Chiapas: Call for Justice and the #Release of Patishtán, from 4 May to 19 June

From 4 May to 19 June, relatives of the prisoner Alberto Patishtán Gómez, the Movement of the People of El Bosque in Favor of the Release of Alberto Patishtán, and other organizations have organized a campaign called “For Justice and the #Release of Patishtan.”  In the blog which contains the information regarding Patishtán Gómez, it is asserted that “the lawyers of professor ALBERTO PATISHTAN have been informed at the Supreme Court for Justice in the Nation that the resolution is still to be awaited [...].  In light of this, we believe that during this month of May it is possible to remit the case before the FIRST COLLEGIATE TRIBUNAL which will release its decision immediately.  As a consequence, the resolution as to whether his innocence will be recognized or not could be had in the month of June 2013.”

On 19 June will have passed 13 years since the beginning of the incarceration of professor Patishtán, and it is for this reason that the campaign will be launched.  Beyond this, there will be carried out presentations of the documentary “Alberto Patishtan: Live or Die for Truth and Justice.”  In this sense, there will also be a campaign to sign letters directed to the justices of the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Tuxtla Gutierrez Circuit.  Some of the other actions to be included will be a march every Friday from 10-12pm and from 4-7pm, with the Twitter hashtag #ReleasePatishstán.

For more information (in Spanish):

CONVOCATORIA POR LA JUSTICIA Y LA #LIBERTADPATISHTAN del 4 de mayo al 19 de junio 2013 (Blog Alberto Patishtán, mayo 2013)

Documental: Alberto Patishtán; Vivir o Morir Por la Verdad y la Justicia (Koman Ilel, abril 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Pilgrimage of the Believing People for the release of professor Alberto Patishtán Gómez (23 April 2013)

Chiapas: Petition from the CDHFBC to release Alberto Patishtán (15 April 2013)

Chiapas: Forthcoming actions for the release of Alberto Patishtán (8 April 2013)

Chiapas: “Justice is its opposite,” declares Alberto Patishtán (20 March 2013)

Chiapas: ejidatario adherent to the Sixth Declaration murdered by gunfire in San Sebastián Bachajón

During the night of 24 April, Juan Vázquez Gómez, former Secretary General of the adherents to the other Campaign in the San Sebastián Bachajón ejido, was murdered by unidentified persons who shot him five times just outside his house.

In an informative note released on 25 April, the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Center for Human Rights condemned the murder of Vázquez Guzmán “who was known for his active defense of the land and territory in light of the government’s looting of the Agua Azul cascades and the imposition of a control point at their entrance.”  It recalled that on 17 April the ejidatarios of San Sebastian “publicly denounced that its territory is being threatened by the official policy of territorial looting, indicating continuity under the present government of the state.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Nota informativa del Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (CDHFBC, 25 de abril de 2013)

Asesinan a ejidatario adherente a la Sexta declaración en Bachajón (La Jornada, 25 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Adherents to the Other Campaign in San Sebastián Bachajón denounce looting and impunity (22 April 2013)

Chiapas: Denial of motion to ejidatarios who adhere to the Sixth Declaration from San Sebastián Bachajón (7 February 2013)

Chiapas: New denunciation from San Sebastián Bachajón (10 July 2012)

Chiapas: Ejidatarios of San Sebastián Bachajón “occupy” control-point in Agua Azul before being displaced (25 June 2012)

Chiapas: Sit-in of the Front of Ejidos in Resistance in San Cristóbal de Las Casas (6 January 2012)

Chiapas: Press conference by ejidatari@s from San Sebastián Bachajón (20 March  2011)

Chiapas: Special report by Frayba: Government creates and administers conflicts (8 March 2011)

 

Chiapas: Report from the Peace Network Observation Mission to San Marcos Áviles, and denunciation from Oventic

