Guerrero: 25th Anniversary of Aguas Blancas Massacre…No Justice

@Organizacion Campesina de la Sierra del Sur (OCSS)

On June 28th, various social organizations carried out the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Aguas Blancas massacre that occurred in Guerrero in 1995, when 17 campesinos from the Peasant Organization of the Sierra del Sur (OCSS) were assassinated by the police and state bailiffs.

The years of struggle for the quest for justice have given rise to recommendations by national and international bodies, however, the case continues without progress, those responsible are free and the families of the victims await justice. Despite the change in federal government two years ago, “the current government has no will to resolve things and deliver justice. The message of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of neither forgiving nor forgetting, today is the other way around, since it seems that the intention in his six-year term is that there is forgiveness and forgetfulness and we as organizations fight for the opposite”, expressed the current leader of the OCSS , Norma Mesino Mesino.

On June 28th, 2020, a small group of people gathered, due to the measures by the COVID-19 pandemic, who indicated that they will always be present to demand justice for their compañeros.

More information in Spanish:

Realizan ceremonia a 25 años de la masacre en Aguas Blancas (La Jornada, 28 de junio)

Prepara la OCSS un acto para conmemorar los 25 años de la masacre de Aguas Blancas(La Jornada Guerrero, 26 de junio)

Masacre de Aguas Blancas(CNDH, noticias, 2020)

More information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Twenty years since the Aguas Blancas massacre, justice is demanded (July 2, 2015)

Guerrero: 18th anniversary of the Aguas Blancas massacre (July 19, 2013)

Oaxaca/National: 7.5 Earthquake in State Ravaged by Pandemic

© Forbes Mexico

On June 23rd, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake was registered in the town of Crucecitas, Oaxaca. As a result, several private and public buildings were damaged in more than 83 municipalities. However, the most regrettable thing is that, mainly due to roof and building collapses, seven people lost their lives. For this reason, the state governor, Alejandro Murat, decided to request an emergency declaration for all affected areas.

Other incidents caused by the tremor were also reported, such as a fire at the Salina Cruz refinery, which was immediately extinguished or some minor effects in hospitals such as the IMSS Hospital in Huatulco and in 15 other health centers. For its part, the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) activated the DN-III-E plan in its phase of assisting the population in Oaxaca with 2,356 members.

Saul Arellano Almanza, researcher at UNAM, explained that “the impact of an accident like this is greater for the Oaxaca region when there are precarious social and economic conditions.” This is due to the little evidence of reconstruction that there were after past earthquakes. In addition, the state of Oaxaca reports a strong impact in this pandemic situation since, along with Chiapas and Guerrero, it is 40% below the national average in the availability of doctors and health infrastructure.

As for the possible aftershocks, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador invited the population to be alert for the situations that can arise.

For more information in Spanish:

Oaxaca, estado vulnerable en jaque por el sismo y la pandemia (Forbes, 24 de junio 2020)

Sedena activa Plan DN-III-E en Oaxaca y la Ciudad de México tras sismo (El Universal, 23 de junio 2020)

Terremoto en México: un sismo de magnitud 7,5 y epicentro en Oaxaca deja al menos 6 muertos y se siente con fuerza en Ciudad de México (BBC, 24 de junio 2020)

Así quedó Oaxaca tras el sismo de 7.5 (Excelsior, 23 de junio 2020)

Suman siete muertos en Oaxaca tras el sismo magnitud 7.5 (ADN40, 24 de junio 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Detienen obras de remodelación para el Tren Transítmico en San Juan Guichicovi hasta llegar a acuerdos

Chiapas “Nos indigna que los desplazamientos forzados sean métodos de ‘castigo’ a las minorías”, Abejas de Acteal

Oaxaca: Violent Attacks in San Mateo del Mar Leave 15 Dead (June 23, 2020)

Oaxaca: After Four Years, Still No Justice for Nochixtlan Massacre (June 22, 2020)

Oaxaca: Death Threat at Door of Oaxaca Consortium Office (June 17, 2020)

National: UNO Supports CONAPRED

@SEGOB

The National Council to Prevent and Eradicate Discrimination (CONAPRED) has been at the center of attention lately, which has resulted in the resignation of the head of this government institution as well as in indications by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) to the effect that the organism could disappear.

