Chiapas/Guerrero: Two Police Officers Held for Attacks on Parents of the Ayotzinapa 43 Disapeared; Investigation of Students who Participated in Protest Continue

@Lennyn Flores, El Herlado de Chiapas

At a press conference held on February 22nd in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the head of the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE), Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca, reported that two State Police agents were arrested for the violent events that occurred a week before during the eviction of a blockade of students from the Normal Rural Mactumactza School (Chiapas) and relatives of the 43 disappeared student teachers from Ayotzinapa (Guerrero, 2014), and that left a balance of several wounded. Both police officers are accused of attempted murder, inflicting injuries and abuse of authority.

For his part, the Secretary of Health of the state, Jose Manuel Cruz Castellanos, said that of the most seriously injured, a student of the Rural Normal of Ayotzinapa continues with a reserved prognosis, while another is stable (although pending surgery), and another was already discharged.

The FGE also indicated that it continues putting together an investigation file against “the protesters and those who are responsible for the riot crimes, breaches of the peace and bodily and patrimonial integrity of the community and the state and attacks on the communication routes, as well as agrieved injuries of four Chiapas oficers, three men and a woman.”

Present at the press conference, the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Gabriela del Socorro Zepeda Soto, said that “all the necessary investigations are carried out so that the police are certain that while they do their job well, justice will be demanded and their rights will be defended because the Secretariat’s commitment is to serve, protect and maintain order, peace and citizen tranquility.”

For more information in Spanish:

Detienen a 2 policías por reprimir a grupo de normalistas en Chiapas (La Jornada, 22 de febrero de 2020)

Detienen a dos policías por agresiones con papás de 43 normalistas de Ayotzinapa (El Universal, 22 de febrero de 2020)

Detienen a policías por agresiones contra papás de los 43 de Ayotzinapa (El Informador, 22 de febrero de 2020)

Informa FGE sobre evolución de caso de conflicto entre normalistas y antimotines (El Heraldo de Chiapas, 22 de febrero de 2020)

Abren dos carpetas de investigación por desalojo de padres de normalistas en Chiapas (El Universal, 19 de febrero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ :

Chiapas/Guerrero: Parents of Ayotzinapa 43 Attacked with Tear Gas in Tuxtla Gutierrez (February 17, 2020)

Chiapas: Las Abejas Civil Society Denounces Persecution and Murder of Human Rights Defenders and Protectors of Mother Earth and other Violent Situations

@Area de comunicación de Las Abejas

On February 22nd, within the framework of the monthly anniversary of the Acteal massacre (1997), Las Abejas Civil Society issued a statement in which it denounced not only impunity in that case but that “in Mexico of the era of the “Fourth transformation “human rights defenders, protectors of Mother Earth are persecuted and murdered, the truth is still covered up and women and girls are murdered, just as the criminal governments of the PRI and the PAN did.”

It also stated that “if we had a premature conscience, we would swallow the tale of the MORENA president that uncontrollable violence in the country, femicides, kidnapping and murder of girls is the fault of previous governments. It is outrageous that this president does not have the decency to admit that once he assumed power in Mexico, he assumed to serve a rotten system of government that can only persist causing destruction and feeding on blood.”

It outlined several more recent cases, also stating that “every day there is news of murders that make the news of the previous day remain forgotten, taking away from the fact that there is a new woman or girl murdered and raped.” It mentioned the case the repression against the fathers and mothers of the 43 disappeared students of Ayotzinapa, during their visit to the Mactumatza Normal Rural school in Chiapas; the detention of Miguel Lopez Vega, delegate of the National Indigenous Congress, member of the Zacatepec community radio station and member of the Puebla Peoples in Defense of the Land and Water Front, Morelos and Tlaxcala (although he was released through social pressure, Las Abejas believe that it was to intimidate the movement against companies in the Huejotzingo Industrial corridor) and femicides; among others.

