Oaxaca/National: “Towards Reparations for Human Rights Defenders Victims of Violations”

@Consorcio  Oaxaca

On July 28th, the Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity A.C (Oaxaca Consortium) organized the online Conversation “Towards Reparations for Human Rights Defenders, Victims of Human Rights Violations in Oaxaca.” This event was held within the framework of the demand for justice, truth and reparation in the case of Damian Gallardo Martinez, indigenous human rights defender, survivor of arbitrary detention and torture, who was imprisoned from May 18th, 2013 to December 28th, 2018 .

Members of national and international organizations with experiences in similar cases participated in the event. Miguel Martin Zumalacarregui, director of the World Organization Against Torture (WOAT) stressed that the comprehensive reparation of the damage for all victims should be a priority in Mexico, particularly for defenders, due to the fundamental role they play. He expressed his concern about the patterns of systematic attacks against human rights defenders in the country and particularly in Oaxaca, which often remain in impunity.

For his part, Juan Carlos Gutierrez, director of IDHEAS Strategic Litigation in Human Rights A.C. shared the experience of his organization in the implementation of strategies to advance towards comprehensive reparation by resorting to international bodies. He stressed that one of the obstacles to date is that having favorable international resolutions does not necessarily translate into effective reparations. He underlined the existence of strong resistance and lack of political will, especially at the state level.

Later, Melissa Zamora, lawyer from the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center, noted “through three emblematic cases, the scope and obstacles to comprehensive reparation; at international level, with the case of the Women of Atenco, who have a ruling from the Inter-American Court; and at the national level with the case of the judgment of an Administrative Court ruling on the case of the Otomi indigenous women Jacinta Francisco, Alberta Alcántara and Teresa Gonzalez and with the recommendation of the National Human Rights Commission on the case of Mónica Esparza”, Consorcio Oaxaca summarized in a newsletter about the event.

In turn, Sandra Alarcon, a lawyer at the Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center in Guerrero, pointed out the tortuousness and complexity of the reparations processes, exemplifying her comment with cases that her organization has accompanied, such as that of Valentina Rosendo Cantu and Ines Fernandez Ortega and CECOP (Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to the La Parota Dam).

Valeria Moscoso Urzua of the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights emphasized “the urgency of including the psychosocial approach in comprehensive reparation, putting victims and the differentiated impacts they suffer at the center, impacts that are not only located at an individual level but also at a family, collective and community level.” She stressed that not doing so has contributed to the distrust of the victims and of society as a whole towards the Mexican justice system.

Finally, Damian Gallardo Martinez, “who was unjustly imprisoned in a high-security prison for five years and seven months and released with an acquittal shared his experience in the process of demanding justice, truth and reparation and encouraged other victims to continue with their work and demands, highlighting the importance of collective action and of resorting to international organizations to advance towards comprehensive reparation,” said the Oaxaca Consortium.

To end, the speakers made a series of recommendations to the Mexican State, Autonomous Bodies and International Organizations, including the need to “implement coordinated follow-up mechanisms for all resolutions, both national and international, guaranteeing the participation of civil society and victims in this process.”

For more information in Spanish:

Organizaciones internacionales y nacionales comparten experiencias y retos en materia de reparación integral del daño en México por violaciones a DH (Consorcio Oaxaca, 29 de julio de 2020)

Video del evento disponible en: https://www.facebook.com/consorcio.oaxaca/videos/339452097073657

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca/International: Oaxaca Consortium Presents Damian Gallardo Case to UN Committee against Torture (CAT) (May 26, 2019)

Oaxaca : Exigen atención para 33 personas defensoras de derechos humanos bajo procesos judiciales (August 3, 2018)

Nacional/Oaxaca: German Coordination for Human Rights in Mexico (April 10, 2017)

Oaxaca: Demand for the immediate release of Damian Gallardo (December 30, 2014)

National/International: USMCA Comes into Effect with Mechanisms for Internet Censorship and Criminalization of Digital Locks Evasion

@Chamber of Deputies, Mexico

The new trade agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada, USMCA, entered into force on July 1st, 2020, which has led to new reforms in Mexican legislation. Under the hashtag #NiCensuraNiCandados, civil society organizations have expressed concern about the new digital laws, considering them a serious threat to human rights, specifically the right to freedom of expression. They also denounce that they put people’s security and privacy at risk.

The new reforms of the Federal Copyright Law implies “a private censorship mechanism known as “notification and withdrawal.” If a person alleges that a content or publication violates their copyright, Internet service providers must remove it, without providing evidence of the infringement and without the order of a judicial authority”, explained the Director of R3D, Digital Rights Defense Network, during a webinar on June 25th.

