National/International: CNI Groups Organize as USMCA Comes into Effect

At the end of June, before the imminent entry into effect of the new free trade agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA), the Metropolitan Anticapitalist and Antipatriarchal Coordination and the Indigenous Council of Government (CIG) of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) called for a series of protest activities that will include: a virtual march “Against USMCA! No to the New Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico!”, On July 1st; a virtual Forum “Analysis and Perspectives: a Comparative Framework of NAFTA-1994 and its Contributions to Social Inequalities”, on July 16th; and a public presentation of the legal resources presented before national and international bodies against megaprojects, on July 30th and 31st.

On July 1st, the day the new trade agreement came into force, the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defense of Land and Territory (APIIDTT), also part of the CNI, published a statement denouncing that this type of agreements “cement the legal frameworks to use force by law in the imposition of megaprojects in Mexico, as well as a whole series of policies, laws and reforms that violate the human rights of indigenous peoples and the Mexican people.”

It declared that the wave of violence that plagues the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is “linked to the imposition of megaprojects and extractivist policies of the Mexican government”, in particular the Trans-Systemic/Interoceanic Corridor-Train, “a historic project that since the mid-19th century has been proposing using the geostrategic position of the Mexican Isthmus as a commercial node for global trade, this as part of the expansionist project of the US, which, by not achieving its objective in Mexico, gained control over the Panama Canal, a project that is currently obsolete compared to the demand from this rampant global market.”

It warned about the fact that “the Mexican Isthmus is seen as the primary node in these treaties, and with the discourse of emerging from the economic crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, national and international pressure is created in our region by capital to streamline the works and construction of this Trans-Systemic/Interoceanic Corridor-Train from the port of Coatzacoalco, Veracruz to the port of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, interconnected with Section 1 of the Maya Train, passing through the new Dos Bocas refinery and extending from Salina Cruz to Tapachula, Chiapas, to consolidate an energy, rail, port and industrial corridor, militarizing and reordering the entire south-southeast of Mexico and placing the new border with the US on the Tehuantepec Isthmus.”

Given this, the APIIDTT made a “call to organization, to resistance and to fight for the life and future of coming generations. The Isthmus is Ours, not the companies, nor the governments, it is of the indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, it is of the Mexican people and of any person who decides to defend it, take care of it, and respect it.”

For more information in Spanish:

Boletín completo (APIIDTT, 1ero de julio de 2020)

Tratados como el T-MEC «cimientan los marcos jurídicos para usar la fuerza» contra los pueblos: comunidades del Istmo (Desinformémonos, 1ero de julio de 2020)

Jornada de lucha contra el T-MEC y los megaproyectos (CNI, 30 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ: 

National/International: USMCA Comes into Effect with Mechanisms for Internet Censorship and Criminalization of Digital Locks Evasion (July 3, 2020)

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

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

National/International: OSC Asks for Suspension of Agreement with US to Convert Mexico into “Migration Filter” in Return for Favors in Renegotiation of NAFTA (June 25, 2018)

 

Guerrero/National: “Important Steps on the Route to Know the Truth of what Happened” in Ayotzinapa Case

@Tlachinollan

The arrest of Jose Angel Casarrubias, alias “El Mochomo”, leader of Guerreros Unidos, a criminal group implicated in the disappearance of the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Normal Rural School in Iguala in September 2014, generated expectations of finding key information on the whereabouts of the student teachers and towards the clarification of the case.

Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, lawyer for the relatives of the 43, stated that “when the events occurred, Jose Angel Casarrubias was the main leader of the Guerreros Unidos crime group. He directed, ordered, and all the evidence gathered indicates that he was the one in charge of the criminal group, which is why he has inside information on the whereabouts of the 43 students.” The lines of investigation suggest that Guerreros Unidos was protecting the municipal president of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, who had given orders to proceed against the 43 student teachers. However, Rosales recalled before the media that several of the detainees in the case have been released, a situation that could be repeated in this latest arrest when on July 1st, a federal judge ordered the release of Casarrubias based on technical rigor over the evidence presented by the then Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) in 2014.