On 25 April, the Chiapas Peace Network, comprised of 10 civil organizations, publicly reported on its findings regarding the situation of the Zapatista support bases (BAEZLN) in San Marcos Avilés, Chilón municipality, following the carrying out of a Civil Mission of Observation and Documentation in this community on 20 and 21 April of this year.  The Mission reports that death-threats and threats of rape continue, as do aggressions and robberies directed against Zapatista families.  During its stay in the ejido, the caravan experienced “a hostile climate,” and party-members threatened to forcibly removed the observers from their vehicles, warning them that if they did not have “good [conclusions], it will be bad [for you] and blood will run, blood will be spilt.”  The official report notes that “there exists an imminent risk that once again (the first time being in 2010) there be a forced displacement [of BAEZLN] by residents of the same ejido who are affiliated with the PRI, PVEM, and PRD.  We alert the government of the gravity and urgency of the situation, and call on it to take immediate actions to avoid the irreparable damage to the lives and physical security of the indigenous who pertain to the EZLN.”The Mission met with municipal authorities in Chilón and with governmental representative Nabor Orozco Ferrer.  The municipal union representative recognized the displacement and looting of lands from the BAEZLN since 2010, noting that “what is clear is that Zapatistas bought land, but these were taken from them because they did not pay taxes [or for] water and electricity.”  Regardless, he denied the existence of a “situation of violence at present.”  The governmental delegate in the zone admitted for his part that “there exist political interests behind these acts on the part of some persons who could be provoking conflictivity.”In previous days, the Zapatista Good-Government Council (JBG) which pertains to the Oventic caracol denounced the numerous aggressions directed at EZLN support-bases in San Marcos Avilés, from July 2011 to mid-April of this year.  The JBG affirmed that  it has “been denouncing all the shameful acts of these party-members who always want to provoke more problems among the indigenous of the same community, organized [as they are] by governors Juan Sabines Guerrero and now Manuel Velasco Coello.  Disgracefully, the three levels of official government have done nothing to arrest the injustices and violations of human rights being committed against our comrades.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Informe de la McO a San Marcos Áviles (Red por la Paz, 25 de abril de 2013)

Comunicado completo de la JBG de Oventic (JBG de Oventic, 20 de abril de 2013)

Denuncia JBG de Los Altos agresiones en San Marcos Avilés (La Jornada, 23 de abril de 2013)

Persiste clima de agresión y amenazas contra familias del EZLN en Chilón (La Jornada, 25 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: “Immediate risk” of expulsion of Zapatista support-bases in San Marcos Avilés (26 February 2013)

Chiapas: Communiqué from the Oventic JBG regarding the aggressions and death-threats on the aprt of persons affiliated with political parties against Zapatistas in San Marcos Avilés(5 July 2011)

Chiapas: death-threats to Zapatista support-bases in San Marcos Avilés (5 July 2011)

Chiapas: Return of displaced Zapatista support-bases to San Marcos Avilés (18 October 2010)

Chiapas: Denunciation of the Oventic JBG regarding violent expulsion of Zapatista support-bases in San Marcos y Pamala (14 September 2010)

Chiapas: Las Abejas denounce lack of justice in the Acteal case

(@Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas)

On 22 April 2013, in observance of the monthly commemoration of the Acteal massacre of December 1997, members of the Las Abejas Civil Society denounced the “impunity and lack of justice” exercised by the Supreme Court for Justice in the Nation (SCJN) in the case, as newly illustrated with its liberation of 15 Tsotsil individuals who had been imprisoned for participating in the massacre on 10 April.

Las Abejas affirmed that “as survivors of the massacre we clearly know that they were participants; we know their faces, and we clearly know their first and last names.  Although the mass media denies that they have returned to their communities of origin, we ourselves have seen them with our own eyes.”  They noted, “They are liberating the paramilitaries, and so: who is it who massacred our brothers?”  It should be recalled that a total of 73 indigenous persons have now been released where previously they had been incarcerated for the massacre–not because they are innocent, but because there were violations to due process.  Now there remain just six people in prison for the crime.

