National/Chiapas: CNI and General Command of the EZLN demand release of Mario Luna

On 14 September, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and the Revolutionary Clandestine Indigenous Committee-General Command of the EZLN publicly pronounced themselves in favor of the release of Mario Luna, a spokesperson from the Yaqui people in the state of Sonora, who was arrested on 11 September, “falsely accused of crimes that were fabricated [against him]; with this, they seek to arrest the very struggle of the Yaqui tribe to defend the waters that in 1940 were recognized as theirs by Lázaro Cárdenas following a long war, and that since 2010 owners of capital have sought to take away from them by means of the Independence aqueduct.”  The two groups denounced that said aqueduct “is said to be constructed so that the poor have water and progress, as those from above call it, but [in fact] it is so that the rich take away the water that for centuries has belonged to the Yaquis.  Instead of irrigating crops, they want to take it for the large industries in Sonora.”

For the CNI and the General Command, the developmentalist megaprojects are a threat to the lives of indigenous peoples, given that “they want to kill us with wind-energy plants, highways, mines, dams, airports, and drug-trafficking; today, above all, it hurts us that they want to kill us in Sonora with aqueducts.”  For this reason, they demanded “the immediate release of Mario Luna; we call for the cancellation of all arrest-orders against him and the fabrication of charges against members of the Yaqui tribe and, together with this, we demand the release of all our prisoners and particularly that of our Nahua brothers Juan Carlos Flores Solís and Enedina Rosas Vélez, who have been imprisoned by the bad government since April, similarly accused falsely of fabricated crimes, toward the end of halting the struggle of the Front of Peoples in Defense of Water and Land in Morelos, Puebla, and Tlaxcala against the comprehensive infrastructural project for Morelos.”

Beyond this, the Network against Repression and for Solidarity identified Sonoran Governor Guillermo Padrés and President Enrique Peña Nieto as responsible for the health and safety of Mario Luna: “We hold them responsible for any repressive act that is taken against the Yaquis.  Above all, we call on our comrades from this network, the Sixth, who feel this attack as your own to express your solidarity by protesting and pronouncing yourselves according to your means and forms in favor of the liberty of our comrade Mario Luna and against this attack on the Yaqui people.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Pronunciamiento del CNI y el EZLN por la libertad de Mario Luna, vocero de la tribu yaqui (Enlace Zapatista, 14 de septiembre de 2014)

RvsR: ¡Libertad a Mario Luna! (Enlace Zapatista, 13 de septiembre de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: EZLN and members of the CNI united against the plundering of their peoples (29 August 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN announces upcoming activities

Support-bases of the Zapatista Army in Galeano’s homage (@Sipaz)

Subcomandante Moisés, spokesperson of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), announced in a communiqué upcoming activities scheduled by the organization.

Among these are the announcement of upcoming sessions of the Escuelita “both the first degree for those who have not yet arrived, and the second degree for those who have been approved.” There are no specified dates for those activities yet.

Other news include the installation, at the initiative of the Human Rights Center Fray Bartolome de Las Casas, of a Civil Peace Camp in the community of La Realidad, and a new meeting with the National Indigenous Congress (CNI).

Finally, the EZLN also called for the provision of materials for the rebuilding of the autonomous schools and clinic destroyed by “paramilitaries at the service of the bad governments […] This is so that the bad governments understand that no matter how much they destroy, we will always build more.“

In the final part of the communiqué, a review is made to the paid media, which were not invited to the homage to the Galeano which took place on May 24: “I want to say that I have been seeing what the paid media has been saying happened in reality in La Realidad. And I see that what the now defunct Supmarcos said was right: they neither listened nor understood. Those above don’t understand that we didn’t lose anything; on the contrary, we recovered a compañero. And those on the outside don’t understand that they in fact did lose something, because now they don’t have a window through which to see us, much less a door through which to enter.”

