Guerrero: Popular Police of Olinalá denounces military invasions of communities

Photo @Tiyako Felipe

On 27 May, the Regional Coordination for Justice and Security-Communal and Popular Police (CRSJ-PCP) released a communique in which it denounces and demands the immediate withdrawal of the Mexican Army that invaded the communal territory of Temalacatzingo, Olinalá municipality, on 26 May, where the PCP has presence.  In the communique, the PCP reported that the incursion took place 10 days after it released its political manifesto, in which it “stresses the means by which we are building popular sovereignty.  These governmental actions we see as a manner of continuing with its politics of intimidation, harassment, and repression toward the communities where we have organized, under the principle of the life of popular sovereignty, thus forming our Communal and Popular Police as a means of self-defense amidst different types of violence.”  In the communique, the Coordination demands that “the government of Guerrero and Mexico immediately withdraw the Army from our communal territory.  Here we do not need your services; here we take care of ourselves and protect ourselves.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Denuncia Policía Popular de Olinalá incursiones militares en comunidades (La Jornada de Guerrero, 29 de mayo de 2013)

Policía Ciudadana y Popular (PCP) de Guerrero exige el retiro inmediato del ejército del territorio comunal de Temalacatzingo, Olinalá. (Somos el medio, 29 de mayo de 2013)

Luchando por la soberanía popular (Agencia Subversiones, 20 de mayo de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: Social insurrection in Olinalá against organized crime (9 November 2012)

Guerrero: Students denounce entrance of armed groups to the Rural Normal of Ayotzinapa

Photo @SIPAZ

The student leadership of the Rural Normal school of Ayotzinapa and the Guerrero Network of Human-Rights Organizations (Redgro) have denounced the invasion of armed commando units on 8 and 14 May to the offices of a building to intimidate students who witnessed the murder of two of their colleagues in December 2011.  The students have claimed Ángel Aguirre Rivero as responsible for whatever might happen to them.  In press-conference, they announced that they would form guard-units to watch over the school’s campus, toward the end of preventing any further invasions by these groups.

The former student leaders were beaten and threatened by armed persons, who told them “Motherfuckers, let’s see if now you stop your chaos against the government; stop your fucking scandals, or you will be fucking shot.  If you continue with your damn marches, what happened to your comrades will happen to you, just as they died in the highway, so will you, fucking dogs.”  The students emphasized that the aggression took place within the context of the release of the ministerial police officers Ismael Matadamas Salinas and Rey David Cortés Flores, who had been processed for the murder of students.  Gabriel Echeverría de Jesús and Jorge Alexis Herrera Pino were murdered extra-judicially on 12 December 2011 on the Sol highway.

For more information (in Spanish):

Denuncian alumnos ingreso de grupos armados a la normal de Ayotzinapa (La Jornada de Guerrero, 20 de mayo de 2013)

Incursionan hombres armados en Ayotzinapa y golpean y amenazan a alumnos, denuncian (El Sur de Acapulco, 20 de mayo de 2013)

Critican normalistas de Ayotzinapa el regreso de López Rosas al gabinete estatal (La Jornada de Guerrero, 19 de mayo de 2013)

Tribunales ya exculparon a ministeriales de la muerte de normalistas: López Rosas (La Jornada, 20 de mayo de 2013)

Cambios en el gabinete; ¿quién gana y quién pierde? (Tlachinollan en El Sur de Acapulco, 20 de mayo de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: Impunity continues in the Ayotzinapa case (17 May 2013)

Guerrero: Release of police charged for the murder of students from the Rural Normal of Ayotzinapa (29 April 2013)

Guerrero: normalists commemorate first anniversary of repression in Ayotzinapa (21 December 2013)

Guerrero: New aggressions against students in Ayotzinapa (26 November 2012)

Guerrero: “The Ayotzinapa case cannot remain in impunity” – OMCT (16 August 2012)

Guerrero: Ayotzinapa denounces impunity six months after the deaths of two students (17 June 2012)

Guerrero: CNDH confirms serious rights-violations against students of Ayotzinapa (16 January 2012)

Guerrero: Extrajudicial execution of students from the Rural Normal of Ayotzinapa (21 December 2011)

Mexico: Preliminary conclusions from the UN relator regarding extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions in the country

From 22 April to 2 May, the Special Relator of the Untied Nations on extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, visited Mexico, where he met with governmental officials, judges, members of civil society, and victims in Mexico City and the states of Chihuahua, Guerrero, and Nuevo León.