Regarding the detention, the ProDH Center stated that “since he was a fugitive since 2014, it is essential that his collaboration with the investigation of the victims’ whereabouts be encouraged and that the links of his family and his criminal organization with the security forces of the three levels of government continue to be investigated.”

For its part, the La Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center acknowledged that the arrest of Jose Angel Casarrubias, the arrest warrant against Tomas Zeron and the 46 arrest warrants issued against Guerrero officials, advances presented by Prosecutor Alejandro Gertz Manero on June 29th, “constitute important steps on the route to knowing the truth of what happened on September 26th, 2014 in Iguala. These are the first steps in which the political will that this government has shown in the Ayotzinapa case is condensed.”

However, it stated that “truth and justice are far from being achieved. The authorities must prosecute and sanction members of the security forces that operated in Iguala on the night of September 26th, directly and indirectly to attack Ayotzinapa students, and they will be challenged to implement legal mechanisms to approach the detainees and obtain information on the whereabouts of the missing youths. It is important to detain the highest level officials who constructed the historical lie with the deliberate intention of hiding the truth and the whereabouts of the 43 missing students, therefore, it is urgent that the immediate arrest and extradition of Tomas Zeron de Lucio architect of the so-called “historical truth” and fugitive from justice proceed.” The Prosecutor’s Office has reported that Zeron fled the country and is wanted by Interpol. He is accused by the FGR of torture and a series of irregularities in the case of the 43 students.

In the case of the 46 arrest warrants against public servants from various municipalities in the state of Guerrero, who are allegedly involved in the disappearance of the 43 normal students from Ayotzinapa, they are for the crimes of forced disappearance and organized crime, for facts that had not been investigated or prosecuted by the previous administrations of the last Attorney General of the Republic.

The prosecutor has also announced that other officials at various levels are expected to be brought to justice in the coming days, as well as to give information about the human remains that were sent to the University of Innsbruck.

For more information in Spanish:

Ordenan liberar a “El Mochomo”, presunto implicado en caso Ayotzinapa (El Informador, 1ero de julio de 2020)

Vidulfo Rosales celebra que se ejerza acción penal por desaparición forzada por caso Ayotzinapa (Proceso, 30 de junio de 2020)

Pasos importantes en la lucha por la verdad y la justicia en el caso Ayotzinapa (Tlachinollan, 30 de junio de 2020)

Fin a “verdad histórica” en caso Ayotzinapa; va Interpol por Zerón: FGR (La Jornada, 30 de junio de 2020)

Tomás Zerón huyó de México y es buscado por la Interpol por el caso Ayotzinapa (Animal Político, 30 de junio de 2020)

Otorgan suspensión a ‘El Mochomo’ (La Jornada, 30 de junio de 2020)

Detienen a Ángel Casarrubias, ‘el mochomo’, líder de Guerreros Unidos, implicado en caso Ayotzinapa (Animal Político, 29 de junio de 2020)

Detención del ‘Mochomo’: «un paso importante para encontrar a los 43» (Pie de página, 29 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero/National: 68th Global Action for Ayotzinapa (June 4, 2020)

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

National/Guerrero: Federal Judge Gives Prison Sentences to Three Accused of Torture in Ayotzinapa Case (March 30, 2020)

National/Guerrero: First Legal Actions against Officials in Ayotzinapa Case Investigation (March 24, 2020)

National/Guerrero: Meeting on New Evidence in Ayotzinapa Case (March 9, 2020)

 

Oaxaca: After Four Years, Still No Justice for Nochixtlan Massacre

@EducaOaxaca

Four years have passed since the Nochixtlan massacre: on June 19th, 2016, the police removal of a blockade carried out in opposition to the educational reform of the Enrique Peña Nieto government left eight people dead and 198 wounded by firearms, a case that continues without progress.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large part of the commemoration had to be carried out online. Through a video, the Secretary General of Section 22 (CNTE) Oaxaca, Eloy Lopez Hernandez, gave the message expressing that they continue to fight for justice for those who died in the massacre. They demand justice from the government and jail sentences for the guilty, and that there it is not forgiven or forgetten.

