Chiapas: 40 prisoners of the Acteal massacre to seek release August 12th.

On August 6th the international and Mexican media reported that the Supreme Court of Mexico would render a verdict in favour of the prisoners of the Acteal massacre. 57 out of 86 prisoners have requested a review of their case before the court and according to the media – who reported a decision in favour of the prisoners as if it were fact – the decision would mean freedom for 40 prisoners on grounds there were serious irregularities and flawed methods of investigation with regards to their prosecution. The media also reported that the Public Prosecutor had fabricated witnesses and evidence in the case.

A press release issued by the International Civil Commission of Human Rights Observation states “the Court accepted to investigate these facts with opposing arguments. It’s true that as a rule investigations in Mexico are done without respect for the rules of due process. It’s true there were no translators but in no way does that excuse the huge amount of evidence and testimony that point to the men as the people who committed the crime and were judged and condemned as such. The Supreme Court of Mexico, as well as state and federal courts has refused to accept such arguments in other cases, notably the case of the indigenous of Bachajon and those prosecuted in the case of Atenco. Why this double standard?”

In other news, the coordinator of the Observatory of Social Conflicts (Serapaz), Pablo Romo, said in an interview with La Jornada that “if the Supreme Court of Mexico decides that it should release 40 indigenous prisoners in jail for the Acteal massacre in which women, children and men were killed while praying in a chapel, the message sent to the nation will be ‘whoever works for the military or for the government and does their dirty work will enjoy impunity, will be defended and not forgotten by authorities’”.

Ever since a series of articles was published in the magazine Nexos in 2007 there is another faction that considers that “the Acteal massacre has become a case of questionable justice, where more than certainly there is doubt whether or not the real criminals are paying for the crime.”

86 indigenous people are completing sentences of 20 to 40 years as “true perpetrators” of the massacre of December 22nd, 1997. The group Las Abejas continues to denounce the fact that the people behind the crime – the intellectual perpetrators – continue to go unpunished. With these facts in mind, Las Abejas and the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center are calling for a “Day of Action for Justice and Truth” on August 10th and 11th.

For more information:

“Liberaría SCJN a presos por Acteal”, Sididh (06/08/2009)

“La PGR aportó pruebas falsas en Acteal: Corte”, El Universal (06/08/2009)

“Jornadas de Acción por la Justicia y la Verdad”, Las Abejas (07/08/2009)

“Pretendería la Corte exculpar a reos por Acteal”, La Jornada (07/08/2009)

“SG: Se trabaja la recomposición”, Cuarto Poder (07/08/2009)

“Justicia en el caso Acteal, pide Rutilio”, Cuarto Poder (07/08/2009)

“La PGR aportó pruebas falsas en Acteal: Corte”, Expreso Chiapas (07/08/2009)

“Advierte obispo Arizmendi: No deben de quedar libres los cuplables de Acteal”, Expreso Chiapas (07/08/2009)

“A la luz del affaire Dreyfus”, El Milenio (07/08/2009)

“Acteal: periodismo de facción vs. el trabajo riguroso”, Etcétera (07/08/2009)

“La PGR, dispuesta a acatar decisión en caso Acteal”, Informador (07/08/2009)