Upon finishing his visit, Heyns urged the Mexican government to strengthen the structure of the country in terms of protection of human rights in general and the right to life in particular, so as to reduce the necessity of the use of force.  Mr. Heyns also recommended the reduction of the involvement of military forces in police tasks.

“From my point of view, it is particularly important to diminish the participation of soldiers in police work, to assure that civil courts judge members of the armed forces who have been accused of committing human-rights violations, including murders of civilians; and to establish clear and broadly recognized standards on the use of force on the part of public-security forces,” he said.  The Special Relator also called special attention to the problem of impunity: “All of these lives that have been lost should be investigated with the same rigor, and each perpetrator should be apprehended and judged.  To follow this object it would serve not only to diminish impunity but also to re-establish the value that society places on life,” he emphasized.  Heyns stressed the importance of making justice by solving past homicides, whether committed during the Dirty War, or the more than 100,000 registered during the government of Felipe Calderón.  Whichever strategy is chosen for the future, he noted, must first look to the past.

For more information (in Spanish):

El desastre mexicano pone a dudar al relator Heyns (Proceso, 7 de mayo de 2013)

Comunicado de prensa: Relator Especial de la ONU urge al Estado mexicano a fortalecer la protección de los DH y reducir el uso de las fuerzas militares en labores policíacas(OACNUDH, 3 de mayo de 2013)

La estrategia militar contra crimen no funciona: ONU(El Universal, 3 de mayo de 2013)

Impunidad sistémica y endémica, principal desafío del gobierno federal: Christof Heyns (La Jornada, 3 de mayo de 2013)

Observaciones preliminares sobre la visita oficial a México del Relator Especial sobre ejecuciones extrajudiciales, sumarias o arbitrarias, Christof Heyns, 22 de abril al 2 de mayo del 2013b (2 de mayo de 2013)

Ojalá gendarmería no se trate del Ejército con “otro uniforme”: Relator de la ONU (Proceso. 2 de mayo de 2013)

Activistas y víctimas de Guerrero se reúnen con el relator de la ONU (La Jornada, 30 de abril de 2013)

Presenta ombudsman a relator de la ONU panorama de derechos (La Jornada, 25 de abril de 2013)

Especial interés de relator de la ONU en temas de fuero y justicia militar del país(La Jornada, 24 de abril de 2013)

Detallan a relator de la ONU un negro panorama en derechos humanos en México (Proceso, 24 de abril de 2013)

Guerrero: Release of police charged for the murder of students from the Rural Normal of Ayotzinapa

Photo @SIPAZ

On 23 April, two police officers from the Ministerial Police of the state of Guerrero were released, having been incarcerated for the homicides of the students Jorge Alexis Herrera Pino, 22 years old, and Gabriel Echeverría de Jesús, 21, which took place on 12 December 2011.  These murders took place amidst the violent operation undertaken by the federal, state, and municipal police to suppress a peaceful student march in Chilpancingo, Guerrero.