“The mechanism of “notification and withdrawal” has been used to remove content and information of public interest, violating the right to freedom of expression of the person who publishes the information, as well as the right of people to know about relevant events in a democratic society democratic”, a bulletin, signed by several organizations, published on the page of Articulo 19 on June 17th points out, in which they ask the Mexican government to protect the public interest and human rights.

Other reforms in the Federal Penal Code “contemplate sanctions of up to ten years in prison for evading technological protection measures. These measures, also called “digital locks,” are imposed by hardware and software manufacturers to prevent access, copying, or modification of information contained in a device or system”, R3D reports.

Despite these questions, on June 29th and 30th, these reforms were approved by both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic.

In view of this, more than 30 civil organizations condemned these reforms for considering them to be in violation of the Constitution and for violating human rights. They demanded the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) and urged legislators to take steps due to unconstitutionality.

More information in Spanish:

#NiCensuraNiCandados: Reformas para implementar el TMEC pretenden establecer mecanismos de censura y criminalizar la elusión de candados digitales (Articulo 19, 17 de junio)

Senado aprueba reformas a Ley de Derechos de Autor para armonizarse con T-MEC(Milenio, 29 de junio)

¿Censura en Internet? Esto es lo que el Senado aprobó sobre los contenidos en la red (El Heraldo de México, 1 de julio)

#NiCensuraNiCandados: Condenamos la aprobación de reformas que establecen mecanismos de censura en Internet y criminalizan la elusión de candados digitales(R3D, 1 de julio)

More information from SIPAZ:

National/International: United States Formally Approves USMCA Trade Agreement (February 2, 2020)

National/International: Mexican Senate Ratifies US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (July 4, 2019)

Mexico: 2019 Highest Number of Attacks on the Press – Articulo 19 (May 28, 2020)

 

National: Over 100 Deaths from COVID-19 in Mexican Prisons

@AsíLegal

At the end of June, several sources reported an alarming increase in infections and deaths from COVID-19 in prisons in Mexico, with 23 states of the country presenting cases.

The organization AsíLegal reported, through the COVID-19 Penitentiary Map, that up to that date they had already registered 718 people deprived of their liberty and 119 custodians confirmed cases, as well as 102 deaths in the prison population and 27 in prison staff. It warned of a “continuous increase” since the start of the pandemic, due to the lack of measures in the prison system to prevent outbreaks.

The same organization also recorded 16 violent incidents in prisons in the country with causes related to the health emergency: three in Chiapas, two in CDMX, Colima and Edomex, and with an incident in Guanajuato, Tabasco, Oaxaca, Puebla, Michoacan, Chihuahua and Veracruz.

AsíLegal also reported that 3,625 releases were granted, a figure that “increases slowly despite the mechanisms for early release of the prison population at risk or with the recently approved Amnesty Law.”

It reiterated that it is still urgent to reverse the conditions of overcrowding, and sanitation in the prison system. It also urged the authorities to redouble efforts in favor of this population and to seek measures that may allow a new, safe normality.

For its part and according to its count, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) confirmed that it has registered 656 confirmed coronavirus cases, 252 suspects and 103 deaths. Despite the slight difference with the AsíLegal data, the figure shows an acceleration in the lethality caused by the virus, as just two weeks earlier the number of deaths was 68.

For more information in Spanish:

Muertes en cárceles se triplicaron en mayo, en medio de emergencia por COVID (Animal Político, 1ero de julio de 2020)

Semáforo penitenciario en rojo: Contabilizan 131 muertes por Covid-19 en cárceles (SDP Noticias, 30 de junio de 2020)

Suman 625 casos de COVID-19 en cárceles de México (Enterate, 30 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Commission to Implement Amnesty Law Created (June 22, 2020)

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)

 

Chiapas: Three Members of FNLS and ORCAO Released after Detentions in Ocosingo

@Internet

On June 14th, it was announced that Carlos Lopez Gomez, Angeliza Santiz Lopez and Enrique Herrera Jimenez, members of the National Front for the Struggle for Socialism (FNLS), were released after being held for several days in Ocosingo, according to their statements, by the paramilitary group “Los Petules”.

