Oaxaca/Guerrero/National: Political Prisoners, Teachers and Activists Freed. Others Awaiting Rulings on their Cases

On December 28th, 12 political prisoners were released, mainly teachers attached to the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE in its Spanish acronym) and activists. The spokesperson for Section 22 of Oaxaca, Wilber Santiago, declared that this act signifies a triumph for the CNTE, since the teachers were fighting for more than five years for their freedom.

The people who were released are: Leonel Manzano, Sara Altamirano, Mario Olivera Osorio, Lauro Atilano Grijalbo Villalobos, Luis Gutierrez Saldivar, David Vargas Araujo, Alejandra Chavez Chavez, Alejandro Sandoval Martinez, Faustino Diego, Alberto Sandoval Rodriguez, Jose Ambrosio Martinez and Enrique Warrior Aviña.

“We thank the members of the new Government who knew how to keep the promise given to the democratic teachers’ movement”, the ex-prisoners said. The secretary general of Section 22 of the CNTE, Eloy Lopez, said for his part that, “today is not a celebration, it is a struggle and protest to demand the release of all political prisoners in the country who are still behind bars as hostages of an authoritarian policy that was implemented by Enrique Peña Nieto.”

His release was celebrated by the senator from Morena, Nestora Salgado, who on December 14th gave the Secretariat of the Interior (SEGOB in its Spanish acronym) a list of 199 cases of detainees that she considers “political prisoners” (180 men and 19 women), and who seek to benefit from an eventual amnesty law.

On December 28th, members of the Movement for the Freedom of Political Prisoners from the state of Guerrero demanded the release of 19 members of the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to the La Parota Dam (CECOP in its Spanish acronym) and the Community Police of the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities (CRAC in its Spanish acronym), who claim they are imprisoned unjustly, without evidence and imputed fabricated crimes. Kenya Hernandez, a member of the movement, said that in meetings with officials of the Ministry of the Interior (SRGOB) they were informed that the process will be slow, as the amnesty law is in progress.

It should be explained that some people do not want to be released through an amnesty law but to be cleared of the crimes that have been imputed to them.

For more information in Spanish:

Agradecen presos políticos de CNTE libertad a AMLO (El Imparcial de Oaxaca, 30 de diciembre de 2018)

Maestros que fueran presos políticos son liberados por AMLO; “Agradecemos a los integrantes del nuevo Gobierno que supieron cumplir la palabra dada al movimiento democrático magisterial”: Leonel Manzano (Revolución 3.0, 30 de diciembre de 2018)

Liberan a 12 presos políticos ligados a la CNTE; aquí algunos casos que se revisarán para amnistía (Animal Político, 29 de diciembre de 2018)

Exigen liberación de 19 presos políticos de Guerrero (Regeneración, 28 de diciembre de 2018)

AMLO va por la liberación de indígenas y maestros: se da a conocer la primera lista con 25 presos políticos que serán sujetos de amnistía (Revolución 3,0, 27 de diciembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero / National: Nestora Salgado announces campaign for the freedom of political prisoners (September 16th, 2018)

 

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National: AMLO Presents Plan to Cancel Educational Reform

(@La Brecha)

On December 12th, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) presented a plan to cancel the Educational Reform, one of his campaign promises. He announced the creation of the National Center for the Revaluation of Teaching and the Continuous Improvement of Education that will replace the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education (INEE in tis Spanish acronym), ceasing to be an autonomous mechanism to depend on the Ministry of Public Education (SEP in its Spanish acronym). AMLO said that it was a “commitment fulfilled, teachers” and there would be no return “to disrespecting” teachers with “punitive” evaluations.

AMLO also reported that some imprisoned teachers who had been arrested in protest against the first structural reform of his predecessor, former president Enrique Peña Nieto in 2013, will be released. It was also announced that around a thousand teachers will be reinstated in their posts, after they were dismissed for having failed the teacher evaluation, one of the components of the application of the educational reform.

In addition, the new project contemplates ratifying the obligation and extending free education to the upper and university level. In addition, it proposes the creation of 100 public universities and the granting of 300 thousand scholarships to students from low-income families.