The Victims for Justice and Truth Committee “June 19” (COVIC) stated that “we have not only had to fight for those responsible to be investigated and punished, but we have also been forced to fight to be heard by the bodies of the administration and the administration of justice that have refused to bring to trial the criminals of the government of Peña Nieto and Gabino Cue [governor of Oaxaca at that time]. ”

It should be recalled that on June 19th, 2016, the government of Oaxaca requested support from the Federal Police to clear road blockades of teachers from the CNTE in Nochixtlan. It has been reported that even after the highway was unblocked, state and federal forces committed acts of repression in several surrounding towns. The investigation of these acts seeks to reveal the chain of command in order to find the high-ranking officials who were responsible for giving the order, which has been and continues to be a challenge.

For more information in Spanish:

Después de cuatro años la justicia no llega a Nochixtlán (La Jornada, 20 de junio 2020)

4 AÑOS SIN VERDAD, SIN JUSTICIA. ¡NOCHIXTLÁN VIVE!(Comunicado Covic 19 de junio 2020)

A 4 años de Nochixtlán, van por los altos funcionario que dieron la orden de atacar tras desalojo. (El Universal Oaxaca,19 de junio 2020).

Mensaje del Secretario General de la Sección XXII a 4 años del crimen de lesa humanidad en Asunción Nochixtlán (CNTE, 19 de junio 2020)

Con divisiones, afectados conmemoran cuarto aniversario del fallido desalojo en Nochixtlán(El Proceso, 19 de junio 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ. 

Oaxaca: amenazan de muerte a la presidente municipal de Nochixtlán y a integrantes del Covic (May 13, 2020)

Oaxaca : Citados a comparecer ex gobernador de Oaxaca y ex comisionado nacional de Seguridad por represión en Nochixtlán (February 20, 2020)

Oaxaca: Nochixtlan Victims Say FGR Refuses to Call Chain of Command of Violent Eviction (July 20, 2019)

Oaxaca: Third Anniversary of Nochixtlan (June 21, 2019)

Oaxaca: “Under Attack, Human Rights in Oaxaca” Report Launched; Nochixtlan Case ”Not Clarified”, UNHCHR(October 9, 2018)

Oaxaca/National: CNDH Issues Recommendation for Seroius Human Rights Violations during Events in Nochixtlan on June 16th, 2016 (October 28, 2017)

 

Guerrero: HR Defender Kenia Hernanandez Conditionally Released

@Cencos

On June 11th, the human rights defender Kenia Ines Hernandez Montalban of the Colectivo Zapata Vive organization, was conditionally released after five days in prison. This day the constitutional extension hearing took place in a courtroom of Chiconautla prison, in which the judge determined that there is no need for the defender to remain in jail; however, he imposed precautionary measures such as the obligation to appear regularly in court and the prohibition to participate in demonstrations or protests.

Both the arrest and the release of the defender have provoked pronouncements by civil organizations and human rights groups, expressing concern about the criminalization of defenders such as Kenia Hernandez, demanding the unconditional release of the defender and more broadly a halt to the attacks and harassment against human rights defenders in the country.

However, on June 12th, the judge determined that Kenia Hernandez was linked to a trial for violent robbery and gave a period of one month to close the investigation period, which will expire on July 8th.

Esther Flores, from the Zeferino Ladrillero Center for Human Rights, the defender’s legal defense, affirmed that they do not agree with the judicial decision, reiterating that Kenia Hernandez was not present on the day of the charges, and hoped to prove her innocence.

It was on June 6th of this year that the defender, along with three minors who have been free since June 7th, were detained in the state of Mexico for their alleged participation in the crime of violent robbery.

