Guerrero: One Month Since Disappearance of Human Rights Defender Arnulfo Ceron Soriano

November 11th marked one month since the disappearance of the human rights defender, Arnulfo Ceron Soriano in the city of Tlapa de Comonfort. The Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center regretted that the case was not addressed immediately until it escalated internationally. It denounced that “this lack of due diligence in the first hours that followed the complaint, added to the context of macrocriminality, extreme violence, corruption and impunity that characterize the state of Guerrero make this case very complex.” It acknowledged that the arrest on November 6th of Jorge “N” aka “Chiva”, Javier “N” and Cristal “N”, in Morelos, who are allegedly involved in the disappearance “represents a breakthrough in the investigation.” However, it stressed that “the main objective is still to find the live whereabouts of defender Arnulfo Ceron Soriano. These arrests should not mean the end of the investigation and much less of the search work. The authorities must act in a coordinated manner and dedicate all their resources to the search for Arnulfo, with the help of the family and the representatives.” Not until November 12th was the first day of search carried out in coordination with the state and national commission. Tlachinollan urged that this fact “be the beginning of a firm commitment to the case and that it be given a timely follow-up.” It also warned about a situation of serious risk for the family of Ceron Soriano, the members of the Popular Front of the Mountain (FPM in its Spanish acronym, the organization to which the victim belonged) and for Tlachinollan itself by continuing to demand his appearance alive so that it requested “adequate protection measures for each group, as well as the detention of all persons involved in the case.”

For its part, the FPM denounced that one month after the disappearance there has been no effectiveness in the actions of the State to investigate and present him alive, so they protested in the Ministry of the Interior and carried out an informational blockade on the Tlapa-Chilapa highway . They hope that, despite the late action, the state and national Commissions for the Search for Missing Persons will obtain results. The State Attorney General’s Office (FGE in its Spanish acronym) offered a million pesos for those who give information about the whereabouts of Ceron Soriano, who was disappeared on October 11th when he left his home to give a talk at the rehabilitation center in the city of Tlapa.

For more information in Spanish:

COMUNICADO | SE CUMPLE UN MES DE LA DESAPARICIÓN DEL DEFENSOR DE DERECHOS HUMANOS ARNULFO CERÓN SORIANO (CDH Tlachinollan, 12 de noviembre de 2019)

El FPM anuncia bloqueo informativo para buscar a Arnulfo Cerón a un mes de su desaparición (Sin Embargo, 11 de noviembre de 2019)

Defensor Arnulfo Cerón suma un mes desaparecido; protestan en Guerrero y Segob por encontrarlo (SDP Noticias, 11 de noviembre de 2019)

Detienen al presunto responsable de la desaparición del líder campesino de Tlapa, Guerrero (Animal Político, 7 de noviembre de 2019)

Detienen a presunto vinculado a desaparición de activista guerrerense (La Jornada, 7 de noviembre de 2019)

“La Chiva”, presunto implicado en la desaparición de Arnulfo Cerón, es detenido en Morelos (sin Embargo, 7 de noviembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Siguen exigiendo la búsqueda con vida del activista Arnulfo Cerón Soriano a 19 días de su desaparición forzada (October 29, 2019)

Guerrero: Disappearance of Activist in Tlapa de Comonfort Reported. Member of Regional Council of Agrarian Authorities in Malinaltepec (October 17, 2019)

International/National : Un Human Rights Committee Issues 48 Human Rights Recommendations for Mexico

On November 7th, at the end of Mexico’s sixth periodic review of the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations (UN) issued 48 recommendations.

Among the main ones, the Committee gave the Mexican State a period of two years to “advance in the process of formation of the National Guard as a civil institution.” It expressed concern “for the militarized nature of law enforcement in general, including the National Guard, and for the lack of a clear timetable on the withdrawal of military force in civic security tasks.”

On the other hand, it lamented the lack of progress in the case of the forced disappearance of the 43 students of the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa (Iguala, Guerrero, 2014) and urged to “strengthen the research capacity and independence of all the actors involved in the investigation, including prosecutors and experts, as well as ensuring the consolidation of the accusatory system and the autonomy of the institutions of law enforcement.”

A third recommendation, also with a period of two years to assess progress, is the situation of vulnerability of journalists and human rights defenders. The Committee requested that more resources be allocated towards the prevention of aggressions towards these two sectors as well as an exhaustive investigation in case they occur.