The Secretary of Public Education, Esteban Moctezuma Barragan, said that the teacher is recognized for the first time as an agent of change and said that “the Education Reform of the federal government will propose the regional vision of education, which will promote the formulation of differentiated content for regions of Mexico.” Therefore, the initiative proposes an emphasis on indigenous, bilingual and bicultural education. There will be food support in vulnerable areas, and disadvantaged students will be supported.

The National Union of Education Workers (SNTE in its Spanish acronym) and the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE in its Spanish acronym) celebrated the cancellation of the educational reform. The CNTE considered that the AMLO proposal does not represent a concession by the president, but rather is the product of the demands and the process of struggle of the “democratic” teachers.

The initiative of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be analyzed until February 2019 in the Chamber of Deputies. The opposition warned that it will not allow “regressions” in education or that any form of teacher evaluation by an autonomous body be canceled.

For more information in Spanish:

Esto es lo que AMLO quiere ‘borrar’ de la reforma educativa de Peña (ADN Político, 14 de diciembre de 2018)

Cuáles son las funciones del Instituto de Evaluación Educativa y las repercusiones que tendría su desaparición (Animal Político, 14 de diciembre de 2018)

AMLO entierra la reforma educativa y elimina al INEE (El Universal, 14 de diciembre de 2018)

¿Qué contempla la nueva reforma educativa de AMLO en México? (CNN, 13 de diciembre de 2018)

Reforma educativa de AMLO elimina la evaluación docente, pero no define cómo asignarán (Radio Formula, 12 de diciembre de 2018)

Firma AMLO iniciativa que cancela reforma educativa (La Jornada, 12 de diciembre de 2018)

AMLO firma iniciativa para derogar la reforma educativa peñista (Proceso, 12 de diciembre de 2018)

Cancelación del INEE, becas y más universidades: puntos clave de la iniciativa de reforma educativa de AMLO (Animal Político, 12 de diciembre de 2018)

Cancelar Reforma Educativa no es concesión de AMLO: CNTE (La Jornada, 12 de diciembre de 2018)

Nueva ‘reforma educativa’ se analizará en 2019; oposición advierte que no pasará (ADN Político, 12 de diciembre de 2018)

El gobierno inicia liberación de maestros que cataloga como presos políticos (ADN Político, 12 de diciembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Mass Mobilization of CNTE in Chiapas (April 28th, 2018)

Oaxaca/ Nacional: La CNTE y la Segob acuerdan mesas de negociación (13 de julio de 2016)

Chiapas/Oaxaca/Guerrero: Teachers Continue Mobilizations Due to Lack of Agreements over Educational Reform (June 30th, 2016)

Nacional : impasse en dialogo entre el Magisterio y el gobierno; parcial regreso a clases (2 de septiembre de 2016)

Chiapas: Violent Eviction of the Sit-in of Teachers from San Cristobal (July 25th, 2016)

Oaxaca/ Nacional: La CNTE y la Segob acuerdan mesas de negociación (13 de julio de 2016)

Oaxaca: Human Rights Organizations Present Report on Repression in Nochixtlan (July 18th, 2016)

URGENT RELEASE: REPRESSION OF TEACHERS IN OAXACA (June 22nd, 2016)

Chiapas/Oaxaca: Actualización de las protestas magisteriales; al menos 6 muertos en Oaxaca (21 de junio de 2016)

Oaxaca: 22 Members of Sol Rojo (Red Sun) Released

Press conference of the Coordination for the Release of Criminalized Defenders in Oaxaca (@Consorcio)

In a statement published on November 6th, the Coordination for the Release of Criminalized Defenders of Oaxaca reported that “after more than three years of facing a judicial process with serious violations of due process, torture and incommunicado detention, 22 members of the organization Corriente del Pueblo Sol Rojo [Current of the Red Sun People] were freed from criminal case 30/2015 in which they were accused of terrorism and carrying a weapon (molotov cocktail). This freedom was given in resolution of the incident promoted in August by the lawyer and defender Ernesto Sernas, rejecting a series of tests used by the Attorney General of the Republic’s office. It should be recalled that these people were arbitrarily arrested on June 7th, 2015 in retaliation for their participation in a peaceful demonstration called by Section 22 of the Oaxacan teachers in the context of the elections on the same day. Their trial was at all times plagued by serious irregularities; also the members of Sol Rojo suffered torture during their detention, as well as during transfers and arrivals in prisons. This torture has left serious consequences on physical and emotional levels.”