For more information in Spanish:

Liberan a activista Kenia Hernández, quien fue acusada de robo con violencia, (El Universal, 11 de junio)

Liberan a la defensora de DH Inés Hernández, (La jornada, 11 de junio)

Confía defensa de Kenia Hernández en demostrar su inocencia (El Sol de Toluca, 13 de junio)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Human Rights Defender Kenia Ines Hernandez Montalban Arrested (June 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)

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

 

Guerrero: Human Rights Defender Kenia Ines Hernandez Montalban Arrested

The Movement for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of the State of Guerrero (MOLPEG) denounced that, on the night of June 6th, human rights defender Kenia Ines Hernandez Montalban, a member of the Zapata Vive Collective, was detained together with three minors in the Hortaliza-Valle de Bravo toll booth in the state of Mexico.

Arturo Campos Herrera, a former political prisoner and member of MOLPEG, reported that Hernandez Montealban was transferred to the Chiconautla Social Readaptation Center, in the state of Mexico. He stated that the arrest, carried out by ministerial and municipal police, was an act of repression and impunity. The three minors were released on the night of June 7th.

The National Network of Human Rights Defenders in Mexico, ProDESC, CIMAC and IM-Defenders also detailed that two patrols of the Public Security of the State of Mexico participated with “eight more patrols, who carried out the arrest, violating due process.”

They recalled that, since 2019, Hernandez Montealban has been a beneficiary of the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists.

For his part, the Attorney General of Justice of the State of Mexico reported that Hernandez Montalban was detained for her probable participation in the crime of violent robbery. He stated that “in collaboration with federal authorities for several months, an investigation was started on Kenya Ines N, and it was established that she apparently led a group of people from the State of Morelos who blocked the circulation of toll booths in that state and in Mexican territory; to allow passage they demanded money from the motorists.”

The Zeferino Ladrillero Human Rights Center demanded the immediate release of the Amuzga indigenous woman and reported that it will provide legal accompaniment to the accused.

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) asked that due process be respected and guaranteed in the case, and its staff confirmed her physical condition and personal integrity.

For more information in Spanish:

Detienen a Inés Hernández, defensora de DH de Guerrero (La Jornada, 7 de junio de 2020)

[ALERTA DEFENSORAS] MÉXICO / Exigimos la libertad de Kenia Hernández, detenida e internada en la cárcel desde la noche del sábado 6 de junio (Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de derechos humanos, 7 de junio de 2020)

Detienen a Kenia Hernández en el Edomex; la acusan de robo con violencia (El Sur, 7 de junio de 2020)

CNDH pide un debido proceso contra activista detenida en el Estado de México (Animal Político, 8 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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 (May 21, 2020)

National: CNDH Demands Clarification of Crimes against Journalists in Mexico – 90% Remain in Impunity (November 8, 2019)

National/International: UNO Presents Diagnostic of Protection Mechanism of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (September 2, 2019)

International: Resistances in Latin America Strengthened on World Environment Day

© Eco Caminata

In the framework of World Environment Day, the Latin American and Caribbean Water Forum was held during the COVID-19 emergency, which was held in the online event “Weaving Networks for Life: Defending Territory is Defending Life!”. During this forum, academics, activists, and environmental defenders from countries such as Puerto Rico, Paraguay, and Honduras, spoke of the challenges involved in defending the environment on the American continent during the pandemic.

Historic struggles by indigenous, Afro-American, and mestizo communities in Latin America, especially against extractive and agribusiness companies, continue despite the health emergency and the additional obstacles it represents. As in both Mexico and in other countries such as Brazil, Peru, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia and Ecuador these activities were considered ‘essential’, community resistance was limited by the confinement measures imposed by governments.

Pedro Landa, a researcher in environmental human rights, expressed the importance of joining local struggles to strengthen resistance at the global level. He did so after explaining the “artificial” separation suffered by the Mesoamerican countries but which today continue to defend the same resources and the same territory. He also emphasized the need to “denounce the responsibility of the extractive industries and complicit governments in human rights violations because they promote these types of industries, encourage and impose them, sometimes at gunpoint, of repression, of criminalization and the imprisonment of many defenders of the environment ”, as well as removing the legal shield with which these companies are protected.