Another concern raised is the mistreatment of migrants, including cases of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, enforced disappearances, extortion, trafficking, murder and other crimes, in a context of increased migration flows from Central America to the United States and pressures from US government to the Mexican government to stop them. It expressed concern about the widespread use of detention many times by force. It also said it was concerned about the implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols, which require that asylum seekers in the United States remain in Mexican territory during their processing.

On a positive note, it valued the approval of laws such as the Law to Prevent, Investigate and Punish Torture or the Law on the Forced Disappearance of Persons (both from 2017), although it regretted their slow application. In the case of the General Victims Law, it considered its implementation “insufficient” and therefore urged “the State party to provide the bodies responsible for applying the General Victims Law with the necessary resources, adequate training and effective control mechanisms so that victims of human rights violations promptly receive comprehensive reparation… The State party must also ensure, even through legislative reforms, a fast and efficient procedure to achieve legal recognition of the quality of victims.”

For more information in Spanish:

Comité de Derechos Humanos Observaciones finales sobreelsexto informe periódico de México (CCPR, 7 de noviembre de 2019)

Señala ONU violación de derechos de migrantes en México (La Jornada, 7 de noviembre de 2019)

ONU le da dos años a México para desmilitarizar la Guardia Nacional y resolver caso Ayotzinapa (Animal Político, 7 de noviembre de 2019)

La ONU-DDHH pide desde Ginebra a México desmilitarizar la Guardia Nacional y apurar caso de los 43 (Sin Embargo, 7 de noviembre de 2019)

Desmilitarizar la Guardia Nacional y resolver caso Ayotzinapa pide ONU a México (Radio Formula, 8 de noviembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

International/National: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ends Mexican Visit while African Migrants Protest in Tapachula (October 7, 2019)

Internacional/Nacional: Alta Comisionada de la ONU para Derechos Humanos expresa preocupación ante varios pendientes en derechos humanos en México (5 de septiembre de 2019)

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

National: Consultative Council on Mechanism for Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (April 11, 2019)

National: Mechanism for Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists Reviewed (March 31, 2019)

National/International: UNHCHR Condemns Murders of Defenders and Journalists in Chiapas and Baja California and Questions Efficacy of Government Protection Mechanism (January 31, 2019)

Guerrero: CRAC-PC marches in Chilpancingo demanding the reform of the Law 701

@sipaz

On November 7, more than 1,000 members of the 5 Houses of Justice of the Regional Coordination of Community Authorities-Community Police (CRAC-PC) marched in Chilpancingo to demand the repeal of Article 14 of Law 701, which was modified a year ago. They denounced that it violates the rights of indigenous peoples, in particular, the validity of their own system of security and community justice.

The aim of the reform was to harmonize the States legal system and the indigenous and afro-mexican regulatory systems for public security as well as the dispensing of justice by regulating the procedures for the validation of community decisions by competent judges and courts. The CRAC-PC denounced that “the last legislature demolished the figure of the CRAC as a legitimate justice system”, when the reform led delinquents arrested by community members to file injunctions against the community justice system.

In the local Congress, the demonstrators were attended by a commission of deputies of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), to whom they delivered a document with the request for the repeal of the reforms of Law 701. Abel Barrera, director of the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for the Defense of Human Rights, was also present. He declared that the march seeks “to make visible what is happening and not to take steps backwards to the rights of the people as the last legislature did”. He also stated that there was willingness on the part of the congressmen to review the petition and that there is hope that a meeting can be held by the end of this month.

For more information:

Marcha la Crac; exige derogar el artículo 14 de la Ley 701 (La Jornada de Guerrero, November 7, 2019)

Marcha la CRAC-PC en Chilpancingo en rechazo a reforma a la Ley 701 (Quadratin, November 7, 2019 )
Marcha la CRAC en Chilpancingo contra reformas a la Ley 701 y la Constitución (Ahora Guerrero, November 7, 2019)

CRAC marcha para recuperar derechos de Casas de Justicia (Bajo Palabra, November 7, 2019)

Marcha De Autodefensas De El CRAC-PC en chilpancingo guerrero mexico defiendes sistema normativo (Vídeo, November 7, 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: 16 CRAC PC and CECOP Prisoners Released (June 17, 2019)

Guerrero: Urgent Action “No Dam, No Prisoners”, Demands Release of 16 Indigenous CECOP Members (March 14, 2019)

Guerrero/International: MEPs and International Organizations Express Concern over Criminalization of CECOP Members (February 13, 2019)

Guerrero: national and international organizations visit prisoners of the CECOP and the CRAC-PC (October 10, 2018)

 

Guerrero/National: Obtilia Eugenio Receives National Human Rights Award 2019

Obtilia Eugenio Manuel (@SIPAZ)

On November 1st, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH in its Spanish acronym) reported in a statement that the Ombudsman Obtilia Eugenio Manuel was awarded the 2019 National Human Rights Award, in recognition of her “outstanding track record in effective promotion and defense” of the basic guarantees.

