@ Ministry of the Interior
On September 3rd in Mexico City, the act of recognition of the responsibility of the Mexican State in the case of the Acteal massacre, which occurred on December 22nd, 1997 in Chiapas with a balance of 45 deaths and 26 injured, was held. A group of the victims of said massacre participated in the meeting and decided to sign a Friendly Settlement Agreement within the framework of the lawsuit filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 2005 and registered under the name “Case 12,790 Manuel Santiz Culebra and Others. Acteal Massacre.”
The undersecretary of Human Rights, Population and Migration, Alejandro Encinas, offered an apology and admitted that the attack was perpetrated by “paramilitary groups with the complacency of the authorities” and an “expression of a state that is stagnant and alien to the rights and interests of the community that tried to hide this tragedy, even changing the scene of the crime to criminalize the victims themselves.” He reported that the Agreement includes 18 deceased victims and 12 survivors, with which, he indicated, “the rights of those who await a thorough resolution from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights remain safe.” It integrates various commitments by the State, including the making of a documentary to relate the events and financial compensation “according to the highest standards of the IACHR.”
On behalf of the victims, Fernando Luna Perez said that the massacre was a crime against humanity and requested a trial for the intellectual authors who implemented the counterinsurgency strategy under the presidency of Ernesto Zedillo. He stressed that “their struggle does not end today because it is necessary to bring the perpetrators of the massacre to trial, from the three levels of government.”“We accept this apology because this administration (…) recognized and assumed responsibility for the action that the paramilitaries perpetrated with the action and omission of the Mexican authorities”, he also said.
Also present at the event were Ismael Brito, general secretary of the Chiapas government, Rosario Piedra, president of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), and the head of human rights of the Ministry of the Interior, Aaron Mastache.
In contrast to what was raised by the Foreign Ministry’s Undersecretary for Human Rights and Multilateral Affairs, in this same event, in the sense that this Agreement “will put an end to the litigation process before the IACHR”, another group of victims, Las Abejas de Acteal Civil Society and 44 organizations from ten countries demanded that the case not be considered closed, but rather that the IACHR issue the merits report on it as soon as possible. Although they recognized that the friendly settlement agreement by some victims is a “legitimate decision that we do not intend to judge”, they asked “to avoid the construction of an erroneous image, based on the friendly settlement agreement made” in the sense that “the case is already solved.” The 44 organizations also expressed their “concern regarding the 15 years of litigation of this case before the IACHR with a slow visible progress and enormous wear on the victims and their families.”
For more information in Spanish:
Reconoce el Estado su responsabilidad por caso Acteal (La Jornada, 3 de septiembre de 2020)
Reconoce México su culpa en caso Acteal (El Universal, 3 de septiembre de 2020)
Estado mexicano reconoce ser responsable por masacre de Acteal y ofrece disculpas (Contralínea, 3 de septiembre de 2020)
Disculpa pública por caso Acteal (Diario de Chiapas, 4 de septiembre de 2020)
Acuerdo amistoso sobre Acteal, ‘incompleto e inaceptable’: Hermann Bellinghausen (Aristegui Noticias, 4 de septiembre de 2020)
Abejas de Acteal advierten sobre convenio de la CIDH que no les incluye(Heraldo de Chiapas, 1ero de septiembre de 2020)
Organizaciones urgen a la CIDH emitir informe sobre masacre de Acteal (La Jornada, 31 de agosto de 2020)
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