For more information in Spanish:

Hoy sólo vamos a poder mencionar algunos casos de violencia, de injusticia y de asesinatos contra hombres y mujeres (Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal, 22 de febrero de 2020)

Se deslindan Abejas de Acteal de supuesto integrante de su Mesa Directiva (Reporte Ciudadano, 23 de febrero de 2020)

Se deslindan Abejas de Acteal de supuesto integrante de su Mesa Directiva (Noticias Primer Plano, 23 de febrero de 2020)

Se deslindan las Abejas de supuesto integrante (Diario de Chiapas, 24 de febrero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: “This year begins with a lot of violence and it is increasing” – Las Abejas de Acteal Civil Society (January 28, 2020)

Chiapas: Las Abejas de Acteal Hold Commenoration 22 Years after Acteal Masacre (January 13, 2020)

Chiapas: Las Abejas de Acteal Celebrate 27th Anniversary (January 4, 2020)

Chiapas/Guerrero: Parents of Ayotzinapa 43 Attacked with Tear Gas in Tuxtla Gutierrez

Photo @ Padres y Madres de Ayotzinapa

On the morning of February 16th, the “In search of the 43” caravan for the students who were disappeared in Iguala in 2014, and in which the mothers and fathers of the young people who studied at the Rural Normal School Raul Isidro Burgos d Ayotzinapa are participating with others, arrived at the Mactumactza Normal Rural School in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas. This is part of the visits they have scheduled in all the normal rural schools of the country.

Different media outlets reported that as a joint protest “they intended to carry out a blockade” in the capital of the state of Chiapas. The organizers of the caravan reported that their arrival had been made public since days ago as part of a national information campaign, and that “they were conducting a “flying campaign” (…) inviting to join the demonstration to be held this Sunday afternoon.”

In response to the mobilization “more than two hundred state policemen with tear gas tanks and bombs were posted at the entrance of the Normal School without any valid explanation. Around 8:30 in the morning the Policemen without any protocol began to launch the tear gas towards the fathers and mothers of the 43 and student teachers, the repression lasted for an hour with a balance of three students, two mothers and their three-year-old granddaughter injured. Two students were hit with a projectile on their heads, one of them from Ayotzinapa”, the Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center reported.

Regarding the events, the Ministry of Citizen Security and Protection (SSyPC) reported that they acted “under the eviction protocol with respect for human rights and restored order.” They accused the students and parents of the missing 43 students from Ayotzinapa of “throwing Molotov cocktails, stones and fireworks at those in uniform.”

The undersecretary of Human Rights, Population and Migration, Alejandro Encinas, asked the state government “for immediate attention for the injured people and an investigation into these unfortunate events, the immediate and specialized medical attention for the young people attacked by the state pólice, Jose Antonio Flores, Javier Lopez Bernal, Alex Alvarez. The investigation and punishment of those responsible for giving the order to repress the caravan of Ayotzinapa is urgent.”

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) reported that the “State Commission has initiated an ex officio complaint; however, the CNDH will be following closely the investigation of the unfortunate events in which several members of the Caravan were injured. The CNDH, for its part, has requested precautionary and/or protective measures for the students of the Mactumatza Normal Rural School, the relatives of the 43 student taechers from Ayotzinapa and members of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center.”

Or more information in Spanish:

Policías reprimen a padres y normalistas en Chiapas; hay 4 hospitalizados (Proceso, 16 de febrero de 2020)

Desalojan en Chiapas a padres de los 43 de Ayotzinapa con gases lacrimógenos (El Financiero, 16 de febrero de 2020)

COMUNICADO | Policías Estatales del Estado de Chiapas reprimen la Caravana en Busca de los 43 (Tlachinollan, 16 de febrero de 2020)

CNDH condena actos de violencia en contra de familiares de los 43 normalistas de Ayotzinapa, cometida por elementos policíacos en la Normal Rural de Chiapas (CNDH, 16 de febrero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: “Walk for Truth, Justice and Peace” Ends at Parliament in Mexico City (January 29, 2020)

