Members of Las Abejas protesting in front of the military base in Majomut, Chenalhó. Photo @SIPAZ
On 12 August, the Las Abejas Civil Society, accompanied by persons and organizations in solidarity from Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guatemala, El Salvador, and other countries, marched from the military base of Majomut, Chenalhó municipality, to the community of Acteal, where there was read a press-statement. The march and the communiqué formed part of the “Day against impunity” during which Las Abejas denounced that the case of the massacre of 22 December 1997, which took the lives of 45 and injured several more, continues in impunity. The date of 12 August is important in the struggle for justice of Las Abejas, given that three years ago, on 12 August 2009, 30 of those accused of participating in the massacre were released on the orders of the Supreme Court for Justice in the Nation (SCJN), which ostensibly had found irregularities in their juridical processes.
The press-communiqué mentions that “although the government denies its responsibility for the commitment, omissions, and covering up of the acts, but we denounce and we continue saying it loudly that the Acteal massacre is a State crime against humanity, a product of the strategy of counterinsurgency carried out via a dirty war of low intensity. [D]ays after their release, the paramilitaries arrived in our communities, boasting of the privileges that the State granted them as compensation for having served them. And now, they just pass through here tranquilly as though it were nothing, building homes, showing off new cars that no one could ever buy by working 15-20 years. It is obvious that the government continues to compensate them for the dirty work they performed.” The communiqué closes with several requests, among them being that the “material and intellectual authors” of the Acteal massacre be brought to justice.
For more information (in Spanish):
Comunicado de prensa (12 de agosto 2012)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Chiapas: Communiqué by Las Abejas of Acteal in observation of the Acteal massacre (4 June 2012)
Chiapas: Pre-audience of the People’s Permanent Tribunal (22 March 2012)
Permanent Tribunal of the Peoples – Mexico Chapter (14 November 2011)
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