They were handed over in San Cristobal de Las Casas thanks to the intervention of the Vicar for Peace and Justice, Jose Luis Vasares Selvas, from the Diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas and the pastor of Oxchuc. Simultaneously, the FNLS group also handed over a person from the Ocosingo Regional Organization of Coffee Growers (ORCAO) who had been detained in the Río Florido ejido. This occurred in front of a commission of officials composed of Marco Shilon, of the Commission for Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples (CDPI), Marina Patricia Jimenez Ramirez of the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH); Martin Longoria Hernandez from the Coordinator of the CNDH exterior office in San Cristobal and Yolanda Castro representing the FNLS.

Finally, it was reported that negotiations will continue in the coming days between the State Government, representatives of the National and State Commission on Human Rights and the group of indigenous people, since the retentions were due to an agrarian problem.

For more information in Spanish:

Liberan a integrantes del FNLS, Diario de Chiapas, 15 de junio de 2020

Liberan a militantes del FNLS y Orcao que habían retenido en Ocosingo, Contra Poder, 15 de junio de 2020

Después de 6 días, liberan a defensora indígena de Ocosingo, Chiapasparalelo, 14 de junio de 2020

Fueron presentados con vida los indígenas #Tzeltales Carlos López Gómez, Angelina Sántiz López y Enrique Armando Herrera Jiménez, integrantes del #FNLS en el Estado de Chiapas, víctimas de #DesapariciónForzada por el grupo paramilitar los “#Petules”, Comité Cerezo, 14 de junio de 2020

Bloquean e incendian, diario de Chiapas, 12 de junio de 2020

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Denuncian desalojo forzado de 45 personas pertenecientes al FNLS en Socoltenango (11/11/2019)

Chiapas: FNLS Reports Delay in Forensic Investigation into Case of Minor Murdered in Ocosingo (July 5, 2017)

 

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)

 

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: Two Cyber Attacks on Websites in May

Two media groups, Animal Politico and Contralinea, recently reported cyber attacks against their internet websites.

In the case of Animal Politico, it suffered five attacks of this type in May, the most serious occurring between May 25th and 26th. Of unknown origin, this attempt was intended to overload its subscriber system by sending more than 2,000 requests per minute, which, in addition, were made with reported lost or stolen credit cards.

“The foregoing suggests that the objective of the attack was to violate the subscription engines to consolidate fraud, and indicate Animal Politico as committing it”, declared the organization for freedom of expression Articulo 19. “Although these attacks cannot be linked to a specific journalistic news item, it is essential to mention that the investigations carried out by Animal Politico have a great relationship with coverage on corruption, security and many other issues that represent a counterweight to the State, and which in the past has led to attacks against it”, it added.

For its part, the magazine Contralinea reported a cyber attack on its website to the Journalism Protection Mechanism of the Ministry of the Interior. It noted that “it has been the subject of hacking attempts”, which add to the attacks that its editorial team has faced throughout its history, which is why it has precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and implemented by the Federal Protection Mechanism.

As background, the magazine Proceso noted that “this latest attack occurs two days after the publication of a report on the investigations of the Financial Intelligence Unit regarding alleged corruption in Notimex during the last six-year term; and one day after releasing a report on excessive expenses in the National Human Rights Commission in the Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez administration.”

These attacks “reflect the adverse climate that the press is experiencing in Mexico”, Articulo 19 stressed, an organization that documented 609 attacks against journalists in direct connection with their work in 2019. He recalled that “of these, 11.49%, that is, 70, were aimed at the media. Attacking the media in its entirety is often more effective in generating a domino effect of censorship and inhibition of journalistic practice.”

For more information in Spanish:

Animal Político sufre su quinto ataque informático durante el mes de mayo (Artículo 19, 27 de mayo de 2020)

Animal Político y Contralínea acusan ataques cibernéticos contra sus portales (Proceso, 27 de mayo de 2020)

Contralínea, Aristegui Noticias, Animal Político y otros medios acusan ataques cibernéticos(Sin Embargo, 27 de mayo de 2020)

CNDH condena ataque cibernético sufrido por Contralínea (Contralínea, 28 de mayo de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Mexico: 2019 Highest Number of Attacks on the Press – Articulo 19 (May 28, 2020)

 

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

 

Nacional: ONU-DH condena asesinato de un defensor ambiental (Oaxaca) y un periodista (Sonora); sexta persona defensora y el segundo periodista asesinados en 2020 (21 de mayo de 2020)

 

National: CNDH Issues Precautionary Measures for Indigenous Peoples of Yucatan and Requests Halt to Maya Train Works

© Excelsior

On May 14th, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) called on the federal government to stop work on the Maya Train because of the risk that the indigenous communities, workers in the areas involved in this megaproject run. In previous days, the project was declared “essential” to continue during the contingency. However, the area that this train will travel is marked by a large number of infections and deaths from COVID-19. According to data from the Secretary of Health, the states of Tabasco, Campeche and Quintana Roo are among the five with at least one case in all of their municipalities and a total of 5,020 infections and 622 deaths.

