Ángel Concepción Pérez Gutiérrez and Francisco Pérez Vázquez, Source: zapateando.wordpress.com
Ángel Concepción Pérez Gutiérrez (age 44) and Francisco Pérez Vázquez (age 74) from the community of Guapacal in the municipality of Tila, Chiapas, were detained and charged with the murder of Florentino Hernández López on July 9, 1996, and each sentenced to 25 year prison terms. The murder took place on November 16, 1995, as the result of a territorial dispute between two ejidos on either side of the Chiapas-Tabasco border, Tutzil (Chiapas) and Agua Blanca (Tabasco).
The case brought against the two indigenous Ch’ol men was fraught with irregularities, including some which constitute human rights violations. Among these is the right to valid reasoning and legal grounds with regards to one’s judgment, as stated in articles 14 and 16 of the Mexican Constitution. In this case, the sole witness originally claimed he could not identify the perpetrators and later changed his testimony claiming psychiatric distress at the time of his original statement, although there was no hard evidence to sustain his claim.
Both men have been held in substandard conditions, and have stated that they are forced to sleep on the floor and are subject to flooding during rainy periods. Pérez Gutiérrez has been in ill health for the past three years, suffering from a serious infection for which he reportedly has not received medical attention. Meanwhile, Pérez Vázquez’s advanced age and diabetes has created health complications for him as well. The two men have been in solidarity with the huger strikers held in prisons in Chiapas, commencing a fast March 24. However, due to their ill health they have decided to cancel the fast as of April 3. While they are no longer able to continue with the strike, Pérez Gutiérrez and Pérez Vázquez offer an example of the circumstances faced by detainees throughout Mexico, a situation which has inspired the hunger strike that continues in Chiapas.
Pérez Gutiérrez and Pérez Vázquez were not among the 30 detainees participating the hunger strike who were released Monday, March 31 as that release only pertained to those detained in the state of Chiapas. However, the zapatista Good Government Council known as Roberto Barrios issued a communiqué March 25, demanding the immediate release of the detainees in Tabasco and reparations for suffering endured on the part of Pérez Gutiérrez, Pérez Vázquez and their families.
For more information:
Zapatista communique from La Voz de Cerro Hueco, Tabasco (nadir.org, 2003)
For more information in Spanish
Caso de los señores Ángel Concepción Pérez Gutiérrez y Francisco Pérez Vázquez (lunasexta.org, 2007)
Denuncia de la Junta de Buen Gobierno Roberto Barrios por los detenidos en Tacotalpa, Chiapas
sipazen.wordpress.com 