On 22 February, in observance of the monthly commemoration of the Acteal massacre (22 December 1997), the Las Abejas Civil Society denounced that “the paramilitaries who were released by the badly named Supreme Court for Justice on the pretext of failures in due process are enjoying their impunity in Chenalho; together with their relatives they live calmly, while they cause fear throughout the communities.” The Society reported that gunfire had been experienced in full daylight in Yaxgemel, C´anholal, and Yibeljoj in recent weeks.
The Society indicated as well that while “the authorities release the murderers and the results of impunity begin to be seen, those who are in fact persecuted and thrown in jail are those who actually defend the rights of the people,” as is the case with Nataniel Hernández Núñez, member of the “Digna Ochoa AC” Center for Human Rights and the National Network of Civil Resistance against High Electricity Prices, or Octavio Blanco García, who was arrested on Tuesday, 22 January, for protesting a wind-energy project close to Arriaga, Chiapas.
Finally, they demanded “that the municipal authorities of Chenalho and the state authorities, particularly the Health Ministry, that the close and relocation of the trash-dump that is located at the cusp of the road near the communities of Acteal, Tsajal ukúm, y Pechiquil. This concentration of trash has caused a great deal of diseases (coughing, flu, temperature, and diarrhea) among children.”
For more information (in Spanish):
Comunicado completo (Sociedad Civil Las Abejas, 22 de febrero de 2013)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Chiapas: New communique from Las Abejas de Acteal (24 January 2013)
Chiapas: Commemoration of 20th anniversary of Las Abejas and coming 15th anniversary of the Acteal massacre (21 December 2012)
Chiapas: Survivor of Acteal massacre dies (16 November 2012)
Chiapas: the Las Abejas Civil Society denounces reactivation of paramilitaries in its community (12 October 2012)
National-International: Zedillo obtains immunity for the Acteal case(19 September 2012)
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