On Thursday, May 28th, the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba) presented their “Annual Assessment of the situation of Human Rights in Chiapas for 2008” at CIDESI-University of the Land in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas. Their assessment of the Human Rights situation from March 2008 to March of this year explored the themes of Land and Territory, Criminalization of Social Protest, Armed Internal Conflict, and Historical Memory. During a slide show that evidenced concrete projects in support of Human Rights, Frayba invited representatives from different Mexican movements and organizations to speak and give testimony to the defense of Human Rights and communities. More than 100 people attended the Assessment, including various representatives from indigenous communities in Chiapas.
Catalina González Rosas and María Trinidad Ramirez Vázquez of the Front for Communities for the Defense of the Land (FPDT) from San Salvador Atenco in the State of Mexico described the repression they experienced at the hands of the state in 2002 and again in 2006. They spoke of their resistance and the fear and repression that they experienced, but more importantly, of their process of organization and the message of hope. Alejandro Cerezo Contreras of the Cerezo Committee spoke of the growing criminalization of social protest as a serious violation of Human Rights. As evidence of this, three representatives of the Regional Independent Campesino Movement-The Ayala Plan-National Movement (MOCRI-CNPA-MN) talked about their organization’s fight and the repression that they suffered in November 2008 in the neighborhood of Emiliano Zapata, in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. After this presentation, the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center presented a comparison between the Human Rights situation in Chiapas and Guerrero—a comparison which revealed similar strategies of repression by both the federal and state governments in both states. The presentation portion of the meeting was wrapped up by Estela Barco from DESMI who used the forced disappearances in the North Zone of Chiapas in the 1990s (that remain unsolved) to remind those present of the importance of historical memory “when one cannot expect justice from official authorities.”
Final comments were given by Don Samuel Ruiz, the founder and current president of Frayba. In his comments, he painted a frightening picture: even though the defenders of human rights wish that there would not be a shortage of human rights workers in Chiapas, the truth of the matter is that Frayba has more work every day. Nevertheless, he emphasized that in the 20 years of its existence, Frayba has become the Human Rights center of the indigenous communities that defend their rights.
For more information, please visit:
Balance 2008 del Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas
La Jornada: Reportan 675 abusos de autoridades en Chiapas (29/05/09)
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