For more information:

Escuelita, Camp of Peace, Sharing and Reconstruction (Enlace Zapatista, May 29, 2014)

For more information (in Spanish):

Instalarán Campamento Civil por la Paz en La Realidad: Sub Moisés (Chiapas Paralelo, 29 de mayo de 2014)

El EZLN anuncia la reanudación de las “Escuelitas Zapatistas” (Proceso, 29 de mayo de 2014)

Escuela de La Realidad dañada por agresores será reconstruida: subcomandante Moisés (La Jornada, 29 de mayo de 2014)

EZLN retoma diálogo con Congreso Nacional Indígena (El Universal, 29 de mayo de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: EZLN pays tribute to murdered Support-base and announces organizational changes (June 10, 2014)

Chiapas: indigenous organizations and communities also affected by “counterinsurgency and war of extermination” express their solidarity with the EZLN (June 9, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN announces homage to Zapatista murdered in La Realidad and announces primary results of investigation on the case (May 18, 2014)

Chiapas: “Las Abejas” present the event “Voices that sow the seeds of peace”

Las Abejas Press Conference (December 13st, @SIPAZ)

“In the Maya cosmology the number 13 means: The marriage of heaven and earth.
There are 13 levels to go to heaven
And with 13 candles pray the Elders
13 years of the Acteal Massacre
13 years of impunity … …

Our struggle is constant as the wind blows us life, and it continues daily such as the cycle of planting corn. “

During a press conference held in San Cristobal de Las Casas on December 13, “Las Abejas” invited to various activities to be performed in observance of the 13th anniversary of the massacre of Acteal. On December 16, there will be a cultural event in San Cristobal de las Casas with the presentation of the documentary “Acteal 10 years of impunity; how many more?” and a concert by the Choir of Acteal and the Rock group in Tzotzil Sak Tzevul. The Acteal Choir consists of 28 young people from different communities in the municipality of Chenalho. It was born in 1996 with the translation of the Bible into Tsotsil, and nowadays, in addition to religious music, it also sing about Las Abejas’ struggles, justice and peace.

On December 20, 21 and 22, activities are planned in Acteal. On Monday, December 20 cultural events will be held, including the presentation of the book Batik Tajimol ta! By Maruca Hernández and music of the choir with Sak Tzevul group.

On Tuesday 21, a Regional Meeting “Weaving the Resistance in favor of Autonomy and against Dependence and Counterinsurgency” will be held. Part of the goal is “to know one another and exchange experience and wisdom to continue building the autonomy of our people. To know that we are not alone, each organization walking side by side, we need to forge alliances between our peoples. “

December 22 will mark the anniversary of the Acteal Massacre (in which 45 Tsotsiles Indians were killed, mostly women and children) with a Mass at 10:00 am.

For more information (in Spanish):

Invitación al concierto 16 de diciembre

Conferencia de prensa 13 de diciembre de 2010 (video)

Invitación a los eventos en Acteal 20-22 de diciembre

Acteal 10 años de impunidad ¿y cuántos mas?

Sak Tzevul

Chiapas: Announcement of International Accompaniment for the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center on the part of the International Service for Peace

San Cristóbal de Las Casas
December 6, 2010

To the members of the SIPAZ international coalition
To national and international human rights organizations
To the national and international press
To the public

Announcement of International Accompaniment for the
Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center
on the part of the International Service for Peace

The International Service for Peace (SIPAZ), an international NGO that with nearly 15 years of experience working for peace in Chiapas, is announcing the commencement of physical ac-companiment of the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center (CDHFBC) due to recent death threats the organization has received and the more general risk present in their work.

Facts

In San Cristóbal de las Casas on November 24, 2010, Margarita Martínez Martínez was harassed and threatened with death by to unidentified men. In an Urgent Action made public on November 26, 2010, SIPAZ denounced these events expressing their strong concern for the life, security and physical integrity of Margarita Martínez and her family. Her agressors also used Margarita Martínez as an intermediary in delivering death threats (both written and oral) to the CDHFBC team.