Nacional: “Caminata por la Paz” se dirige al Palacio Nacional y exige justicia y seguridad (24 de enero de 2020)

International/National: UNHCHR Calls on Mexican State to Increase Efforts to Effectively Implement General Law on Forced Disappearance of Persons (January 21, 2020)

Chiapas/Mexico: EZLN, CNI and CIG Convene Actions in Defense of Territory and Mother Earth “We Are All Samir” (January 14, 2020)

Oaxaca/Nacional: Nuevas agresiones a periodistas; se modificará mecanismo de protección, Encinas (9 de diciembre de 2019)

National: Rosario Ibarra de Piedra Sworn in as New President of CNDH (November 15, 2019)

National: One Year of AMLO Presidency (December 5, 2019)

Mexico: March “Steps for Peace” (August 19, 2011)

National: “Walk for Truth, Justice and Peace” Ends at Parliament in Mexico City

@Alejandro Ponce

On January 26th, the “Walk for Truth, Justice and Peace” ended. It left Cuernavaca, Morelos on January 23rd, with the aim of highlighting violence in the country and demanding justice and a change in the security strategy of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO).

Before moving on to the National Palace, where the mobilization finished, the activists held an event in Chapultepec Park the day before. In the cultural event poets, writers and musicians participated as well as relatives of victims. Apart from testimonies of victims, other artistic activities such as dance, music and poetry were given. “This pause is a call in our walk towards Mexico City so that the country hears the meaning of a proposal for justice, of a correct State policy that really draws a line and the serious map towards peace,” said Javier Sicilia, who convened and led the mobilization together with the brothers Julian and Adrian LeBaron.

The next day, the participants went from Estela de Luz to several monuments, including the Fountain of Diana the Huntress, walking silently and taking off a shoe on the last kilometer to commemorate the massacre suffered by the LaBaron family last November. Nine family members were killed in an ambush. The only survivor, Mackenzie, had to walk ten kilometers after removing one of her shoes because of blisters until she found help. “All Mexicans have blood on our hands and on our feet, we have all been complicit, in silence, of this massacre, and here we are to say that we are no longer going to be silent, we will no longer permit that they sell us the future so dearly, that they do not solve anything of the past and ask us for more patience while our families are cannon fodder of all the stupidities that the institutions do”, commented Julian LeBaron. He added that “maybe we lose our lives by raising our voices, we don’t know, but I am sure that if we all join together, Mexicans, to defend life, we can all together, but no more dividing ourselves into political parties, no more dividing ourselves into social classes, ´fifis´ and ´charos´ and everything else, the theme is Mexico, the theme is life.”

They then passed through the (anti) monument for the 43 disappeared Ayotzinapa stdent teachers. “Today the parents of the 43, many victims of this country, tell you that we give you a combative greeting, and also tell you that we are also with you in your pain, in your struggle, day by day, that you are not alone, that we are with you, because the pain that you bring is the same pain of the mothers, fathers and relatives of the 43 of Ayotzinapa,” said a spokesman for the relatives.

Later, they passed through the Zocalo, where they not only had a rally, but also counter-protest with people shouting “out”, “go to the United States”, “traitors” and “it is an honor to be with Obrador”, among other slogans. While at the rally, Sicilia announced that “it is time to put a real stop to so much pain, death, humiliation, so many lies” and that “we must not repeat the past. That past has destroyed us and continues to destroy us. You have to create the new that preserves life. A true and authentic transformation of the country must be based on truth, justice and peace.”

The last destination of the walk was the Parliament. There they delivered a flag with impacts of bullets drawn to the Security Cabinet with the words “fix this country, return the flag clean”. In addition, a commission on the walk was received by lawmakers from PRI, PAN, PRD, MC and Emilio Alvarez Icaza (independent legislator). Legislators of MORENA did not participate in the event because according to the coordinator of the party, Ricardo Monreal, they had “other commitments”. According to the commission, there was no dialogue with the legislators, they just delivered their transitional justice proposal with the hope that the president will read it.

