On November 7 the Human Rights Center Fray Bartolome de Las Casas (Frayba) denounced the fact that members of the Organization for the Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights (Organizacion para la Defensa de los Derechos Indigenas, OPDDIC) were threatening to burn down the houses of members of the Zapatista-led “Other Campaign” in the community of Jotola, Chilon municipality. This latest action is apparently in retaliation for the arrest of four OPDDIC members by the state police on November 4th. The four are presumably linked to the attack against Frayba lawyer Ricardo Lagunes Gasca on September 18th and are accused of depriving him illegally of his freedom, injury and attempted murder.
On November 7 Frayba’s Director Diego Cadenas Gordillo said he had received reports that OPDDIC had two tanks of gasoline, presumably to be used to light the homes of the Other Campaign members on fire. Cadenas said that given the risks to the Other Campaign members he’d asked state authorities to implement preventive measures “to safeguard the rights, physical well-being, and the lives of the people involved in the conflict.”
For more information:
Alerta el Frayba (Expreso, 8 de noviembre)
For more information from SIPAZ:
Urgent Action: Armed attack on human rights workers in Jotola (Chiapas September 24th, 2009)
sipazen.wordpress.com 