One of the men gave her a piece of paper told her the following: “you will take this to Frayba and you will tell Diegao [Diego Cardenas, the CDHFBC director] that we know that they work with subversive groups and that we have identified the Frayba staff and we are going to finish them off one by one because they are fucking assholes that just go around destabilizing the State. They even justify their actions by saying they work in favor of those most in need, in favor of justice. What justice? Justice my ass.” A fearful Margarita Martínez followed her aggressors’ instructions to drive through the city in a taxi until she was able to lose them in the José Castillo Tielemans market. She then went to the CDHFBC and handed over the piece of paper given to her with a message spelled out in letters cut out of a newspaper that read: “Diego, the life of this family is in your hands. You will face charges. Fucking [human rights] defenders.”

Context

SIPAZ recognizes that the current sociopolitical context in Chiapas presents a high level of risk for human rights defenders due to the growing criminialization of their work since 2009 as well as the prevalence of impunity in cases of harassment and aggression against them.

Antecedents

It is important to remember that the death threats that t CDHFBC received on November 24 were not part of an isolated incident. They are just the latest in a series of harassments against this Center and the State’s reaction to these events has proven to be insufficient. Since mid-2009, the CDHFBC team has been victim to slanderous media campaigns, acts of defamation, surveillane, harassment, threats and even physical aggression against one of its members.

SIPAZ Accompaniment

The mission at the International Service for Peace is to accompany and protect the work of local actors in favor of peace and human rights to promote the development of positive peace in Chiapas. We at SIPAZ value the work done at the CDHFBC in defense of human rights and the rights of the people and we reiterate our strong concern for the lives and both physical and psychological integrity of their members.

As such, in addition to the urgent action we at SIPAZ published on November 26, 2010, distribution of information on the case and advocacy meetings with officials at the national and international levels, we have decided to accompany the CDHFBC through daily visits to their offices for a period to be decided on based on the need and responses to such accompaniment from both the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Mexican State.

It is important to remember that the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders states the following: “The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with other, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights…”

We ask that the members of the SIPAZ international coalition, both national and international human rights organizations, the national and international press and the general public remain alert to possible incidents in the future with regard to the CDHFBC team and their safety in addition to requesting measures be put in place to protect the work, lives, security, physical and psychological integrity as well as the families of all of the Center’s members.

Sincerely,

The International Service for Peace (SIPAZ)

Chiapas: military harassment of the OCEZ-RC

On Thursady 22 July, the Emiliano Zapata Campesino Organization-Carranza Region (OCEZ-RC) released an urgent action denouncing a military incursion into its region of influence in the state of Chiapas.  According to its communiqué, on 21 July a vehicle pertaining to the Secretary of the Navy of Mexico approached the barrier that OCEZ-RC had installed at the entrance of the community; the vehicle carried some 40 camouflaged soldiers led by a commandant who did not identify himself.  Upon arriving at the barrier, the truck-commander, accompanied by 4 soldiers, approached the community guard-house and asked those present how many residents, teachers, and children lived in the community, as well as how many international observers were to be found there.

After this, the military truck returned to the principal highway between Ingenio Pujilitic and the municipal center of Venustiano Carranza, where it was intercepted by an OCEZ-RC commission that inquired into its presence.  The troop-commander informed the members of the commission that he had received federal orders to patrol the region, and he indicated that constant patrols would soon be carried out, per federal orders.  The soldiers filmed the commission’s members during the exchange.

The OCEZ-RC sees in this occurrence the failure of the promises made by Juan Sabines Guerrero, governor of the state of Chiapas, on 26 November 2009, when he met with OCEZ-RC in negotiations at which he committed himself to warn federal military and police units not to approach the OCEZ-RC’s zone of influence. The 21 July operation probably had the support of the state government, conclude those of OCEZ-RC, given that “we know well that only at the request of the state government will federal military units move around the state, above all in remote areas.” Indeed, the communiqué refers to Sabines Guerrero as being “RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESTABILIZATION OF OUR MUNICIPALITY.”