Adriana Muñoz Perez, a Paraguayan activist, spoke of the resistance of women who developed an agri-food model since before the pandemic with the aim of fighting agribusiness that continues to expand and displace communities in this territory; and to reduce the economic impact on families by producing their own food. Even though today they are the protagonists of this fight, the pandemic has increased impunity, political persecution, corruption and social inequality for many sectors of the population.

As described in an Infobae article, the null action of the governments of Mexico and of other countries in Latin America against the protection of human rights to the environment, health and violation by companies has led to Citizen organizations leading the defense of these rights. However, these actions put the lives of human rights defenders at risk as there are no justice mechanisms and regulatory ambiguity, as noted by Benjamin Berlanga, head of the Coordination Unit for Social Participation and Transparency (UCPAST) of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT).

In this sense, Pedro Landa called for a recognition and a tribute to all the men and women who have died for the defense of the environment rather than a celebration.

For more information in Spanish: 

Evento virtual: Tejiendo redes para la vida (Caminata ecológica, 5 de junio 2020)

Débiles mecanismos de justicia perpetúan agresiones a defensores ambientales (Contralínea, 1 de junio, 2020)

Suma México 499 agresiones a ecologistas en 7 años (QS Noticias, 5 de junio 2020)

La ciudadanía lidera defensa de derecho al medioambiente en América Latina (Infobae, 5 de junio 2020)

Día Mundial del Medio Ambiente, nada que celebrar (Excelsior, 4 de junio 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ: 

Nacional: Organizaciones ambientales denuncian recorte presupuestal de un 75% de la CONANP; “paralizará sus actividades fundamentales”

Nacional: Da AMLO banderazo del Tren Maya entre la pandemia y la inconformidad de la sociedad civil.

Oaxaca/Nacional: Más de 100 OSC rechazan proyecto del Corredor Transístmico a unos día de visita de AMLO

Nacional: fracking sigue en la 4T, denuncian; AMLO desmiente que así sea

Nacional: debaten iniciativa que reformaría la Ley para la Protección de Personas Defensoras de Derechos Humanos y Periodistas en un contexto de mayor vulnerabilidad para estos sectores debido a la pandemia

Chiapas: Comunicado por la defensa del agua en San Cristóbal de las Casas.

Chiapas : La empresa minera El Puntal S.A. de C.V y el Gobierno de Chiapas amenazan a defensores de Acacoyagua, denuncian

Nacional: CEMDA destaca que continua el riesgo para defensores del medio ambiente

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)

 

National/International: Mexico and IACHR Formalize Reinstallation of IGIE for Ayotzinapa Case

IGIE in previous phase (@Centro PRO DH)

In a statement published on May 7th, the Interior and Foreign Relations Secretariats reported that the Mexican government signed an agreement with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for the reinstatement of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (IGIE).

The objective in this new stage will be to provide international technical assistance for the advancement of investigations and to assist in the preparation of search plans, care for victims and other relevant aspects in the case of the forced disappearance of 43 students from Rural Normal School of Ayotzinapa in Iguala, Guerrero, in September 2014.

The statement explained that the process “was carried out taking into account the representation of the parents of the students, the Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the experts themselves who will form part of the International Group of Independent Experts.”

It specified that this action is part of the commitment established in the “Decree that instructs to establish effective material, legal and human conditions to strengthen the human rights of the relatives of the victims of the Ayotzinapa case to truth and access to justice”, issued by President Lopez Obrador on December 4th, 2018 and which raised, among other points, the possibility of passing agreements that allow the IACHR to cooperate.