AMLO had already declared days before that he was not going to meet the activists of the walk and this was strongly criticized by several civil organizations. The Peace Movement went directly to AMLO and showed its disappointment “that you reduce the national emergency and the humanitarian tragedy of the country to a “show”, to a “spectacle”, to “propaganda management”, that you think we intend to harm with it “the presidential investiture”. “This atrocious reality of the highest priority for the country must be taken on by the president, through a State policy based on extraordinary mechanisms for Truth and Justice, which surpass the security cabinet and that only the president can assume,” it concluded.

For more information in Spanish:

Caminata por la paz: Senadores de Morena no asisten para recibir propuesta de justicia transicional (Animal político el 26 de enero de 2020)

Carta abierta de Javier Sicilia a Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Javier Sicilia el 26 de enero de 2020)

Caminata por la paz, atacada con gritos de “traidores” y “es un honor estar con Obrador” (Aristegui Noticias el 26 de enero de 2020)

Caminata por la paz exige fin a tanto dolor (El Universal el 27 de enero de 2020)

Miembros de la ‘Caminata por la paz’ envían iniciativa a gobierno; rechazan reunión con Gabinete de Seguridad (Vanguardia el 27 de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: “Caminata por la Paz” se dirige al Palacio Nacional y exige justicia y seguridad (24 de enero de 2020)

International/National: UNHCHR Calls on Mexican State to Increase Efforts to Effectively Implement General Law on Forced Disappearance of Persons (January 21, 2020)

Chiapas/Mexico: EZLN, CNI and CIG Convene Actions in Defense of Territory and Mother Earth “We Are All Samir” (January 14, 2020)

Oaxaca/Nacional: Nuevas agresiones a periodistas; se modificará mecanismo de protección, Encinas (9 de diciembre de 2019)

National: Rosario Ibarra de Piedra Sworn in as New President of CNDH (November 15, 2019)

National: One Year of AMLO Presidency (December 5, 2019)

Mexico: March “Steps for Peace” (August 19, 2011)

National/Guerrero: Agreement to Reintroduce Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts in Ayotzinapa Case. Number of Disappeared Increases in the Country

Photo @ Televisa News

On January 8th, parents of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa and the federal government agreed to reinstate the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (IGIE) in the investigation of the Iguala case.

In this regard, the Undersecretary for Human Rights, Population and Migration, Alejandro Encinas, said that one year after the Commission for Truth and Justice was created in the Ayotzinapa case, there are no “tangible results”, despite the fact that the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has “punctually fulfilled” its commitments to the fathers and mothers of the 43 disappeared student teachers, he told Proceso magazine.

In an interview, Paulo Abrao, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, recalled that the IACHR’s proposal “has been the reintegration of the IGIE, as well as some of its former members being part of the Technical Assistance Group” and he stressed that “there was an evaluation” and talked about the progress of the initiatives taken (by the Commission headed by Encinas), “which are very positive, but it is necessary to accelerate the processes to achieve the objective, which is the location of the students.”

Rosales Sierra, a lawyer for the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center the, said that “the participation of the IGIE in its previous stage, acting in the field, with broad powers to provide evidence, full adjunct powers, which they previously had, was transcendent, but only on paper, but it did not have the facilities to exercise them.” However, “we cannot put the expectations of the case in the IGIE, it is up to the government, the presidential Commission, the FGR and the special prosecutor’s office to work for the clarification, they have the burden of investigations.”

Regarding the issue of disappearance, the Secretary of the Interior (SEGOB) announced in recent weeks that during “the first year of the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador 9,164 people were reported missing, of which only 43 percent were located; so there are 61,637 missing throughout the country.” He reported that the figures presented “are not yet final since at least 11 state prosecutors are still systematizing and updating all their information.”