The turmoil began when the invitation to Youtuber Chumel Torres to a forum on racism and discrimination, organized by CONAPRED, was openly criticized by the writer and wife of the president, Beatriz Gutierrez Müller. In the end the event was canceled.

In this context, the President of the Republic has made several comments about this institution, one being that he did not even know of its existence, pointing out that these organizations were created by previous governments to simulate that racism and discrimination are being combatted, but that in reality they only use up budget.

Several human rights organizations, on the other hand, have offered their support to the government institution, as well as the United Nations in Mexico, which highlighted that “CONAPRED has been committed to the dissemination of the rights of indigenous peoples and has launched several information campaigns to make the population aware of the discrimination they suffer, always in line with international standards in this area.”

For more information in Spanish:

La ONU expresa su respaldo al Conapred (Educa Oaxaca, 19 de junio de 2020)

AMLO considerará desaparecer el Conapred; dice no es necesario para combatir la discriminación (Animalpolitico, 18 de junio de 2020)

Renuncia titular de Conapred, (Aristegui Noticias, 18 de junio de 2020)

 For more information from SIPAZ: 

National: Government Cuts Paralyze CEAV (June 8, 2020)

National: Cuts for Indigenous Women in Violent Situations(May 15, 2020)

Chiapas: Acts of Violence and Xenophobia against Migrants Expelled by Residents of Pakal-Na Condemned(March 5, 2020)

National/International: Effort to Protect Migrants “Lasted a Few Months”, UNHCHR (November 7, 2019)

 

National: Commission to Implement Amnesty Law Created

On June 18th, an agreement signed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), which will enable the creation of an Amnesty Commission to “coordinate the acts to comply with and monitor the application of the Amnesty Law” approved almost two months ago, as well as to “determine the origin of the benefit and submit its decision to the qualification of a federal judge.”

The Commission will be chaired by the Ministry of the Interior with the participation of the heads of the secretariats of Security and Citizen Protection, Welfare, as well as the national institutes for Women (Inmujeres) and Indigenous Peoples (INPI).

This new body must “resolve the amnesty requests that are presented to it and submit its decision to the appropriate jurisdictional authority, within a period not exceeding four months from the date of submission of the request.” It will operate through sessions that may be in person or distance. The first session in which the Commission will have to define and publish the procedure that the inmates will have to follow to present their request for amnesty will have to take place no later than 72 hours after the agreement comes into force.

The amnesty law was passed quickly, mainly on the grounds of taking pressure off overcrowded prisons and preventing COVID-19 infections. It will exclusively benefit people in prison for minor crimes of the federal jurisdiction who have been accused of abortion, simple robbery, drug crimes if the accused was in a situation of poverty, and inmates from indigenous communities who have not been properly legally advised.

The organization AsiLegal welcomed the publication of the agreement and urged that the corresponding procedures be streamlined so that the first releases can occur soon.

For more information in Spanish:

Crean comisión para aplicar Ley de Amnistía a casi dos meses de su aprobación (Animal Político, 18 de junio de 2020)

AMLO crea Comisión para verificar cumplimiento de la Ley de Amnistía (Milenio, 18 de junio de 2020)

Crean Comisión que resolverá solicitudes de amnistía (El Universal, 18 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: “Due to Cuts and Bureaucracy, Amnesty Law Hasn’t Been Applied to or Benefitted any Prisoner” – Animal Politico (June 17, 2020)

Chiapas: CSOs Denounces Chiapas State Prosecutor’s Office Setting Conditions for Release of Prisoners Entitled to New Amnesty Law (April 28, 2020)

National: Amnesty Law Approved to Stop Spread of Coronavirus in Prisons (April 23, 2020)