Las Abejas concluded that they would not demand justice from the SCJN or the authorities from the three levels of government, affirming instead that “Our hope is with international human-rights organizations.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Comunicado completo de la Sociedad Civil Las Abejas (22 de abril de 2013)

Reclama Las Abejas a la Corte impunidad en caso Acteal (Proceso, 22 de abril de 2013)

Libres por orden de la Corte, otros 15 indígenas implicados en el caso Acteal (La Jornada, 11 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Las Abejas lament release of yet another of those charged for Acteal massacre (27 March 2013)

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)

 

Chiapas: Pilgrimage by the Believing People for the release of professor Alberto Patishtán Gómez

On 19 April, on the birthday of professor Alberto Patishtán Gómez, some 8,000 people participated in a pilgrimage for the release of this Tsotsil teacher in the capital city of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez.  This was a pilgrimage organized by the Believing People, a Tsotsil team from the San Cristobal de Las Casas diocese, and the Movement of El Bosque for the Release of Alberto Patishtán.  The march was accompanied by teachers from Section 7 of the National Union of Educational Workers (SNTE); the route was to end at the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Twentieth Circuit, where there may be held discussions regarding the liberty of Patishtán in the next few days.  Beyond this, there was held a rally at the Council on Federal Judiciary in Mexico City, besides the protests held outside Mexican consulates and embassies throughout the world.

Different communication media made public the state government’s intention to cancel this pilgrimage, given that it coincided with the visit of Enrique Peña Nieto and the former president of Brasil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to relaunch the National Crusade against Hunger in Navenchauc, Zinacantán, which is not far from Tuxtla Gutiérrez.  These pressures were communicated by the subsecretary of governance, Moisés Zenteno, from the mayor of El Bosque, Orlando Martínez, and two residents of the community who “only want money,” as professor Martín Ramírez said, being a member of the Movement of El Bosque for the Release of Alberto Patishtán;  he added that he had replied by saying that he could not “arrest the mobilization, given that it is a national and international affair,” to which was replied that “the mayor threatened that Patishtán could be held longer in prison if the march in fact took place.”  Subsequently, Martín Ramírez received a call from Moisés Nimrod, warning him that the pilgrimage had to be canceled “because the governor will release Patishtán.”  Requesting that the official confirm this deal, Nimrod reneged and recognized that it was not in the hands of the government, but that “he will see what he can do.”

In other news, the governor of Chiapas, Manuel Velasco Coello, visited Alberto Patishtán Gómez in prison no. 5 in San Cristóbal de Las Casas a day before the pilgrimage, and he committed himself to promoting the release of Patishtán and a new review of the cases of the other prisoners from the organizations the Voz del Amate and those in solidarity with the Voz del Amate. Accompanying the governor were the state attorney general, Raziel López Salazar, and teh state secretary for public security, Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca. Before Alberto Patishtán, Velasco Coello expressed his personal interest in the case, declaring that he believes in his innocence, and committing himself to discuss the case with president Enrique Peña during his visit the following day.

Víctor Hugo López, director of the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Center for Human Rights (CDHFBC), indicated that the government “demands a cancellation of the pilgrimage programmed for this Friday, because it wants to demonstrate a scene cleansed of social protest; this would be the first mass-mobilization in the state capital during this new administration.”  He also added that the CDHFBC was concerned for the security both of Patishtán and Martín Ramírez, “because the tone of the demand changed from request to threat and, as we have seen in other cases, repression can be used after negotiations fail to achieve what is desired.”

Lastly, the Believing People published a communique during the pilgrimage, expressing that “Today the federal and state governments [...] have proposed strategies of a crusade against hunger.  That is not true in their words; we believe and are convinced that it is in fact a CRUSADE AGAINST THE HUNGRY; we indigenous and campesino peoples ARE HUNGRY, but we have hunger for the truth and justice in the Acteal case, and HUNGER FOR THE IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF OUR BROTHER ALBERTO PATISHTAN.”  It continues: “Mssrs. Justices of the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Twentieth Circuit, do not continue staining your dignity and prestige maintaining imprisoned our brother.  Within the historical memory of the Mexican people the decision that you take regarding this innocent person will remain forever remembered.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Tzotziles y maestros marchan por la libertad de Patishtán (La Jornada, 20 de abril de 2013)

Peregrinan tzotziles por libertad de Patishtán (El Universal, 19 de abril de 2013)

Palabra de Pueblo creyente en la peregrinación por la Libertad de Patishtán (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 19 de abril de 2013)

Se compromete Manuel Velasco a gestionar la libertad de Patishtán (La Jornada, 18 de abril de 2013)

Presiones para detener las movilizaciones a favor de Patishtán por visita de Peña Nieto (Desinformémonos, abril 2013)

