At 3:30 in the morning on August 13th, 2009, 20 prisoners in jail for the Acteal massacre were set free. Mexico’s Supreme Court ordered their release after the prisoners had served 12 years in prison for having participated in the Acteal massacre that killed 45 Tzotzil members of the civil group Las Abejas, on December 22nd, 1997.
The following is a summary of information from the Prodh Center:
Yesterday, Mexico’s Supreme Court confirmed what had already been reported in the media regarding the case of the Acteal massacre. The Court, by a vote of four to one, decided to release 20 indigenous prisoners who had been sentenced as perpetrators of the Acteal massacre on December 22nd, 1997. Judge Sergio Valls expressed his opposition to the decision and presented a plan to reject the appeal for close to 30 others sentenced in the case, but this was rejected during the court session. A new plan will be revealed in the following days that will likely result in the release of all of the sentenced prisoners. The survivors of the Acteal massacre are appalled by the decision of the Mexican Supreme Court and held a press conference outside the court to deplore the decision.
At around three in the morning the prisoners were released and transferred to Berriozabal where they would reportedly be given land to avoid future conflict. While the newly released prisoners expressed their satisfaction with the decision of the Supreme Court, Las Abejas along with the Frayba Human Rights Center, reiterated their previously stated worries about the situation, as well as the evidence that the sentenced men are responsible for the massacre.
On August 13th Amnesty International (AI) declared the need for a new investigation of the massacre: “This is another example of the serious shortcomings of the Mexican justice system which seems incapable of using a just court to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for human rights violations.”
For more information:
“En una inédita decisión la Corte libera a sentenciados por Acteal”, La Jornada (13/08/2009)
“Impiden a indígenas regresar a comunidades”, El Universal (13/08/2009)
“Nueva investigación es esencial en masacre de Acteal”, Amnistía Internacional (13/08/2009)
Comunicado de prensa acerca de la liberación de los presos de Acteal, OMCT (13/08/2009)
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