In addition, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed his desire to start a tour of the different states through which the train would pass and so mark the initiation of work, although he clarified that it would be after June 1st. In this sense, the CNDH reiterated the need for the National Tourism Development Fund (FONATUR) to suspend work “urgently”and issued precautionary measures for the indigenous peoples of the Yucatan peninsula. The organization argued that this request is made based on the current state of the pandemic which, being in Phase 3, “is of the utmost gravity, urgency and possible damage to the Health, Personal Integrity and Life of the inhabitants of the region.”

In addition, the complaint filed by indigenous peoples and civil organizations defending human rights in Yucatan who allege the alleged violation of articles four and 29 of the Constitution was considered; article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and four and five of the American Convention on Human Rights (Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica), which establish the human right to Health, Personal Integrity and Life.

For more informatio in Spanish:

CNDH pide frenar Tren Maya por riesgos en pueblos indígenas ante epidemia (Animal político, 14 de mayo 2020)

Llama la CNDH a parar obras del Tren Maya “no esenciales” (La Jornada, 15 de mayo 2020)

Covid-19 pega con tubo a ruta del Tren Maya; sureste, en alerta (Excelsior, 15 de mayo 2020)

CNDH: Comunicado de Prensa (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, 14 de mayo 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Numerous Collectives Call National and International Communities to Back Urgent Action against Maya Train (May 14, 2020)

Chiapas: Federal Court Orders Suspension of Palenque Section of Maya Train; FONATUR Considers Injunction “Unfair” (May 13, 2020)

National: Online Forum “No to the Misnamed Maya Train”(May 5, 2020)

Chiapas: “Not Only COVID Threatens Life” – Las Abejas de Acteal Civil Society (April 25, 2020)

 

National: Numerous Collectives Call National and International Communities to Back Urgent Action against Maya Train

@ Enlace Zapatista

On May 11th, different groups made a call to support an urgent action against the Maya Train project, since, despite the injunctions filed by the communities of Ocosingo, Palenque and Salto del Agua and the COVID-19 pandemic, work has not been suspended, thus violating the “Right to Health, life and active participation in the defense of their rights.”

It is expected that on May 14th, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) will resolve the definitive suspension of this project, which had been provisionally done by a Federal Judge in previous weeks.

Added to this is the decree published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, where the government announced that it will have the Armed Forces carry out public security tasks, which represents for indigenous peoples and communities not only “unleashing a war against the drug cartels, which impose dispossession of forests, waters, minerals, wood and facilitate the entry of business and government megaprojects, but also face corruption, the links it has with organized crime, its complicity with fuel theft, the acts of repression and dispossession of indigenous peoples and communities, the use of public force to impose megaprojects, the forced displacement that they cause in the communities, according to them to bring order, as well as the murders, rapes and the criminalization of social protest social.”

Given what is happening and could happen, it seeks to promote knowledge and resistance against the project in civil society through actions such as concentrating information on the subject for its dissemination; share the existing poster (s) and/or design new ones that denounce the project and its damages; write and disseminate pronouncements in this regard; identify campaign initiatives by existing Mexican citizen groups to support them, or launch one; promote saturation of phone calls or emails to SCJN, FONATUR, CNDH, etc., speaking out against the project; and, invite networks, groups, contacts, to join in the campaign tasks.

For more information in Spanish:

Diversos colectivos promueven acción virtual contra el proyecto de despojo nombrado tren maya (Enlace Zapatista, 11 de mayo 2020)

Urgen intervención de la CNDH para frenar obras del Tren Maya (Aristegui Noticias, 11 de mayo 2020)

¿Por qué decir ¡NO! al “Tren Maya”? (Los Hijos del Maíz- Tlax, 11 de mayo 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Armed Forces Decreed Public Security Duties for Five Years; “Militarism Came out of the Closet” – CSO(May 14, 2020)

Chiapas: Federal Court Orders Suspension of Palenque Section of Maya Train; FONATUR Considers Injunction “Unfair” (May 13, 2020)

National: Online Forum “No to the Misnamed Maya Train”(May 5, 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: Almost 200 Organizations Demand Halt to Maya Train Works During Emergency; AMLO Confirms Megaprojects Will Continue (April 25, 2020)