In its communiqué, the OCEZ-RC demands that Felipe Calderón, president of the Republic, “order his military units to abstain from entering our territory” and call on Sabines Guerrero to “fully comply with everything he offered” in the 26 November 2009 dialogues regarding the “DEMILITARIZATION OF OUR TERRITORY,” “REPARATIONS FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY MILITARY AND POLICE OPERATIONS, SEARCHES, ARBITRARY DETENTIONS AND VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AGAINST THE OCEZ-RC,” “SOLUTION TO OUR AGRARIAN DEMANDS,” and “SOCIAL DEMANDS OF THE OCEZ-RC.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Complete communiqué of the OCEZ-RC, 22 July

Chiapas: the Peace Network expresses its concern for the possible detention of human-rights defender

March of the movement against high electricity-prices in Tonalá, 8 March 2010 @ the Autonomous Regional Council of the Coastal Zone of Chiapas

The Peace Network, comprised of civil and human-rights organizations in the state of Chiapas, expressed in a pronouncement its worry regarding the open judicial process against Nataniel Hernández Nuñez, director of the Digna Ochoa Human-Rights Center, which could result in his detention.  We here reproduce the bulletin in full:

San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas

13 July 2010

Pronouncement of the Peace Network

• Concern for the criminalization of the work of human-rights defender
• Call to respect the accompaniment of organizational processes

We, the civil organizations that comprise the Peace Network in Chiapas, manifest our profound concern for the judicial process that accuses Nataniel Hernández Nuñez, director of the “Digna Ochoa” Human-Rights Center, in the city of Tonalá, Chiapas.

The accusation was presented against Hernández Nuñez for his presence as a human-rights observer in a peaceful protest carried out by the Autonomous Council of the Coastal Zone on 13 April 2010.  During the event, the Council, which is part of the Other Campaign, denounced the stealing of electrical cables that two communities that pertain to the Autonomous Council had suffered.  Furthermore, protestors demanded that the Federal Commission of Electricity reinstall the electrical service that had left more than 150 families–resisting high-electricity prices–without electricity for more than a week.

On 11 June 2010, the AFI arrived at Nataniel Hernández Nuñez’s home to present an order demanding his presence on 15 June at 10:00am in the city of Arriaga, Chiapas.  In this order Hernández Nuñez was informed that there exists an investigation (no. AVP/PGR/032/2010) against him, one that charges him with the crime of attacking means of communication, a situation that places him in a state of permanent vulnerability: “The procedural state in which [Nataniel Hernández Nuñez] finds himself is that of the previously mentioned investigation; pending is the arraignment and the request for the arrest-order, if the necessary elements are found to exist.”

As human-rights defenders, we are concerned by the legal punishment imposed by the state government against this human-rights defender, a case that seems to represent yet another example of the recurring criminalization of the work of defense and accompaniment realized by human-rights organizations in the case of different organizations and communities that promote civil and peaceful transformation in Chiapas.

We call on the appropriate state and federal authorities to do the following:

1. Immediately suspend the judicial process against the director of the “Digna Ochoa” Human-Rights Center, seeing as it is clearly a crime invented to criminalize and make difficult his work.
2. Cease the vigilance and harassment of Nataniel Hernández Nuñez, as well as the rest of the members of the “Digna Ochoa” Human-Rights Center.
3. Respect the work of human-rights defenders in all of Mexico.

