbitrarias, Christof Heyns, 22 de abril al 2 de mayo del 2013b (2 de mayo de 2013)

Ojalá gendarmería no se trate del Ejército con “otro uniforme”: Relator de la ONU (Proceso. 2 de mayo de 2013)

Activistas y víctimas de Guerrero se reúnen con el relator de la ONU (La Jornada, 30 de abril de 2013)

Presenta ombudsman a relator de la ONU panorama de derechos (La Jornada, 25 de abril de 2013)

Especial interés de relator de la ONU en temas de fuero y justicia militar del país(La Jornada, 24 de abril de 2013)

Detallan a relator de la ONU un negro panorama en derechos humanos en México (Proceso, 24 de abril de 2013)

Chiapas: Call for Justice and the #Release of Patishtán, from 4 May to 19 June

From 4 May to 19 June, relatives of the prisoner Alberto Patishtán Gómez, the Movement of the People of El Bosque in Favor of the Release of Alberto Patishtán, and other organizations have organized a campaign called “For Justice and the #Release of Patishtan.”  In the blog which contains the information regarding Patishtán Gómez, it is asserted that “the lawyers of professor ALBERTO PATISHTAN have been informed at the Supreme Court for Justice in the Nation that the resolution is still to be awaited [...].  In light of this, we believe that during this month of May it is possible to remit the case before the FIRST COLLEGIATE TRIBUNAL which will release its decision immediately.  As a consequence, the resolution as to whether his innocence will be recognized or not could be had in the month of June 2013.”

On 19 June will have passed 13 years since the beginning of the incarceration of professor Patishtán, and it is for this reason that the campaign will be launched.  Beyond this, there will be carried out presentations of the documentary “Alberto Patishtan: Live or Die for Truth and Justice.”  In this sense, there will also be a campaign to sign letters directed to the justices of the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Tuxtla Gutierrez Circuit.  Some of the other actions to be included will be a march every Friday from 10-12pm and from 4-7pm, with the Twitter hashtag #ReleasePatishstán.

For more information (in Spanish):

CONVOCATORIA POR LA JUSTICIA Y LA #LIBERTADPATISHTAN del 4 de mayo al 19 de junio 2013 (Blog Alberto Patishtán, mayo 2013)

Documental: Alberto Patishtán; Vivir o Morir Por la Verdad y la Justicia (Koman Ilel, abril 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Pilgrimage of the Believing People for the release of professor Alberto Patishtán Gómez (23 April 2013)

Chiapas: Petition from the CDHFBC to release Alberto Patishtán (15 April 2013)

Chiapas: Forthcoming actions for the release of Alberto Patishtán (8 April 2013)

Chiapas: “Justice is its opposite,” declares Alberto Patishtán (20 March 2013)

Guerrero: Impunity continues in the Ayotzinapa case; students arrested and then released

Photo @SIPAZ

At the beginning of May, Amnesty International (AI) called on the state government of Guerrero to take all necessary actions to avoid the eventuality that the murder of two students from the rural normal school “Isidro Burgos” of Ayotzinapa continue in impunity, so as to assure that those who are found responsible be prosecuted.  In a communique, AI joined the call carried out by different Mexican civil-society organizations and international organizations to put an end to the impunity that has prevailed in the case of the murder of two students from the rural normal school of Ayotzinapa in 2011.  The organizations which signed the public letter to Guerrero’s governor, Ángel Aguirre Rivero, include among others the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights and the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Center for Human Rights.  In the letter, they emphasize that  “The obligation to diligently investigate these types of acts finds its basis not only in the law of Guerrero, but also in the political Constitution and the international accords [signed by Mexico] in terms of human rights.”

In other news, during the afternoon of 7 May, 25 students from the rural normal school of Ayotzinapa were arrested by state police using violence and beatings, and even firearms, according to witness testimony, on the federal highway between Chilpancingo and Iguala.  The students were transferred to the State Attorney General’s Office (PGJE), where they were surrounded by anti-riot police.  The arrest catalyzed a mobilization undertaken by teachers from the State Coordination of Educational Workers from Guerrero (CETEG) during the evening, who carried out a sit-in before the principal entrance to the PGJE office.  Following several hours of protest, the students were released on the morning of the 8th.

For more information (in Spanish):

Carta Pública al gobernador Ángel Aguirre (2 de mayo de 2013)

AI pide a Guerrero poner fin a impunidad en caso Ayotzinapa (El Universal, 5 de mayo de 2013)

Llama AI a dar fin a la impunidad en Caso Ayotzinapa (Novedades Acapulco, 5 de mayo de 2013)

Liberan a comunitarios y detienen ahora a 25 alumnos de Ayotzinapa (El Sur de Acapulco, 7 de mayo de 2013)

Liberan esta madrugada a los 25 normalistas de Ayotzinapa (La Jornada, 8 de mayo de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: Release of police charged for the murder of students from the Rural Normal of Ayotzinapa (29 April 2013)

Guerrero: normalists commemorate first anniversary of repression in Ayotzinapa (21 December 2013)

Guerrero: New aggressions against students in Ayotzinapa (26 November 2012)

Guerrero: “The Ayotzinapa case cannot remain in impunity” – OMCT (16 August 2012)

Guerrero: Ayotzinapa denounces impunity six months after the deaths of two students (17 June 2012)

Guerrero: CNDH confirms serious rights-violations against students of Ayotzinapa (16 January 2012)

Guerrero: Extrajudicial execution of students from the Rural Normal of Ayotzinapa (21 December 2011)