On 19 April, judge Arístides Marino Santos accepted the motion calling for the recognition of innocence of the two ministerial police held responsible for these acts, and he instructed the relevant authorities to release them within three days’ time.  The release of the two police officers confirms the fears expressed from the beginning of investigations undertaken by the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights and the victims’ relatives, due to the fact that the first investigations were carried out by authorities themselves associated with the acts and experts who could hardly be said to be independent.  Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, lawyer for Tlachinollan, who represents the Ayotzinapa case, noted that the release of these two police shows the high degree of impunity in Guerrero.  “In grave cases like this one where there was a violent repression and excessive use of force, it is not possible to release these subjects, thus illustrating the prevalence of authoritarianism [in the state], especially given the repressive acts of the past.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Comunicado de prensa (Tlachinollan, 23 de abril de 2013)

Liberan a policías ministeriales por caso Ayotzinapa (El Universal, 23 de abril de 2013)

Liberan a los ministeriales acusados de asesinar a los dos normalistas (La Jornada de Guerrero, 24 de abril de 2013)

Liberan a policías ministeriales por caso de alumnos de Ayotzinapa (El Sur de Acapulco, 23 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: normalists commemorate first anniversary of repression in Ayotzinapa (21 December 2013)

Guerrero: New aggressions against students in Ayotzinapa (26 November 2012)

Guerrero: “The Ayotzinapa case cannot remain in impunity” – OMCT (16 August 2012)

Guerrero: Ayotzinapa denounces impunity six months after the deaths of two students (17 June 2012)

Guerrero: CNDH confirms serious rights-violations against students of Ayotzinapa (16 January 2012)

Guerrero: Extrajudicial execution of students from the Rural Normal of Ayotzinapa (21 December 2011)

 

National: Peace Brigades International presents report on situation of human-rights defenders in Mexico

Photo @PBI

On 8 April, Peace Brigades International (PBI) presented its new report on the work of human-rights defenders in Mexico, called “Panorama of the Defense of Human Rights in Mexico: Initiatives and Risks for Mexican Civil Society.”  The publication demonstrates the actions and initiatives of social and human-rights organizations in Mexico, and it considers 25 cases.  The report is the product of an exploratory mission carried out during 2012 in six Mexican states, in addition to the experience accumulated by PBI during its 12 years of accompaniment work in Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Mexico City.In the roundtables organized by PBI, representatives of civil-society organizations shared their concerns regarding the situation of human rights in Mexico.  Rights-defenders agreed that the greatest obstacles for better security and participatory spaces are impunity, slander, lack of adequate protection, and lack of spaces for consultation and dialogue.  They called on the Mexican government and diplomatic corps to take actions to transcend these issues.

For more information (in Spanish):

PBI México: Nueva publicación sobre personas defensoras; organizaciones y autoridades acuerdan dar seguimiento a su situación de riesgo (PBI, 8 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Oaxaca: PBI calls for strengthening of protection of rights-defenders in the state (26 February 2013)

National: Mobilizations at the national level against high-electricity prices

On 7 February there were carried out protests and blockades in the capital and in several states of Mexico to protest high-electricity prices.  The mobilization had been organized by the National Network of Civil Resistance against High-Electricity Prices, the National Alliance of Electricity Users (ANUEE), and the Mexican Union of Electricians (SME).  The marches and actions were held in Chiapas, Campeche, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Guerrero, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Chihuahua, and Mexico City.  The principal demand of these protests was a change in energy policy that would include just prices, access to electricity as a human right, and the generation of sustainable energy from the people.  Furthermore, there was demanded the cancellation of wind-energy, mining, and hydroelectrical projects, as well as end to the criminalization of social protest.

It should be mentioned that during these protests in Chiapas, Nataniel Hernandez, director of the Digna Ochoa Center for Human Rights, was arrested while he was in a meeting with the regional sub-delegate for the government.  He was released during the evening, without any sort of explanation regarding the grounds for his arrest.

For more information (in Spanish):

La Jornada: Tarifas justas de luz y fin a la presión, exigen miles en marcha (08/02/2013)

La Jornada: O comemos o pagamos, grito en jornada nacional contra altos cobros (08/02/2013)

La Jornada: Padecen usuarios de la CFE indefensión y maltrato al quejarse por altos cobros (08/02/2013)

Proceso: Policías retienen siete horas al director del centro Digna Ochoa en Chiapas (07/02/2013)

Proceso: Protestan en Oaxaca por altas tarifas de luz (07/02/2013)