El Gobernador de Chiapas Manuel Velasco Coello reconoció inocencia de Patishtán (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 19 de abril de 2013)

Liberación Inmediata e incondicional a nuestro hermano Alberto Patishtán Gómez (Blog Las Abejas de Actea, 19 de abril de 2013)

Audio-video:

Retransmisión de la peregrinación y entrevistas (Koman Ilel, 19 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Petition from the CDHFBC to release Alberto Patishtán (15 April 2013)

Chiapas: Forthcoming actions for the release of Alberto Patishtán (8 April 2013)

Chiapas: “Justice is its opposite,” declares Alberto Patishtán (20 March 2013)

México/Chiapas: SCJN rejects review of case of Alberto Patishtán(20 March 2013)

Chiapas: Civil Observation Mission on Human Rights to San Marcos Avilés, Chilón municipality, Chiapas, on the part of the Peace Network

On 18 April 2013, the Chiapas Peace Network announced it would carry out a Civil Observation Mission to San Marcos Avilés, Chilón municipality, in the coming days.  Its public letter explains that:

“We members of the Peace Network in Chiapas would like to report that on 21 and 22 April 2013, we will carry out a Civil Observation Mission for documentation in the community of San Marcos Avilés, Chilón municipality, toward the end of collecting testimonies following the recent threats of forced displacement directed against Zapatista support bases (BAEZLN) on the part of residents of the same ejido who are affiliated to different political parties.  In this sense, we also hope to meet with the mayor of Chilón, Leonardo Rafael Guirao Aguilar, and the delegate for the zone, Nabor Orosco Ferrer. Upon finishing this visit, we will produce a report which we will then present.

The Peace Network in Chiapas was created at the end of 2000.  It is a space for reflection and action comprised of 10 civil organizations that maintain a permanent analysis regarding the local and national context, using punctual actions that can be used in light of grave actions, observation missions, or thematic meetings in terms of human rights.  We see it as important to carry out this mission and meet with authorities to put an end to the escalation of death-threats and their possible realization, especially taking into consideration that between August and October 2010, 170 BAEZLN persons from the ejido of San Marcos Avilés had already been displaced, and that presently many are living in precarious conditions, since they are displaced from their lands and work, and constantly must face threats to their personal safety.

To national and international human rights organizations, to national and international communication media, to the public, we ask that you remain attentive to whatever may happen in terms of this Mission, and to share the content of the information once it is published.”

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: “Riesgo inminente” de expulsiones de bases zapatistas en San Marcos Avilés. (23 de febrero de 2013)

Chiapas: Comunicado de la JBG de Oventic con respecto a las agresiones y amenazas de personas vinculadas con los partidos políticos en contra de zapatistas en San Marcos Aviles (4 de julio de 2011)

Chiapas: amenazas a bases de apoyo zapatistas en San Marcos Avilés (29 de junio de 2011)

Chiapas: Retorno de los bases de apoyo desplazados a San Marcos Avilés (14 de octubre de 2010)

Chiapas: Denuncia de JBG de Oventic por expulsión violenta de bases de apoyo zapatistas en San Marcos y Pamala (11 de septiembre de 2010

Chiapas: Adherents to the Other Campaign in San Sebastián Bachajón denounce looting and impunity

On 17 April, adherents to the Other Campaign of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandona Jungle from San Sebastian Bachajón, Chilón municipality, published a new communique in which they recall their struggle and evaluate the former state administration of Juan Sabines Guerrero.  They denounce the impunity of looting and a justice system that serves the State, one that has allowed their ejido to experience “looting of territory and imposition of a control-point at the entrance of the Agua Azul cascades, removed from residents.”  They reiterated their desire to resist looting and to free their prisoners Antonio Estrada Estrada, Miguel Vázquez Deara, and Miguel Demeza Jiménez, “victims of the authorities for their lack of capacity and independence to apply the law.” They greeted others, who have also been imprisoned for raising their voice.  They recognized Alberto Patishtán Gómez in particular: “With a simple heart, and humble in his words, [he is] a great comrade that they sought to silence with the walls of political prison.  He will always be present in our slogans and in the process of our struggle.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Denuncian despojo de tierras en Agua Azul, Chiapas (La Jornada, 18 de abril de 2013)

México: San Sebastián Bachajón se pronuncia en contra de la persecución estatal (Comunicado de los adherentes a la Otra Campaña de San Sebastián Bachajón, 17 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Denial of motion to ejidatarios who adhere to the Sixth Declaration from San Sebastián Bachajón (7 February 2013)

Chiapas: New denunciation from San Sebastián Bachajón (10 July 2012)

Chiapas: Ejidatarios of San Sebastián Bachajón “occupy” control-point in Agua Azul before being displaced (25 June 2012)

Chiapas: Sit-in of the Front of Ejidos in Resistance in San Cristóbal de Las Casas (6 January 2012)

Chiapas: Press conference by ejidatari@s from San Sebastián Bachajón (20 March  2011)

Chiapas: Special report by Frayba: Government creates and administers conflicts (8 March 2011)

 

Chiapas: Petition from the CDHFBC to release Alberto Patishtán Gómez

Children of Patishtán @ Swefor

On 10 April, some 400 persons marched in the El Bosque municipality to demand the release of professor Alberto Patishtán Gómez, who was “unjustly” been incarcerated in prison no. 5 of San Cristóbal de Las Casas for nearly 13 years, accused of having participated in an ambush that resulted in the death of 7 police officers.  “All indigenous people feel incarcerated, rejected, and discriminated against” with his imprisonment, as protestors noted in a letter directed to the magistrates of the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Twentieth Circuit, which shortly will resolve whether or not to release the teacher.  This letter arrived on 11 April, organized by relatives of Patishtan and the Movement of the People of El Bosque in favor of the release of Alberto Patishtán Gómez; it counted approximately 5000 signatures.  For its part, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (CDHFBC) published petitions for Patishtan on Avaaz.org and Change.org, to be presented before the magistrates.

Several media have noted the juxtaposition of the ordered liberation of 15 persons accused of having participated in the Acteal massacre, as demanded by the First Hall of the Supreme Court for Justice in the Nation (SCJN), which rejected a review of Patishtán’s request for innocence on 6 March.  The notes made by Aristegui Noticias indicate that “the news reflect the different modes of justice in Mexico, where those accused of guilt are released and those accused of innocence are incarcerated.”

Beyond this, the actions for professor Patishtán continue.  Within prison no. 5, Patishtán Gómez announced the close of a second week of hunger-strike that will continue with two silent marches within the prison, on 13 and 14 April.  In solidarity, Enrique Gómez Hernández will be participating in the hunger strike from 11 to 19 April in the Amate prison no. 4 in Cintalapa.  On 19 April is planned a pilgrimage in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the day that Alberto Patishtán will have his forty-second birthday.

For more information (in Spanish):

Carta de Avaaz.org para firmar en español

Carta de Change.org para firmar en español

Entregan a tribunal carta con 5 mil firmas para que libere a Patishtán (La Jornada, 12 de abril de 2013)

Con Patishtán en prisión, todos los indígenas nos sentimos encarcelados  (La Jornada, 11 de abril de 2013)

Libres por orden de la Corte, otros 15 indígenas implicados en el caso Acteal (La Jornada, 11 de abril de 2013)

Patishtan y Acteal: las diferentes varas de la justicia (Aristegui Noticias, 11 de abril de 2013)

Entregan 4 mil 736 firmas a favor de la Libertad de Alberto Patishtán (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 11 de abril de 2013)

Anuncia 9 días de ayuno Enrique Gomez Hernández Solidario de la Voz del Amate (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 11 de abril de 2013)

Alberto Patishtán anuncia el termino del ayuno y comparte acciónes para el 13 y 14 de abril (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 11 de abril de 2013)

In English:

Avaaz petition in English

Change.org petition in English

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Forthcoming actions for the release of Alberto Patishtán (8 April 2013)

Chiapas: “Justice is its opposite,” declares Alberto Patishtán (20 March 2013)

México/Chiapas: SCJN rejects review of case of Alberto Patishtán(20 March 2013)

Mexico/Chiapas: Alberto Patishtán should be immediately released, notes Olga Sánchez Cordero (5 March 2013)

Mexico/Chiapas: The SCJN admits the Patishtán case (12 October 2012)