Foe more information in Spanish:

Acuerdan reinstalación del GIEI en caso Ayotzinapa (El Universal, 8 de enero de 2019)

Encinas reconoce que no hay “resultados tangibles” en caso Iguala (Bajo Palabra, 8 de enero de 2019)

Encinas: en caso Ayotzinapa, se cumplen compromisos y hay avances (Milenio, 8 de enero de 2019)

En caso Ayotzinapa no hay “resultados tangibles”, admite Encinas (el Proceso, 8 de enero de 2019)

En México hay 61 mil 637 desaparecidos: Segob (Milenio, 6 de enero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Actions by The Other Forgotten of Ayotzinapa Announced (January 4, 2020)

Guerrero: Attorney General Will Investigate Ayotzinapa Case “Almost from Scratch” (September 25, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Reactions to Liberation of 24 Involved in Ayotzinapa Case (September 23, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Relatives of the 43 Student Teachers Disappeared in Iguala in 2014 Meet AMLO (September 23, 2019)

Guerrero: New Stage in Investigation of Ayotzinapa Case – Creation of Special Investigation Unit with Omar Gomez Trejo as Head (July 8, 2019)

National/Guerrero: VIDEO of Torture in Ayotzinapa Case Belies “Historic Truth” (June 27, 2019)

Guerrero: Attorney General and SEDENA Denounced for Lack of Interest in Solving Ayotzinapa Case (May 17, 2019)

Guerrero/National: More Information Published on Role of Army in Ayotzinapa Case (March 15, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Commission for Truth and Access to Justice in Ayotzinapa Case Set Up. Federal Judge Orders Investigation into Possible Responsibility of Attorney General Employees for Irregularities (January 22nd, 2019)

Guerrero: Actions by The Other Forgotten of Ayotzinapa Announced

@Jorge Gonzalez

On December 17th, at a press conference held at the headquarters of the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa, relatives of students who lost their lives in different events since 2011 announced the formation of the Committee for The Other Forgotten that will seek to obtain justice in their cases. This Committee is made up of relatives of Gabriel Echeverria de Jesus and Alexis Herrera Pino who were shot in Chilpnacingo in December 2011; of Freddy Fernando Crispin and Eugenio Alberto Tamarit, who were run over in the vicinity of Atoyac in January 2014; of Julio Cesar Ramirez Nava, Daniel Solis Gallardo and Julio Cesar Mondragon Fontes who were executed in Iguala on September 26th, 2014; and Filemon Tacuba Castro and Jonathan Morales Hernandez who were killed in October 2016, on the road that connects Tixtla with Chilpancingo, by alleged members of organized crime

They announced that as the first action they will move to Mexico City to request a hearing with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and the Under Secretary of Human Rights and Population, Alejandro Encinas, to present their demands. They claimed that despite having spent several years fighting for justice, no one has paid attention to them. They finally declared that “they will not leave in peace” those who are responsible for these murders: former governor Angel Aguirre Rivero, former Guerrero attorney Alberto Lopez Rosas, former federal public security head Genaro Garcia Luna and former president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa.

For more information in Spanish:

Conforman Los Otros Olvidados de Ayotzinapa para exigir justicia (La Jornada, 17 de diciembre de 2019)

Anuncian Los Olvidados de Ayotzinapa movilizaciones en CDMX (Quadartin, 17 de diciembre de 2019)

Protestan en Palacio Nacional por asesinato de 9 normalistas (Excelsior, 18 de diciembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Denuncian al Estado mexicano ante el Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos por muerte y tortura de normalistas de Ayotzinapa en 2011 (16 de diciembre de 2015)

Guerrero: a 2 dos años sigue impune el caso de Ayotzinapa (13 de diciembre de 2013)

Guerrero: Liberan a policías relacionados al asesinato de estudiantes de la Normal Rural de Ayotzinapa (27 de abril de 2013)

Guerrero: normalistas conmemoran primer aniversario de la represión en Ayotzinapa (13 de diciembre de 2013)