National: Calls on Federal and State Authorities to Take Special Measures to Prevent Spread of Coronavirus in Prisons (March 25, 2020)

 

 

National: “Due to Cuts and Bureaucracy, Amnesty Law Hasn’t Been Applied to or Benefitted any Prisoner” – Animal Politico

@CuartoOscuro

In an extensive article published by Animal Politico about the effects of the Amnesty Law urgently approved on April 20th “to help depressurize the country’s prisons facing the coronavirus pandemic”, it was observed that almost two months later it simply has not been applied because to date “it has not been possible to create the commission that the law contemplates as the first step to receiving requests from inmates who want to benefit from it.”

Despite the urgent nature of approval given the risk of contagion from COVID-19 in prisons that often suffer from overcrowding and deficiencies in matters of hygiene, Animal Politicoreported that “bureaucratic problems arisen from the budget cuts due to the austerity measures announced by the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that have delayed the installation of this commission.”

 The media warned of the fact that in the meantime “according to monitoring carried out by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), up to June 10th, 429 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in the country’s penitentiary centers. In addition, 219 cases were registered as suspect. As for deaths, the confirmed figure was 68 inmates killed.” These figures could be even higher when “there is opacity in the official records.”

Animal Politico also stressed that, according to experts on security and justice issues, “the Amnesty Law, by itself, is a useless tool to reduce the risks of the pandemic in the prison system, both due to the times involved and the its limited scope.”

As an example, in her speech at the online conference organized by Reinserta, Catalina Perez Correa, a researcher from Stanford University, explained that “even if the commission is successfully launched, what follows is a period for submitting applications and the one-by-one analysis, a procedure that can take another four months at least”: “The Amnesty Law must be separated from the COVID epidemic. Amnesty law is not an answer for COVID. The times it requires is not enough for that. Although it was brought up in the context of the pandemic, the amnesty is rather a response to the excessive use that we are making of criminal law and the prison system,” she declared.

In April, Animal Politico had made an estimate that “the law, at best, could benefit only 7% of all prisoners.”

For more information in Spanish:

Por recortes y burocracia, Ley de Amnistía no se aplica y no ha beneficiado a ninguna persona presa (Animal Político, 15 de junio de 2020)

Falta de recursos y burocracia detienen la Ley de Amnistía (Contrapesoo Ciudadano, 15 de junio de 2020)

Exige CODIGO DH aplicar ley de amnistía en penales feminiles (El Universal, 15 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Cereza Collective Requests Release of Women Prisoners in San Cristobal de Las Casas (June 4, 2020)

Chiapas: CSOs Denounces Chiapas State Prosecutor’s Office Setting Conditions for Release of Prisoners Entitled to New Amnesty Law (April 28, 2020)

National: Amnesty Law Approved to Stop Spread of Coronavirus in Prisons (April 23, 2020)

National: Calls on Federal and State Authorities to Take Special Measures to Prevent Spread of Coronavirus in Prisons (March 25, 2020)

 

National: AMLO Sends Proposal for Amnesty Law to Congress (September 23, 2019)

 

National: FONATUR Declares Maya Train Has Environmental Impact Exemption

@CEMDA

The National Tourism Promotion Fund (FONATUR) recognized that the Maya Train project does not have the environmental impact assessments that should be a requirement for infrastructure construction according to the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA) that entered in force in 1988.

According to the LGEEPA for the completion of works and infrastructures, the necessary presentation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is established before the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, SEMARNAT.

“The environmental impact assessment is the procedure through which the Ministry establishes the conditions to which the execution of works and activities that may cause ecological imbalance or exceed the limits and conditions established in the applicable provisions to protect the environment and preserve and restore ecosystems, in order to avoid or minimize their negative effects on the environment”, Article 28 of the LGEEPA states.

In an explanatory note, published on June 7th in response to Reforma newspaper after an article that stated that the Maya Train had started without the necessary environmental authorizations, FONATUR denied these statements because it considers that the Maya Train project is maintenance work for the rehabilitation and improvement of railways, which have existed since before 1988, before the LGEEPA came into force, for which they requested and obtained an exemption.