Chiapas: PUDEE denounces “climate of violence” generated by the CFE in the zone below Tila

On 7 April, the organization United Peoples in Defense of Electricity (PUDEE) released a communique denouncing the behavior of personnel from the parastatal Federal Electricity Commisison (CFE), following its cutting of electrical energy to several residents of the Emiliano Zapata community in the zone below Tila.  PUDEE indicated that, beyond cutting electricity, a CFE worker entered the land of a PUDEE member without permission, and when the property-owner attempted to block his entrance, the worker “raised his hand with the intent of beating him on the head.”  Before the CFE workers left, they warned the residents that “soon we will return to continue [with] mass-electricity cuts,” perhaps accompanied by the police, and they “threatened arrest-orders and the carrying out of electricity cuts in the neighboring community of Paso Chinal and the communities below Tila.”  In the denunciation, PUDEE expresses that “the ejidal and communal authorities are worried,” because the CFE is creating conflicts.  PUDEE found the leaders of the three levels of government responsible for whatever may follow, denouncing that “it is they who now are reactivating paramilitary groups and sowing terror, fabricating crimes and harassment, and administering threats of arrest-orders against the people.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Denuncia íntegra de PUDEE (07/04/2013)

Cuarto Poder: Pobladores se resisten a liquidar tarifa de CFE (10/04/2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: PUDEE denounces harassment and electricity cut-off by CFE (24 March 2012)

Chiapas: PUDEE denounces harassment by the CFE (25 February 2011)

 

Chiapas: Forthcoming actions for the release of Alberto Patishtán

During the month of April there will be held several actions in favor of Alberto Patishtán Gómez, which will include two marches, one on 10 April in the municipal center of El Bosque, and the other on 19 April in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, as undertaken by the Believing People together with the Movement of the People of El Bosque.  The priest Marcelo Pérez, parishioner of Simojovel, has expressed that “we are enraged by the rejection of the motion by the Supreme Court for Justice in the Nation (SCJN), while it has taken on the cases of Florence Cassez and that of the material authors of the massacre of 45 people in Acteal, liberating him, even though they really aren’t innocent,” thus referring to the postponement of decision in the case of Patishtán on the part of the SCJN on 6 March.  Now, all attention is on the Primary Collegiate Tribunal of the Twentieth Circuit, located in the Palace of Federal Justice in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, which will receive the documents on the case of Patishtán so as to decide on his motion for recognition of innocence.

Amnesty International (AI) has called on the justices of this Tribunal to “respond in an exemplary way” that establishes jurisprudence in cases such as that of Alberto Patishtán Gómez, “so that in the future there be averted the injustice to which he has been subjected.”  In AI’s opinion, the SCJN should have resolved the case in Patishtan’s favor, though it did not.  AI also noted that these same justices have the obligation of impartially evaluating the evidence presented by the defense, in accordance with international obligations that are integrated into the Mexican Constitution.In an article in La Jornada, Cecilia Santiago Vera details the type of police habits which invalidate the terms of ratified human-rights accords: “Forced entry, illegal search of homes, while no crime is in progress and without any judicial order; the detention and movement of police agents without arrest orders; the violence, death-threats, interrogations and abuses without the presence of a rights-defender and so the receipt of self-incrimination and signed declarations that are not read; though these be painful and embarrassing to recognize, such are the practices that continue in this country called Mexico.  Torture as well.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Anuncian peregrinación en Tuxtla para exigir la libertad del profesor Patishtán (La Jornada, 3 de abril de 2013)

Cambio, continuidad e impartición de justicia (La Jornada, 3 de abril de 2013)

Próximas Acciones por la #LibertadPatishtan (Blog Alberto Patishtan)

Caso Patishtán: AI pide a tribunal colegiado justicia sin discriminación (La Jornada, 27 de marzo de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: “Justice is its opposite,” declares Alberto Patishtán (20 March 2013)

México/Chiapas: SCJN rejects review of case of Alberto Patishtán(20 March 2013)

Mexico/Chiapas: Alberto Patishtán should be immediately released, notes Olga Sánchez Cordero (5 March 2013)

Mexico/Chiapas: The SCJN admits the Patishtán case (12 October 2012)