The Coordination stressed that with this decision – in which it was observed “action on political direction on the part of the Attorney General of the Republic, when imputing crimes that they never committed in coordination with federal and state police bodies” is evidenced once again the “policy of criminalization” of Enrique Peña Nieto against human rights defenders, the “serious pattern of criminalization in Oaxaca” and the urgency that all these serious violations be punished promptly and in accordance with the law.

It also demanded the presentation of the defender Ernesto Sernas who is missing, since last May 10th for reasons that they believe have to do with his defense work in favor of the organization Sol Rojo, in the context that so far “there has been no progress in the investigations to find his whereabouts.”

It reaffirmed its position in favor of the liberation of all the defenders of Oaxaca who remain unjustly in prison as “reprisal” for their legitimate defense work. It also urged the authorities to act against the high risk in which members of Sol Rojo remain who have suffered serious and permanent attacks.

For more information in Spanish:

Defensores de DH integrantes de la organización Sol Rojo en libertad mediante sentencia absolutoria, luego de tres años de proceso judicial (Coordinación para la Libertad de Personas Defensoras Criminalizadas en Oaxaca, 6 de noviembre de 2018)

22 presos políticos de Sol Rojo fueron puestos en libertad (Libertad Oaxaca, 6 de noviembre de 2018)

Dejan en libertad a 22 presos políticos en Oaxaca (Siete Días Oaxaca, 6 de noviembre de 2018)

Anuncian la liberación de 22 activistas de Oaxaca presos por delitos federales (Despertar de Oaxaca, 7 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero / National: Nestora Salgado announces campaign for the freedom of political prisoners  (September 16th, 2018)

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

Chiapas: Mass Mobilization of CNTE in Chiapas

March on April 10th, 2018 (@Pozol)

Under the slogan “48-Hour Teachers and Popular Strike Towards National Teacher and Popular Strike”, on April 10th, thousands of teachers of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE in its Spanish acronym), parents of families, displaced indigenous peoples, student teachers and members of more than 60 campesino social organizations, marched in Tuxtla Gutiérrez against educational reform and declared themselves in favor of creating a “national united front” to face “the onslaught of the federal government with its public policies and legal reforms that criminalize social protest, which generate unemployment with massive layoffs, suspended payments to teachers, which continues to reduce spending on health and education while increasing it for electoral campaigns.” The mobilization was led by 59 families of displaced indigenous people from Puebla ejido in Chenalho who stated that the government still has not meet their demands to return to their homes.

In other protest actions, they also took over the toll booth on the Tuxtla-San Cristobal highway, conducted an information dissemination brigade in public markets and commercial centers, and visited public and private radio and television stations to publicize the reasons for their protests.

Teachers mobilized despite threats that there would be deductions from their salaries for days they did not show up for work. In this framework, the Ministry of Education stated that “our position is clear: there will be discounts if they do not show up for work. We have met our part of the agreement, for that reason we make an attentive call to the teachers so that they do not put their union interests before the continuity of educational services.”

The CNTE said that if there are no negotiations with the Ministry of the Interior, there will be stoppages on April 30th, May 1st and 2nd.

For more information in Spanish:

Marchan en Chiapas contra la reforma educativa y proponen un frente nacional (Proceso, 9 de abril de 2018)

Desplazados se suman a marchas (Aquí Noticias, 9 de abril de 2018)

CNTE en Chiapas levanta paro y anuncia otro de tres días en protesta contra la reforma educativa (Proceso, 10 de abril de 2018)

Maestros levantan plantón, pero amenazan con regresar (NVI Noticias, 11 de abril de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca/ Nacional: La CNTE y la Segob acuerdan mesas de negociación (13 de julio de 2016)

Chiapas/Oaxaca/Nacional: Ante falta de acuerdos sobre la reforma educativa en el diálogo, el magisterio sigue con las movilizaciones (28 de junio de 2016)

Oaxaca: President of Nochixtlan Victims Committee Attacked

Photo @ SinEmbargo

On the morning of April 1st, the president of the Nochixtlan Victims Committee (COVIC in its Spanish acronym), Santiago Ambrosio Hernandez, was found tied up in his house with signs of torture.