The Maya Train project has produced voices of concern and criticism from various environmental organizations about the environmental impacts that the project could cause, also questioning the lack of information on possible impacts. The Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) highlights risks and impacts such as ecosystem division, depletion and contamination of the aquifer, deforestation and extinction of flora and fauna.

For more information in Spanish:

Nota aclaratoria, (Fonatur, 7 de junio)

Postura del Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental respecto al Proyecto Tren Maya,  (CEMDA, 8 de junio)

Fonatur admite que Tren Maya no tiene evaluación ambiental (Proceso, 8 de junio)

Fonatur reconoce que ha usado antigua ley para Tren Maya y aún falta autorización ambiental (Reporte Indigo, 9 de junio)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: AMLO Inaugurates Trans-Isthmus Corridor; Civil Organizations Say “He’s Taking Advantage of Pandemic”(June 11, 2020)

Chiapas/National: Provisional Suspension of Maya Train Revoked in Pandemic (June 4, 2020)

National: Claims Fracking Continues in 4T; AMLO Denies it (May 20, 2020)

National: CNDH Issues Precautionary Measures for Indigenous Peoples of Yucatan and Requests Halt to Maya Train Works (May 18, 2020)

 

National: Collectives of Victims of Violence Demand Dismissal of Head of Executive Commission for Attention to Victims (CEAV) and Request Meeting with AMLO

@Arturo Contreras, Pie de Página

Between June 4th and 7th, different groups in the country outlined their positions through three briefs to request the immediate removal of the head of the Executive Commission for Attention to Victims (CEAV), Mara Gomez Perez, and that the State guarantee the defense and the accompaniment of those who have suffered violence in the country. They separately demanded a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) to meet their demands and produce agreements.

The letters were written by relatives of victims of the so-called dirty war; by groups of relatives of disappeared people (who held a sit-in in front of the National Palace in Mexico City since June 4th); and by 700 direct victims and 61 groups.

All agree on the need for changes in the CEAV even moreso after the announcement of a cut of 75% of its budget due to austerity measures defined by the federal government to respond to the economic situation in the midst of the pandemic. They also agree that Gomez Perez has been characterized by her inefficiency, bureaucracy, threats, contempt, has been offensive and lacking sensitivity, as well as opacity to resolve issues of reparations to victims.

The relatives also demand Alejandro Encinas, Undersecretary of Human Rights and Population who also chairs the CEAV Governing Board, to make the use of the dependency’s economic resources transparent. They asked for several improvements to the services provided by the institution, in addition to proposing proposals for it.

Pie de Pagina stresses that “the work of the CEAV has been questioned by the victims since its origin. As of May 2019, the institution had been identified as the responsible authority in 242 injunction trials and 53 complaint files had been opened against it in the National Human Rights Commission, of which two recommendations were issued.

For its part, CEAV reported via Twitter that it will continue to work with republican austerity in its legal obligation to guarantee, promote and protect the human rights of victims.

For more information in Spanish:

Insisten colectivos en remover de la CEAV a Mara Gómez (La Jornada, 9 de junio de 2020)

Familiares de desaparecidos mantienen plantón por exigencias a CEAV (Pie de Página, 9 de junio de 2020)

Acusan crisis de Comisión Ejecutiva de Atención a Víctimas (Excelsior, 9 de junio de 2020)

Familiares de desaparecidos exigen reunión con AMLO y la destitución de titular de la CEAV (Proceso, 8 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Government Cuts Paralyze CEAV (June 8, 2020)

Mexico: Mothers Continue the Search for Their Disappeared Children on Their Day (May 13, 2020)

 

Oaxaca: AMLO Inaugurates Trans-Isthmus Corridor; Civil Organizations Say “He’s Taking Advantage of Pandemic”

@lopez.obrador.mx

From June 5th to 7th, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) made a visit to the south of Veracruz to inaugurate the works of the Trans-Isthmus Corridor in the midst of the health emergency due to the pandemic.