Koman Ilel: PRIMER REPORTE MOVILIZACIÓN NACIONAL CONTRA ABUSOS DE CFE (07/02/2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Mexico: National day of protests against high electricity prices (4 April 2012)

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

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

Campeche: Arrest of activist campaigning against high electricity prices (26 May 2010)

Mexico: AI Declares Activists against High Electricity Tariffs Prisoners of Conscience (10 March 2010)

 

Oaxaca: Detención y liberación posterior de la defensora Bettina Cruz Velázquez (23/02/2012)

Chiapas: Manifestaciones contra las altas tarifas de la luz (13/09/2011)

Guerrero: CRAC-PC calls for a State Meeting on 17 February

Photo @SIPAZ

The Regional Coordination of Communal Authorities-Communal Police (CRAC-PC) has called on “organizations and peoples who build alternative systems of security and justice, social organizations and fraternal politicians, progressive intellectuals and academics, open and alternative communication media, agrarian and communal authorities, and the people in general to participate in the STATE MEETING FOR THE DEFENSE OF SECURITY AND JUSTICE OF THE PEOPLE, which we will hold on 17 February, starting at 9am in San Luis Acatlan, Costa Chica de Guerrero (precise location to be announced).  The principal objective of this event will be to analyze and discuss the initiative of the state government as well as to make a proposal for the recognition of justice and security systems built from below.”

For more information (in Spanish):

CONVOCATORIA A ENCUENTRO ESTATAL

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: Beginning of “popular trial” to judge 54 arrestees in Ayutla (7 February 2013)

Guerrero: Self-defense against organized crime in 4 municipalities (15 January 2013)

Guerrero: Social insurrection in Olinalá against organized crime (9 November 2012)

National: Female human-rights defenders organize to protect themselves

On 25 and 26 January in Mexico City, female members of the National Network of Female Human-Rights Defenders in Mexico met to analyze the impact of the present socio-political context on their work in defense of indigenous peoples, natural resources, victims of feminicide, sexual and reproductive health, and freedom of expression.  The activists, hailing from states such as Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Baja California, Chiapas, Guerrero, Coahuila, Durango, Oaxaca, and Puebla, presented a protocol of attention to respond to the imminent situations of danger they face.  During two work-days, the defenders joined together their knowledge within the context of violence and concluded that the simply act of supporting a cause makes them vulnerable.  With the creation of a protocol of protection, they now have the basic tools to collect information, establish contacts, and locate emergency services.

For more information (in Spanish):

Defensoras de DH se organizan para protegerse a sí mismas (CIMAC Noticias, 28 de enero de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Oaxaca: First state in attacks on female defenders, denounce organizations (21 December 2012)

National: MPJD criticizes presidential “veto” of Law on Victims (10 July 2012)

National: Approval of Law for the Protection of Human-Rights Defenders and Journalists (16 May 2012)

Oaxaca: Harassment and robbery of offices of Consorcio (14 November 2011)

Oaxaca: new intimidation directed at Alba Cruz (18 January 2011)

Oaxaca: attack on union leader Marcelino Coache (20 May 2010)

Guerrero: Govenor Aguirre intervenes in situation of insecurity in Ayutla. Communal Police repeats that “it is not us”

Anniversary of the Communal Police, October 2011. Photo @SIPAZ

According to information from the newspaper La Jornada de Guerrero, the meeting that took place between members of the Regional Coordination of Communal Authorities (CRAC) and governor Ángel Aguirre Rivero on 21 January resulted in a proposal to formalize the Communal Police in exchange for a handing over of equipment, uniforms, and 1.5 million pesos from the state government to the organization.  Regardless, on that same day, information came out on the Desinformemonos webpage stressing that the CRAC’s position is never to accept orders or conditions from the government.  In the words of a juridical adviser to the CRAC, Valentín Hernández, regarding the movement of self-defense in Ayutla de los Libres and other municipalities: “[The Union of Peoples and Organizations of the State of Guerrero (UPOEG] has for some time been attempting to halt the process of incorporation of the communities of Ayutla de Los Libres, toward the end of handing over the CRAC’s work to the interests of the state government.  This is a very serious problem, something that we have never experienced in CRAC.  For this reason we demand respect for our principles of communal organization.”  The Communal Police reiterates that “it is not us” but rather the UPOEG which is sowing division.