El Debate reported that Ambrosio was attacked in Asuncion Nochixtlan by four individuals who entered his house by force and began to beat him. He was wounded with a knife in the back and arms and received several kicks to the body.

After the attack, he was admitted to a private hospital in Oaxaca, “where he was already visited by the Attorney General of Oaxaca and by staff of the General Secretariat of the State Government (SEGEGO).” In light of the incident, Ambrosio filed a complaint with the Ombudsman for the Human Rights of the People of Oaxaca (DDHPO in its Spanish acronym) and a complaint to the Attorney General of the State of Oaxaca.

On April 2ndi in a press conference, the secretary general of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE in its Spanish acronym) demanded the removal of state forces from Nochixtlan and blamed the attack on “the municipal and state governments,” whom he also accused of “avoiding continuing the investigation of the violent events of June 19th, 2016, where eight people died and more than 100 were injured.”

It is worth remembering that the conflict in Nochixtlan resurfaced on March 26th of this year, when residents opposed the removal of vehicles that were set on fire during the confrontation with the federal police on June 19th, 2016.

For more information in Spanish:

Santiago Ambrosio, líder cívico de Nochixtlán, es agredido y torturado en su domicilio (Sin Embargo, 1 de abril de 2018)

Atacan a líder de Nochixtlán (Huffington Post, 1 de abril de 2018)

Líder de Nochixtlan fue torturado por 4 desconocidos (El Debate, 1 de abril de 2018)

Sección 22 pide desaparición de poderes en Nochixtlán, Oaxaca (El Imparcial de Oaxaca, 2 de abril de 2018)

Pide CNTE desaparición de poderes en Nochixtlán (Oaxaca Quadratín, 2 de abril de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Resurge la tensión en Nochixtlán (28 de marzo de 2018)

Oaxaca/Nacional: CNDH emite recomendación por violaciones graves a derechos humanos en los hechos de violencia ocurridos en Nochixtlán, el 16 de junio de 2016 (19 de octubre de 2017)

Oaxaca/Guerrero: Balean autobús de víctimas de Nochixtlán (28 de julio de 2017)

Oaxaca: Persisten agresiones y hostigamientos hacia víctimas de Nochixtlán (24 de abril de 2017)

Oaxaca: Comité de Víctimas de Nochixtlán denuncia “intento de homicidio” contra dos de sus integrantes (7 de marzo de 2017)

Oaxaca: Organizaciones de Derechos Humanos presentan informe sobre represión en Nochixtlán (11 de julio de 2016)

Oaxaca/Nacional: Allanan casa de fotoperiodista que cubrió hechos en Nochixtlán (4 de septiembre de 2016)

BOLETÍN URGENTE: REPRESIÓN MAGISTERIAL EN OAXACA (22 de junio de 2016)

Oaxaca: First Government Report of Alejandro Murat Hinojosa

(@Congreso de Oaxaca)

On November 15th, the Governor of Oaxaca, Alejandro Murat Hinojosa of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) delivered his First Government Report. He argued that, “Only through arguments and ideas can changes can be achieved in Oaxaca” and said that progress has been made in this regard. While acknowledging that much remains to be done, he stated that, “the bases for the development of the state have been established.” The political parties of the opposition pointed out the lack of attention to the needs of the Oaxacans in his speech.

The magazine Sin Embargo highlighted that the delivery of this report was “in a climate of complaints, insecurity and distrust.” While the governor said that “nothing happens in Oaxaca, we can leave our homes quietly, use public transport. There is no such extreme violence as [persists] in other states,” Sin Embargo said “the statistics say the opposite: robberies with violence in Oaxaca total (from January to September) 2,722, according to the Executive Secretariat of the System National Public Security (SESNSP). In the same period, 703 malicious homicides were reported, a considerable number of these are femicides.”

