On 30 July, the Permanent Commission of the Chiapas state Congress welcomed the entry into law of the bill proposed by state governor Manuel Velasco Coello to overhaul the Code on the Legitimate Use of Force, otherwise known as the Chiapas Bullet Law or the Garrote Law. This was proposed and approved by the Congress on 15 May before being published in the Official Periodical on 4 June. Criticisms of said law include that it would allow police to dismantle protests when they consider these to represent threats to state security. It should also be mentioned that the Article 19 organization intervened with a nullification measure before the federal judiciary, using the claim that the law was unconstitutional.
Manuel Velasco Coello took the decision in favor of the bill after the Puebla state governor, Rafael Moreno Valle, decided to retire his “bullet law” following the death of a youth due to a police shooting on 9 July.
For more information (in Spanish):
Gobernador de Chiapas da marcha atrás a “ley garrote” que criminalizaba las protestas (Proceso, 30 de julio de 2014)
Reculan Ley Bala chiapaneca, dos meses y medio después de haberse aprobado (Chiapas Paralelo, 30 de julio de 2014)
Fracasó #LeyBala en Puebla; atrás #LeyGarrote en Chiapas (Sopitas, 31 de julio de 2014)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Chiapas: State congress approves initiative on “legitimate use of force” (18 May 2014)
National: Creation of the Front for Freedom of Expression and Social Protest (26 April 2014)
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