During the 21 January meeting, the governor claimed that the Communal Police functions as an auxiliary police unit for the official police, this despite 17 years of autonomy.  The proposal, he said, is that the CRAC “assist in the prevention and operation of crimes; so that the Communal Police succeed in becoming regular and not contradict its constitutional and legal mark, it will take on a nature of auxiliary for public security, being permanently trained.”  The governor noted that the movement of citizens’ self-defense in Ayutla and Tecoanapa will gradually lessen over time, given that the Secure Guerrero Operation being coordinated among the three levels of government is now taking control.  Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, lawyer for the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights, assured that the return of soldiers to Ayutla to combat organized crime “is a huge mistake,” given that this move will cause human-rights violations to increase.  Rosales Sierra recalled that Ayutla is considered to be a red alert as regards the conflictivity that is there experienced: “it is a laboratory of low-intensity warfare following the El Charco massacre.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Guerrero Seguro está tomando el control en Ayutla y Teconapa, dice el gobernador (La Jornada de Guerrero, 22 de enero de 2013)

Propone Ángel Aguirre a la CRAC funcionar como una policía auxiliar (La Jornada de Guerrero, 22 de enero de 2013)

Las autodefensas comunitarias frente al crimen organizado en Guerrero, “no son harina del mismo costal” (Desinformémonos, 21 de enero de 2013)

Guerrero: Ya son 3 mil “vigilantes” (Excelsior, 22 de enero de 2013)

Un error, el regreso de los militares a Ayutla, lamenta Tlachinollan (La Jornada de Guerrero, 21 de enero de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: Self-defense against organized crime in 4 municipalities (15 January 2013)

Guerrero: Social insurrection in Olinalá against organized crime (9 November 2012)

Guerrero: Self-defense against organized crime in 4 municipalities

In the early morning of 7 January, civilians set up checkpoints at the entrance and exit of Ayutla de los Libres, Costa Chica, following an extended exchange of gunfire.  In a press-conference at the Casa de Justicia in El Paraíso, Arturo Campos Herrera, regional adviser for the Regional Coordination of Communal Authorities-Communal Police (CRAC-PC) in Ayutla, distanced the CRAC-PC from this act: “the persons who installed checkpoints do not belong to the Communal Police or to any of the more than 30 communities that pertain to this communal system of justice,” he said.  In a 13 January bulletin, the CRAC-PC once again formally distanced itself from the uprising.

The residents of Tecoanapa, Florencio Villarreal, and Copala have joined the movement by also installing checkpoints int he entrances and exits to the municipalities.  One of the coordinators of the movement reported that the citizens’ operation would last an indefinite amount of time, “until we cleanse the municipality.”  Another of the leaders said that the movement began in more than 22 communities from the Tecoanapa and Tierra Colorada municipalities that have been affected by organized crime for several months.

Campos Herrera explained that it is known that the presumed criminals demanded money from cattle-ranchers and that this was “one of the reasons fro the checkpoints that were installed, one near the gasoline-station and another at the Bachelors College in Ayutla.”  He added that “there was also one death; we do not know to which side this person pertains, and we know that there have been arrests.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Boletín CRAC-PC (13 de enero de 2013)

La vigilancia armada en Ayutla, “hasta que limpiemos el municipio” de la delincuencia organizada, advierten (Sur de Acapulco,  de enero de 2013)

De la Policía Comunitaria a la Autodefensa Popular (La Jornada de Guerrero, 11 de enero de 2013)

Civiles montan retenes de autodefensa en Ayutla tras levantón y tiroteo, informan (La Jornada de Guerrero, 7 de enero de 2013)

Comisión de Guerrero considera necesario legislar sobre Policía Comunitaria (Sin Embargo, 10 de enero de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: Social insurrection in Olinalá against organized crime (9 November 2012)