Apart from this, the act took place in the midst of a mobilization of Section 22 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE in its Spanish acronym). The teacher position was that after a year of Murat’s government “the account is pending, in the absence of answers in the educational, legal, social, humanitarian and political spheres for the people of Oaxaca because it has only received palliatives and the administration of demands.” “After 365 days, Murat continues to implement a policy of simulation and delay to address the legitimate demands of teachers like the previous administration,” they complained. There were also marches of student teachers and blockades of university students held by the Autonomous University “Benito Juárez” of Oaxaca (UABJO in its Spanish acronym).

For more information in Spanish:

¿En Oaxaca no pasa nada? Queman vivos a 3 presuntos asaltantes de dos ancianos; uno murió anoche (Sin Embargo, 15 de noviembre de 2017)

Listo el primer informe de Alejandro Murat, va al Congreso (Página 3, 15 de noviembre de 2017)

Ejecuciones, marchas y bloqueos empañan primer informe de Alejandro Murat (Proceso, 15 de noviembre de 2017)

Entrega el gobernador Alejandro Murat su Primer Informe de Gobierno al Congreso de Oaxaca (NVI Noticias, 15 de noviembre de 2017)

Marcha Sección 22 vs Primer Informe de Gobierno en Oaxaca (NVI Noticias, 15 de noviembre de 2017)

Entrega Alejandro Murat su primer Informe de Gobierno (NSS Oaxaca, 15 de noviembre de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ :

Oaxaca : Toma posesión Alejandro Murat Hinojosa como gobernador (4 de diciembre de 2016)

Nacional : Resultados de las elecciones del 5 de junio (16 de junio de 2016)

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

On October 18th, the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH in its Spanish acronym) issued a recommendation to the government of Oaxaca, the state’s attorney general’s office, the National Commission for Security (CNS in its Spanish acronym) and the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), for serious violations of human rights in the violent events that occurred in Nochixtlan, Oaxaca, on June 16th, 2016. The said facts resulted in a toll of seven people killed, 453 civilians with physical injuries (45 of them by firearm) and 106 in uniform wounded (four of them shot).

The CNDH accredited the excessive use of public force and that federal and state police committed serious violations of human rights, affecting even third parties who were not actively participating in demonstrations against educational reform. This in consequence “of an operation improperly designed, prepared, coordinated and executed, in which the protocols of action were not fully observed, particularly as regards the legitimate use of force and the need to prioritize the use of mechanisms and non-violent techniques, before using force against the population.”

The national ombudsman, Luis Raul González Perez, said to the media that for an approximate period of 12 hours an operation was carried out “that could well be considered as an example of what should not be police actions of this nature”, in the populations of Nochixtlan, Huitzo and Hacienda Blanca and Viguera. He commented on the other hand that it was confirmed that some of the demonstrators carried firearms and that guns were used against those in uniform.

Gonzalez Perez also informed that the investigation of almost 16 months that led to these conclusions was marked by lack of real and effective cooperation on the part of the authorities involved and those in charge of the criminal investigation of the events, show “the lack of will so that the truth is known and responsibilities are feigned.”

For more information in Spanish:

Efectivos federales y estatales cometieron graves violaciones en Nochixtlán: CNDH (La Jornada, 19 de octubre de 2017)

Policía federal no fue responsable de muertes en Nochixtlán; policías fueron víctimas (Animal Política, 19 de octubre de 2017)

Recomendación No.7VG/2017 (CNDH, octubre de 2017)

Comunicado de prensa (CNDH, 18 de octubre de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca/Guerrero: Balean autobús de víctimas de Nochixtlán (28 de julio de 2017)

Oaxaca: Persisten agresiones y hostigamientos hacia víctimas de Nochixtlán (24 de abril de 2017)

Oaxaca: Comité de Víctimas de Nochixtlán denuncia “intento de homicidio” contra dos de sus integrantes

Oaxaca: Organizaciones de Derechos Humanos presentan informe sobre represión en Nochixtlán (11 de julio de 2016)