Guerrero/National: Buildings where Documents Related to Ayotzinapa Case Deliberately Burned

@Cuarto Oscuro

On November 11th, the families of the 43 students of the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero, in September 2014 held a private meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and members of the Truth and Access to Justice Commission for the Ayotzinapa Case. The president repeted his commitment to do everything possible to find the whereabouts of the normalistas. Family members insisted that several former officials be consigned, including the former Attorney General of the Republic, Jesus Murillo Karam and Tomas Zeron, who was responsible for the Criminal Investigation Agency of the agency.

“In several lines of research there are elements to be able to consign responsible people. Mainly they are former public officials who participated in the events. We ask that police who participated in the attacks on the students on September 26th and 27th and officials who did the investigations badly be consigned,” said Vidulfo Rosales, lawyer for the La Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center and family representative at the end the meeting. Rosales also reported that searches are being conducted in ten different locations located mainly in Guerrero, such as Tepecoacuilco, Cocula, Iguala and municipalities adjacent to Taxco. On the information that the Army could provide in the clarification of the case, he declared that “they gave a part, but it is incomplete. On the other hand, they have given an important participation in providing security in the search theme.”

Also before the media, the Under-Secretary of Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior, Alejandro Encinas, said that the case file is in “a process of total reconstruction, it is not starting from scratch, there are many issues that have already been investigated but it suffers from many failures in the way it was put together.” He said that the Attorney General’s Office (FGR in its Spanish acronym) is preparing the elements to summon to declare the officials involved in the construction of the case.

For his part, Felipe de la Cruz, spokesman for the group of relatives of the students, considered that at the meeting the federal government showed willingness to clarify the case; and that is on the path of leading to the truth. However, he said that if there is be no satisfactory results for January 9th when the next work session takes place, the mobilizations will rise in tone.

Strikingly, and just two days later, several unknown subjects set fire to the facilities of the ex-headquarters of the municipal police in Iguala, where documents related to the disappearance of the 43 were kept, including written testimonies on the activity of municipal police during the night of the 26th and early on September 27th, 2014, some of them possibly responsible for having delivered several of the young people who are now missing to alleged hitmen of the Guerreros Unidos criminal group. Everything was reduced to ruins but gasoline bottles were found, which confirmed that the incident was caused.

For more information in Spanish:

Queman documentos relacionados con desaparición de normalistas en Iguala (El Financiero, 13 de noviembre de 2019)

Gobierno de AMLO está en la ruta de llegar a la verdad sobre Ayotzinapa: padres (Revolución 3.0, 12 de noviembre de 2019)

Padres de los 43 le exigen a AMLO dar ya resultados, o retomarán sus protestas con mayor fuerza (Sin Embargo, 12 de noviembre de 2019)

Consignarán a exfuncionarios ligados a indagatorias sobre Ayotzinapa (La Jornada, 11 de noviembre de 2019)

Atrapan a otro implicado en caso Ayotzinapa… y lo sueltan por 10 mil pesos (Aristegui Noticias, 11 de noviembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: Padres de las 43 normalistas de Ayotzinapa marchan en CDMX, múltiples manifestaciones en el país marcan el quinto aniversario de la desaparición (27 de septiembre de 2019)

Guerrero: FGR reiniciará investigación del caso Ayotzinapa “casi desde cero” (20 de septiembre de 2019)

Guerrero/Nacional : Liberación de 24 inculpados más en caso Ayotzinapa provoca reacción en distintos actores vinculados al mismo (17 de septiembre de 2019)

Guerrero/Nacional: Familiares de los 43 normalistas desaparecidos en Iguala en 2014 se reúnen con AMLO (12 de septiembre de 2019)

Guerrero: Nueva etapa en la investigación del caso Ayotzinapa, crean la Unidad Especial de Investigación y nombran a Omar Gómez Trejo como su titular (1ero de julio de 2019)