Chiapas: Civil Observation Brigades in Nuevo San Gregorio

@ Sipaz

On March 3rd, following various complaints of attacks on the community of Nuevo San Gregorio, an autonomous Zapatista municipality of Lucio Cabañas, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (Frayba) announced the installation of Civil Observation Brigades (BRICO) there with the aim of “monitoring human rights violations in a context of generalized violence” through the presence of national and international observers.

Frayba said that the BRICOs are part of a program coordinated by the organization since 1995 and implemented in different communities of indigenous peoples in Chiapas. “The observation of human rights adheres to what is stipulated in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which has been signed and ratified by the Mexican State”, it assured.

It should be remembered that since November 2019, the families of Nuevo San Gregorio have suffered constant harassment, as well as “the invasion” by a group called “The Group of 40” who have fenced off part of the lands recovered by the EZLN with barbed wire. In addition, “they burned the pasture, cut fruit trees, have broken the water pipe several times, destroyed vegetables and the garden of medicinal plants”, the Zapatista support bases have denounced.

In addition, the negligence of the State “aggravates the situation of risk to the life, security and integrity of the population of this region” especially with the intensification of this conflict since February 1st, as mentioned by Frayba in an informative note.

For more information in Spanish:

Brigadas Civiles de Observación en la comunidad autónoma Nuevo San Gregorio. (Frayba, 3 de marzo de 2021)

Instalan brigadas civiles en Nuevo San Gregorio, Chiapas, por violencia (La Jornada, 3 de marzo de 2021)

Brigadas Civiles de Observación en la comunidad autónoma Nuevo San Gregorio (Radio Zapatista, 3 de marzo de 2021)

For more information from SIPAZ: