Chiapas: Tila Ejido Reports Violent Murder of Two Youths in its Territory, Intended to Destabilize its Assertion of Autonomy

Protest in Tila (@ Ejido Tila)

In a statement released on September 7, and the ejidatarios of Tila, reported that two brothers (a man aged 20, and a woman aged 19), originally from Tiontiepa Benito Juarez ejido, but whose grandparents are originally from Tila ejido, were attacked with machetes and the young woman raped on August 27.

They suggested that the relatives of the deceased said they did not want the intervention of government authorities “because they never investigate and everything remains unpunished, even more so if you do not have money, because in the courts justice is bought and so they ask that  the autonomous ejido do its work.”

Following this, the assembly of Tila ejido decided to investigate, stating that, “we have reported for many years that during the term of office of the municipal council gang members, drug use, drug dealing, alcoholism increased and they have left all this trouble and the ejido now has to clean up all this trash they left behind.”

At the same time, they warned that a small group of people related to official government tries to exploit such cases to destabilize the process of building autonomy, “They are a tiny group of people who want to impose their way of life in Tila ejido who have lived off the government, from dispossession and exploitation of our people and they are racists who are responsible for misinforming and criticizing our ejido autonomy, but despite this we will continue to advance because no one can stop us.”

For more information in Spanish:

Comunicado sobre el asesinato violento de dos jovenes en territorio ejidal (Ejido Tila, 7 de septiembre de 2016)

Advierten ejidatarios de Tila de intentos de desestabilizar su autonomía (Somosmás99, septiembre de 2016)

Denuncian intento de Grupo institucional de Abrir COBACH 14 en Tila (Reporte Ciudadano, 8 de septiembre de 2016)

 For more information from SIPAZ :

Chiapas: Incursión de la Marina en territorio del ejido Tila (4 de agosto de 2016)

Chiapas: Denuncia ejido Tila agresión a uno de sus ejidatarios (10 de junio de 2016)

Chiapas: Organizaciones alertan por posible represión en el ejido Tila (24 de febrero de 2016)

Chiapas: Indígenas Ch´oles toman la alcaldía de Tila tras décadas de no haber sido atendid@s (17 de diciembre de 2016)

 

Chiapas: Injunction and Compensation Denied to Released Defendants of Acteal Massacre

The second chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) denied an injunction requested by two people implicated in the murder of 45 people in Acteal, municipality of Chenalhó, Chiapas, on 22 September 1997. This occurred although it was the first chamber of the same Supreme Court which ordered their release in November 2014 for violation of due process (having been sentenced based on evidence obtained illegally). 60 others indicted on the same charges were also released for the same reason in different processes.

The ministers considered that the Attorney General of the Republic’s Office (PGR) should not indemnify those accused of homicide, serious injury and criminal association as well as unlawful possession of a firearm for exclusive use by the Army; and originally sentenced to 36 years in prison for participating in the massacre.

The Minister considered that, “regardless of the decisions that federal judges reach, regarding the innocence or guilt of the accused, it cannot be attributed to the PGR that it incurred in an irregular or abnormal administrative activity” as “it is enough that the Federal Public Ministry has fulfilled [its duty] in providing the existence of the corpus delicti and probable criminal responsibility”.

It should be recalled that in December 2016, Las Abejas Civil Society, an organization 45 victims of the massacre belonged to, and as part of its 18th anniversary, denounced that “instead of the bad government investigating the intellectual authors of the crime through the misnamed “Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation” or better said “Supreme Court of the rich and criminals”, it ordered the mass release of the paramilitary material authors of the massacre, which as far as we know there are only two in prison who will be released at any moment. Since then it became clear to us that the bad government is not going to give us justice, because it was the Mexican state that gave the order to massacre and therefore it is a criminal that cannot be judge and jury. The justice system in Mexico, is rotten, it is expired.”

For more information in Spanish:

La indemnización a acusados de la matanza de Acteal no procede, resolverá la SCJN (La Jornada, 7 de septiembre de 2016)

Determina Corte que PGR no indemnizará a 2 indígenas del caso Acteal (La Jornada Maya, 7 de septiembre de 2016)

La Suprema Corte rechaza indemnizar a indígenas encarcelados 11 años con pruebas falsas en el caso Acteal (Emeequis, 7 de septiembre de 2016)

 For more information from SIPAZ :

Chiapas: a 18 años de la masacre de Acteal (23 de diciembre de 2015)

Chiapas: Las Abejas de Acteal no aceptan llegar a una “solución amistosa” con el el Estado Mexicano (23 de octubre de 2015)

Chiapas: Pueblos originarios de Chiapas se organizan en Acteal para “seguir caminando La Otra Justicia” (12 de octubre de 2015)

Chiapas: Alejandro Diaz Santiz Reiterates His Demand for Freedom

Pilgrimage of Highlands Catholics, San Cristobal de Las Casas, September 2016 (@SIPAZ)

Alejandro Diaz Santiz, the indigenous Tzotzil prisoner held in the CEFERESO No. 15, Villa de Comatitlan near Tapachula, Chiapas, has again demanded his freedom. In the last letter he wrote, the adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the EZLN denounced that he is the only sympathizer of the Voice of Amate not released on July 4, 2013, allegedly because his case had not occurred in the state of Chiapas but in Veracruz. “The bad governors that exist in our country and states live in pure lies only making promises of support that they never keep, especially Governor Manuel Velasco Coello,” Alejandro in his letter. He alleged that the state governor, Manuel Velasco Coello, pledged to see to his case and to seek his freedom with the Veracruz authorities more than three years ago but “to date has not achieved anything.”

On another note, Alejandro asked President Enrique Peña Nieto “to urge the Governor of Veracruz for my freedom that has been stolen for more than 17 years paying for a crime that I never committed.” Finally, he invited all national and international independent organizations to continue to demand justice and freedom for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience throughout the world.

 For more information in Spanish:

Alejandro Diaz Santiz reitera su exigencia de libertad (Chiapas denuncia, a 30 de agosto de 2016)

Velasco Coello el acérrimo enemigo de indígenas, a quienes se les fabrica delitos y se les encierra en la cárcel ( Revolución TRESPUNTOCERO, 11 de agosto de 2016)

For more information from Sipaz:

Chiapas: Denuncia Alejandro Díaz Santiz malos tratos hacia los reclusos (8 de junio de 2016)

Chiapas: Alejandro Díaz Santiz ayuna por 17 años de encarcelamiento (13 de mayo de 2016)

Chiapas: Exigen la liberación de Alejandro Díaz Santiz (11 de marzo de 2016)

Chiapas: Trasladan a Alejandro Díaz Sántiz, junto a 386 presos, a penal de alta seguridad (15 de septiembre de 2016)

 

 

National: International Day of the Disappeared

In the framework of International Day of Victims of Forced Disappearance, held on August 30, various national and international organizations declared themselves in favor of recognizing this problem which has become more acute: today, more than 28,000 people are missing in the country according to official figures.

In a statement, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) in Mexico underlined the obligation “of the authorities to put the effective search for all missing persons in order to clarify there whereabouts at the heart of their efforts, ensuring the participation and inclusion of families and organizations in these processes.” Jan Jarab, UNHCHR representative, raised the need to implement mechanisms of accountability “for those public servants who by act or omission obstruct the search for missing persons.” He said the general law on missing persons in Congress “is an opportunity (…) to create a strong institutional search structure under the coordination of the Federation” and urged that it be approved promptly.

The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) stressed that “the existence of this scourge in our country should be recognized.” It also urged the Federal Government to recognize the importance and urgency of accepting the competence of the Committee for Forced Disappearances of the United Nations Organization (UNO), so that the government can meet international standards. It also asked Congress that the General Law on Forced Disappearance be a priority issue in its next sitting.

The Movement for Our Disappeared in Mexico, composed of more than 40 groups of families of missing persons accompanied by various civil society organizations, presented the #SinLasFamiliasNo campaign, to demand the involvement of families in the formulation and implementation of the General Law on Forced Disappearance and Disappearance of Persons by Individuals. They said that the legislation should include a commission, a national investigation plan and a plan of exhumation and identification of remains as well as a sufficient budget and investigation of responsibility of superiors of the security forces involved in the disappearances.

For their part, Amnesty International, the Institute of Criminal Justice Procedure, the Foundation for Justice and Democratic Rule of Law, the Due Process of Law Foundation, and the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), presented the document: “Criminal Investigation with Due Diligence of Extrajudicial or Arbitrary Executions, Killings and Disappearances of Persons: A Guide to Basic Standards.”

Within the same framework in Guerrero, relatives of the 43 student teachers from Ayotzinapa and families of the disappeared in Acapulco, Chilapa, and Iguala agreed to unify their searches to continue to demand the presentation with life of their loved ones. They complained that the responsible authorities have not met their obligations. In Chiapas, more than 300 members of the National Front for Socialist Struggle (FNLS) marched in San Cristobal de Las Casas to demand the safe return of the disappeared in Mexico which, they argued, “has become a permanent practice of the State when corrupting, harassing, imprisonment and torture to subdue social activists and their organizations do not work.”

For more information in Spanish:

Convocatoria de la Campaña Nacional Contra la Desaparición Forzada en México

ONU, AI, Cruz Roja, ONGs y familias exigen al Estado mexicano ver y aceptar crisis de desaparecidos (Sin Embargo, 30 de agosto de 2016)

Desaparición forzada, estrategia para infundir terror en los ciudadanos: ONU (Proceso, 30 de agosto de 2016)

Casi 30 mil desaparecidos muestran incapacidad del gobierno: ONG (La Jornada, 30 de agosto de 2016)

Conmemoran Día del Detenido-Desaparecido en Chiapas (La Jornada, 30 de agosto de 2016)

CNDH pide reconocer al comité contra desaparición de la ONU (La Jornada, 30 de agosto de 2016)

Especial « Desapariciones forzadas » (La Jornada, agosto de 2016)

 

For more information from SIPAZ :

Nacional : presentación del informe “Defender los derechos humanos en México, la normalización de la represión política” (31 de agosto de 2016)

Chiapas: Maximiliano Gordillo Martinez Reappears after 52 Days Missing

In a joint statement published on September 2, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (CDHFBC), Meso-American Voices and La 72 Shelter for Migrants, reported that the youth Maximiliano Gordillo Martinez, who was missing since May 7 when he was stopped at a checkpoint of the National Migration Institute (INM) in Tabasco, reappeared alive.

Located on August 29, Maximilian is now with his family. They denounced that “since his arrest by INM federal agents on May 7 last at the immigration checkpoint at Chablé, Tabasco, until the day of his location on August 29, Maximiliano -a youth of 18 from the municipality of Socoltenango- was the victim of crimes and serious violations of his human rights, through the blame of the Mexican state. “

They claimed that “the documenting and analysis of the case continues in order to define the terms of the follow-up”, while asking for “sensitivity and respect to the processes of healing and strengthening as concrete ways of expressing solidarity”.

They stated that “what Maximiliano lived through reveals the magnitude of the structural, institutional and social violence suffered by Mexicans and people from other countries during their movements to migratory destinations within our country. But it also reminds us that the demand for and realization of truth, justice and full reparation imply a conscious and mobilized civil society.”

For more information in Spanish:

Tras 52 días de desaparecido, joven indígena aparece con vida en Chiapas (Revista Proceso, 3 de septiembre de 2016)

Reaparece joven mexicano detenido por el INM desde mayo (La Jornada, 3 de septiembre de 2016)

A casi cuatro meses de que el INM lo desapareciera, indígena chiapaneco es hallado con vida (Sin Embargo, 3 de septiembre de 2016)

Boletín “Maximiliano ya está con nosotros, con nosotras” (CDHFBC, Voces Mesoamericanas, La 72, 3 de septiembre de 2016)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Nacional: Siguen las exigencias de la presentación con vida de Maximiliano Gordillo Martinez, desaparecido forzadamente en mayo (24 de agosto de 2016)

Chiapas/Nacional: Conferencia de prensa sobre la desaparición Forzada de Maximiliano Gordillo Martínez (16 de junio de 2016)

Chiapas/Nacional : Denuncian desaparición forzada de Maximiliano Gordillo Martínez por agentes del INM (24 de mayo de 2016)

 

Chiapas/National: Announcement of V Anniversary of CNI in Chiapas

In a communiqué published on August 31, 2016, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), together with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), convened the celebration of the V National Indigenous Congress, which will take place from October 9 to 14 on the premises of the Indigenous Integrated Training Center (CIDECI- Unitierra) in the city of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas.

It is worth recalling that the event will take place in the context of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the CNI “a space of unity, reflection and organization of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, [which] celebrates 20 years of uninterrupted work, promoting the integral reconstruction of our peoples and the construction of a society in which all cultures, all colors, all peoples who are Mexico fit”. The statement raises the urgency to “find in these our flames of resistance, autonomy and rebellion that shine in each of the native peoples who spin new worlds from below, where love is born and ancestral commitment to our mother who is the earth.”

For more information in Spanish:

Comunicado completo (31 de agosto de 2016)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Anuncia EZLN actividades para el 2016 (9 de marzo de 2016)

Chiapas: Cierre del Festival Mundial de las Resistencias y las Rebeldías Contra el capitalismo (7 de enero de 2015)

 

National: Report Launch “Defending Human Rights in Mexico: Normalization of Political Repression”

On August 24 last, the Mexico Cerezo Committee, the organization Urgent Action for Human Rights Defenders and the National Campaign Against Forced Disappearance presented the report Defending Human Rights in Mexico: Normalization of Political Repression, which covers the period from June 2015 to May 2016. The report indicates that 87 violations of the human rights of defenders which occurred in 2011, increased to 118 in 2012, 160 in 2013, 225 in 2014 and 302 in 2015. Another 35 were documented so far this year.

For the first time, the number of physical assaults surpassed that of threats and harassment of activists and human rights defenders, and also that Guerrero, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacan and Veracruz account for half of these abuses (293 attacks on activists of a total of 482). The fifth report included 41 death threats, three forced disappearances, 186 physical assaults, 55 evictions, nine cases where shots were fired and an equal number of damage to or theft of property.

The document notes that most of the violations are related to the promotion of various mega-projects, where activists and advocates accompany social movements fighting for their territory, water, forests and natural resources.

Commenting on the report, Jesus Peña Palacios, from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico, underlined the obligation of the government and its authorities to ensure the work of human rights defenders. Father Miguel Concha stated that “there is always a political intention to commit these violations.” Fernando Rios, Rights for All Network, denounced for his part the existence of a state policy characterized by insults, harassment and attacks against domestic and foreign defenders, as in the case of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) in the Ayotzinapa case.

 For more information in Spanish:

CONSULTA 5° Informe VDH: Defender los derechos humanos en México:- La normalización de la represión política (Junio de 2015 a mayo de 2016). (Comité Cerezo, agosto de 2016)

Concentran cinco entidades casos de agresión contra activistas: ONG (Revista Proceso, 24 de agosto de 2016)

Superan ya las agresiones físicas a las amenazas contra activistas (La Jornada Maya, 25 de agosto de 2016)

Aumentan ataques a defensores de DH debido a protestas contra reformas estructurales y caso Ayotzinapa: Comité Cerezo (Revolución 3.0, 25 de agosto de 2016)

Normalización de la represión política (La Jornada, 27 de agosto de 2016)

 For more information from SIPAZ :

Nacional/Guerrero: Informes poco favorables sobre corrupción y derechos humanos en México (3 de febrero de 2016)