Prior to this, more than 100 civil organizations from Oaxaca and Veracruz released a statement in which they expressed their rejection of the modernization works of the Trans-Isthmus Train tracks and the other projects that the federal government is proposing with the megaproject. Its plans include wind and hydroelectric parks, mining and fracking activities, as well as the installation of ten industrial complexes.

The organizations of the Isthmus emphasized what they have been saying since the announcement of the project in the summer of 2018: “We consider that this project of the interoceanic corridor […] will be the destruction of the great diversity of the original cultures and Afro-descendants that coexist in the region of the Isthmus and that represent a true treasure for the peoples and for all humanity.”

They highlighted that the consultations made in March 2019 did not comply with the international standards established in ILO Convention 169 and therefore cannot be considered valid. In addition, they mentioned that new indigenous consultations had been announced, which were suspended due to the spread of coronavirus in Mexico.

Despite strong criticism, the President of the Republic inaugurated the Trans-Isthmus Corridor on the 7th. “The intention is to contain migration in these communities so that people do not abandon them in search of work in the north. That there is a job offer – I stress – so that whoever wants to leave does so for pleasure”, he said.

The AMLO government is not the first government to propose the industrialization of the Tehuantepec Isthmus area. Alejandro Murat, governor of the state of Oaxaca, stated during the event that “the great difference of this project that the president is leading today is that it goes from the bottom up, and comes from consensus with the indigenous peoples.”

For more information in Spanish:

Generará cortina de empleos el tren transístmico: AMLO (La Jornada el 8 de junio de 2020)

Cierra filas Murat con AMLO en banderazo del Transístmico; no es momento de mezquindades, dice (El Universal el 7 de junio de 2020)

AMLO aprovecha confinamiento para imponer de manera “autoritaria” el corredor interoceánico: ONG (El Proceso el 4 de junio de 2020)

Comunicado de denuncia sobre el proyecto del Corredor Transístmico (el 3 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca/Nacional: Más de 100 OSC rechazan proyecto del Corredor Transístmico a unos día de visita de AMLO (June 5th, 2020)

Oaxaca: “The Isthmus is Ours” Campaign Rejects Integration of “Tehuantepec Isthmus Interoceanic Corridor Regional Committee for Social Attention” (May 19, 2020)

Oaxaca: Organizations, Communities and Movements Demand Suspension of Trans-Isthmus Project (May 2, 2020)

Oaxaca: Illegal Start on Trans-Isthmus Corridor without EIR Denounced (April 28, 2020)

 

National: Government Cuts Paralyze CEAV

Budgetary cuts announced by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the austerity decree of April 23rd will have serious implications for the Executive Commission for Attention to Victims (CEAV), the institution itself has warned.

The CEAV, the central body for the care of victims of crimes and serious human rights violations in Mexico, announced that the 75 percent reduction in expenses “will slow down its essential activities and paralyze its operation.”

In the CEAV publication they indicated that the cuts, among other things, will imply the loss of accommodation and protection of the National Registry of Victims (RENAVI), with all the personal data of more than 34,215 victims; it will not be possible to process the delivery of aid measures for more than five thousand victims per month and that the 1,100 resolutions and 610 judicial procedures in process will be left pending, some of which relate to recommendations of the CNDH, the Inter-American Court, the Inter-American Commission and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner in Mexico.

Given the cuts, opposition legislators and members of civil groups expressed that the government is using the health emergency caused by COVID-19 to block the work of institutions that inconvenience it. Meanwhile the head of the CEAV, Mara Gomez Perez, said that she agrees that the government has to be austere, especially in these times and that the budget is not yet fully defined.

The day after the publication of the CEAV, the head of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), Arturo Herrera, assured, after a meeting with the head of SEGOB, Olga Sanchez Cordero, and the undersecretary for Human Rights, Alejandro Encinas, that the cuts will not affect human rights issues.