For more information in Spanish: 

Gobierno de México y CIDH firman acuerdo para reinstalación del GIEI, a fin de seguir brindando asistencia técnica en el caso Ayotzinapa (comunicado completo, 7 de mayo de 2020)

Firman Segob y SRE acuerdo con CIDH para reinstalación del GIEI (La Jornada, 7 de mayo de 2020)

Firman acuerdo de reinstalación de GIEI en caso Ayotzinapa (Aristegui Noticias, 7 de mayo de 2020)

Formalizan reinstalación del GIEI en el caso Ayotzinapa (Regeneración, 8 de mayo de 2020)

Acuerdan México y CIDH reinstalar el GIEI para el caso Ayotzinapa (El Universal, 7 de mayo de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/Guerrero: Agreement to Reintroduce Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts in Ayotzinapa Case. Number of Disappeared Increases in the Country (January 14, 2020)

 

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

 

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

 

Chiapas: Police Accused of Shooting at Choles Protesting against Confinement

@ Chiapas Paralelo

On April 27th, the Base Committee of the Chiapas Digna Ochoa Human Rights organization denounced that at approximately 1:30 pm, “a group of people who were demonstrating at the point known as Pulpitillo was repressed, with gunshots fired by members of the state police and the Yajalon municipal tactical police.”

According to the Committee, the indigenous people of Hidalgo Joshil, municipality of Tumbala, “dissatisfied with the actions that they consider to be in violation of their human and constitutional rights due to the police, military and health siege that was implemented in the municipality due to an outbreak of COVID-19, which prevents freedom of transit to mobilize people who paradoxically require medical attention for other diseases and that authorities in the health sector refuse to attend, they decided to demonstrate to request a negotiation table with the Delegation of the Government Secretariat and the health sector.”

It reported that “without any attempt to dialogue or notice they were repressed” leaving a balance of four wounded, one seriously by firearm.

Other sources from Yajalon, indicate that “the police attack would have been to contain an allegedly violent attempt to cross the sanitary fence, which was lifted this Tuesday (28th), although the curfew continues between 18:00 and 08:00 next day”, La Jornada reported.

For more information in Spanish:

Policías disparan contra choles que protestaban por confinamiento (La Jornada, 29 de abril de 2020)

Cercan y disparan contra indígenas, tras acusarlos de ser portadores de COVID-19 (Chiapas Paralelo, 28 de abril de 2020)

En Chiapas, reprimen a indígenas que protestaban por medidas sanitarias (Proceso, 27 de abril de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Tumbala, Yajalon and Tila “Red Flag” for COVID-19 Pandemic (April 29, 2020)

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

Chiapas: Organizations Demand Respect for People’s Rights (April 22, 2020)

Chiapas: Indigenous Zoque Commits Suicide in Ocosingo after Testing Positive for Covid-19 (April 16, 2020)

 

Chiapas: CNDH to Investigate Attacks on Parents of Ayotzinapa 43

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) will investigate the attacks on February 16th against the relatives of the 43 students of the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa who disappeared in 2014, while they were participating in a demonstration in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas.

Relatives and several students from the Mactumactza Normal School in Chiapas were attacked by elements of the state’s Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection on February 16th, leaving three students injured along with two mothers, and a minor.

The State Commission for Human Rights in Chiapas initiated a complaint file ex officio, which has been taken on by the CNDH, which explained that “in the exercise of the powers conferred on the CNDH regarding the investigation of acts that may constitute human rights violations, that by their nature transcend the interest of a federative entity and influence national public opinion, it was agreed to exercise the appeal of the file.”

For more information in Spanish:

Atrae CNDH caso de ataque de policías de Chiapas a familiares de los 43 estudiantes desaparecidos de la Normal de Ayotzinapa y alumnos de la Normal Mactumactzá, CNDH, 31 de marzo de 2020

CNDH atrae caso de agresión hacia familiares de los 43 estudiantes, Chiapasparalelo, 2 de abril de 2020

CNDH investigará agresiones contra padres de 43 normalistas, El Imparcial, 31de marzo de 2020

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Guerrero: Two Police Officers Held for Attacks on Parents of the Ayotzinapa 43 Disapeared; Investigation of Students who Participated in Protest Continue (February 26, 2020)

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