Regards

Member organizations of the Peace Network

Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Políticas de Acción Comunitaria, A.C. (Ciepac)

Desarrollo Económico y Social de los Mexicanos Indígenas, A.C. (Desmi)

Comisión de Apoyo a la Unidad y Reconciliación Comunitaria, A.C. (Coreco)

Enlace Capacitación y Comunicación, A.C. (Enlace CC)

Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz, A.C. (Serapaz)

Centro de Derechos de la Mujer de Chiapas, A.C. (CDMCH)

Centro de Derechos Indígenas, A.C. (Cediac)

Comité de Derechos Humanos Fray Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada, A.C.

Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, A.C. (Frayba)

Educación para la Paz (Edupaz)

For more information (in Spanish):

Joint bulletin from the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human-Rights Center and the Digna Ochoa Human-Rights Center (pdf) (16 July 2010)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Judicial Harrassment of Human-Rights Defender (21 June 2010)

Oaxaca: the Peace Network’s Communiqué on the Caravan to San Juan Copala

The Peace Network, comprised of civil human-rights organizations in Chiapas, and of which SIPAZ is a part, demands security-guarantees for the members of the “National and International Humanitarian Caravana Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola” as well as for the population of the region to which the caravan is headed.  Below, we share the communiqué in full.

San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas

7 June 2010

* We demand security-guarantees for the caravan headed to San Juan Copala

* Solidarity group from Chiapas joins the caravan

The Peace Network, comprised of civil human-rights organizations in the state of Chiapas, calls on Felipe Calderón, president of Mexico, and on Ulises Ruíz Ortiz, governor of the state of Oaxaca, to guarantee the security of human-rights defenders, observers, and residents of the community of San Juan Copala.

We are alarmed at the current situation in San Juan Copala, given the violence seen on 27 April, when members of a caravan–human-rights defenders, both national and international, together with journalists–were ambushed in La Sabana by UBISORT (Union of Social Welfare for the Triqui Region) while en route to the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala.

The Peace Network is aware that, on 8 June, a new caravan will embark to take aid and basic necessities to the population that has been isolated, that has received no attention, that lacks basic services from local authorities.  We are also aware that a solidarity group from Chiapas will join the caravan to San Juan Copala.

We organizations that make up the Network call on state and federal authorities to guarantee the protection of the members of the caravan, as well as the men, women, and children of the Triqui region of Oaxaca.

It is important to stress that the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) has recognized the importanceof the work of human-rights defenders, indicating that “respect for human rights in a democratic State depends in large part on the effective and adequate guarantees enjoyed by human-rights defenders, so that they can freedly engage in their activities.  Special attention should be paid to actions that limit or constitute obstacles for the work of human-rights defenders.”

Member-organizations of the Peace Network

Educación para la Paz (Edupaz)

Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Políticas de Acción Comunitaria, A.C. (Ciepac)

Desarrollo Económico y Social de los Mexicanos Indígenas, A.C. (Desmi)

The International Service for Peace (Sipaz)

Comisión de Apoyo a la Unidad y Reconciliación Comunitaria, A.C. (Coreco)

Enlace, Comunicación y Capacitación A.C. (Enlace CC)

Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz, A.C. (Serapaz)

Centro de Derechos de la Mujer de Chiapas, A.C. (CDMCH)

Centro de Derechos Indígenas, A.C. (Cediac)

Comité de Derechos Humanos Fray Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada, A.C.

Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, A.C. (Frayba)

For more information (in Spanish):

• La Jornada: Warlike people are there, warns the Oaxacan government to the the caravan headed to Copala (08/06/2010)
• La Jornada: 20 tons of food and a message of solidarity are being taken to the Triqui region (08/06/2010)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

• Oaxaca: On the “International and National Humanitarian Caravan Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola” to San Juan Copala (08/06/2010)
• Oaxaca: New information-update on San Juan Copalá (29/05/2010)
• Oaxaca: Information-update on observation-caravan attack (03/05/2010)
• Oaxaca: the Peace Network condemns armed attack against observation-caravan in San Juan Copalá (01/05/2010)
• Oaxaca: Attack on observation-caravan–2 dead and 4 missing (29/04/2010)