For more information in Spanish:

DECRETO DE AUSTERIDAD PARALIZARÁ FUNCIONAMIENTO DE LA CEAV –  (SEGOB, 2 de junio)

Virtual extinción de la CEAV por el recorte.  (La jornada, 3 de junio)

No tenemos recursos para pagarle al personal: CEAV. (Aristegui Noticias, 2 de junio)

Colapso en Comisión de Víctimas por recorte: despedirán a 60% del personal y no hay ni para la renta. (AnimalPolitco, 2 de junio)

CEAV no será afectada con recortes al gasto: Arturo Herrera (La jornada, 3 de junio)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Cuts for Indigenous Women in Violent Situations(May 15, 2020)

National/International: Mexico and IACHR Formalize Reinstallation of IGIE for Ayotzinapa Case (May 11, 2020)

National: Reform Of Law for Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists Debated in Context of Greater Vulnerability in Pandemic (May 26, 2020)

 

National: Controversy over “Count to Ten” Federal Campaign against Violence

Civil organizations have rejected the federal Campaign “Count to Ten, launched by the Ministry of the Interior on May 26th at a conference on gender violence. The Campaign refers to family situations where confinement generates tensions. They considered that it hides and normalizes the aggressions suffered by women, individualizes the problem and also recycles an initiative used in the 80s. “Counting to ten to contain aggression, as the campaign invites, does not work when the aggressor hits a woman or when he sexually violates her”, said the director of the National Network of Refugees (RNR), Wendy Figueroa. A message like this “not only re-victimizes her, but continues to perpetuate these stereotypes of being the one who has to stop the violence and in some way encourages guilt”, she added.

Legislators have also claimed that the burden of violence is left to the women themselves. In its official Twitter account, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) called for the withdrawal of the campaign: “The @GobiernoMX insists on denying the existence of violence against women and girls. The campaign #CuentaHasta10 does not contribute to prevent, combat and eradicate this problem, on the contrary, it normalizes it”, says the message.

In response to the complaints, the president of the National Institute for Women (Inmujeres), Nadine Gasman, defended the “Count to Ten” campaign noting that is only one of other campaigns and government actions to prevent violence during the COVID-19 quarantine.

She acknowledged that this campaign is not specifically focused on women, but announced that they were about to launch one specifically directed at them, in collaboration with the UN Spotlight initiative. “These spots are more directed to this issue of coexistence, of what coexistence is like and how coexistence is strained at the moment. And this count to ten resource, which seems very recycled, really is a simple technique that everyone gives you, that if you are angry, if you are furious, stop, breathe and lose yourself. That is the message it wants to give, simple, for everyone”, she said.

For his part, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejected criticism of the campaign and declared that they come from conservatism that “turned feminist.” “I am respectful of the rights of women and the protection of women. I am in favor of the feminist movement. I am not a feminist, I am a humanist. But because I am a humanist, I am against violence, I am against hate crimes”, he declared.

 For more information in Spanish:

Desata polémica ‘Cuenta hasta 10’, campaña contra la violencia (Aristegui Noticias, 27 de mayo de 2020)

Mujeres víctimas de violencia explican por qué no sirve la campaña ‘Cuenta hasta 10’(Animal Político, 27 de mayo de 2020)

Defiende Inmujeres campaña del gobierno “Cuenta hasta 10” (La Jornada, 27 de mayo de 2020)

Inmujeres defiende la campaña ‘Cuenta hasta 10’; no es lo único, habrá otros spots, dice su titular (Animal Político, 27 de mayo de 2020)

Rechaza AMLO críticas a campaña “Cuenta hasta 10” (La Jornada, 28 de mayo de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: Declaraciones de AMLO con respecto a la violencia de género provoca reacciones de diversos actores. (May 19, 2020)

National: Cuts for Indigenous Women in Violent Situations (May 15, 2020)

Chiapas: Woman Dies Violently Every Two Days in the State (April 16, 2020)

National: Historic Women’s Day In Mexico (March 11, 2020)