Leader of the Me’phaa Indigenous Peoples’ Organization (OPIM in its Spanish acronym), founded in 2002 to defend the rights of the Tlapaneco peoples of the state of Guerrero, Obtilia has stood out for denouncing abuses committed by Mexican Army personnel against indigenous peoples, in particular in the case of sexual violations committed by military personnel against indigenous women, Valentina Rosendo Cantu and Ines Fernandez Ortega. Being a member of the Community Municipal Council of Ayutla de los Libres, and together with her partner Hilario Cornelio Castro, she was kidnapped in February of this year although both were found alive a few days later. She has denounced that those responsible were people linked to construction companies and organized crime groups, in retaliation for denouncing the implementation of works in an apparently irregular fashion in that municipality.

The CNDH also reported that the awards council gave a posthumous honorary mention to Margarito Diaz Gonzalez, environmentalist, marakame (religious leader) and defender of the sacred sites of the Wixarika people in Nayarit, who was killed on September 8th.

The agency indicated that “the Award Council unanimously approved the opinion of the Jury by means of an agreement adopted at its second ordinary session on October 30th of this year, and also provided that said agreement be published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, in the Official Gazette, on its website and be disseminated in the mass media.”

As for the award ceremony, it said that the ceremony “will be held on the day determined by the federal Executive.”

For more information in Spanish:

Premio Nacional de DH, para la activista indígena Obtilia Eugenio (La Jornada, 1ero de noviembre de 2019)

A Obtilia Eugenio Manuel, el Premio Nacional de Derechos Humanos 2019 (Proceso, 1ero de noviembre de 2019)

Reconoce CNDH a Obtilia Eugenio con el Premio Nacional de Derechos Humanos (Ahora Guerrero, 1ero de noviembre de 2019)

La CNDH reconoce a Obtilia Eugenio con el Premio Nacional (El Informador, 1ero de noviembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero/Internacional: CIDH llama a investigar la desaparición de los defensores de derechos humanos Obtilia Eugenio Manuel e Hilario Cornelio Castro (February 28th, 2019)

Guerrero: Fueron liberados Obtilia Eugenio Manuel e Hilario Cornelio Castro (February 18th, 2019)

Guerrero: OPIM Inició una Caravana Solidaria de Busqueda para Obtilia Eugenio Manuel e Hilario Cornelio Castro. (February 15th, 2019)

Guerrero: Disappearance of Obtilia Eugenio Manuel and Hilario Cornelio Castro Indigenous Activists and Members of OPIM Reported (February 14, 2019)

Guerrero: Communiqué: Demand for End to Attacks and Defamations against La Montaña “Tlachinollan” Human Rights Center and its Attorney Vidulfo Rosales Sierra

Vidulfo Rosales Sierra receiving the Jtatic Samuel Jcanan Lum award @ SIPAZ

The signatory organizations express our deep concern over the recent statements of the former Attorney General of the State of Guerrero, Iñaki Blanco Cabrera, against the lawyer of La Montaña “Tlachinollan” Human Rights Center, Vidulfo Rosales, whom he accuses of impeding investigations and profitting with the defense of the families of the 43 student teachers disappeared on September 26th and 27th, 2014, even indicating that he must be investigated by the Attorney General’s Office.

We believe that these declarations constitute a direct attack and that they seek to delegitimize the work of the human rights defender, in addition to upturning the legal representatives’ responsibilities for the recent releases of persons linked to the case and thus avoiding the costs of an investigation plagued by countless human rights violations, ranging from the fabrication of evidence to the use of torture to obtain confessions, documented by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico and that were at the origin of the sentence issued by the First Collegiate Court of Circuit of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, which lists 158 irregularities.

It should be remembered that Iñaki Blanco Cabrera is one of the main players who could be involved in the forced disappearance of the 43 student teachers, for serving as prosecutor at the time of the events and for having incurred omissions and protecting several officials under their charge who had responsibilities in the attack on the students.

We recognize the work of Tlachinollan, which has been defending the human rights of indigenous people of La Montaña Guerrero against the abuses of authority and marginalization for 25 years, and is recognized nationally and internationally for the quality of its integral defense work, as well as for its moral commitment, obtaining a range of awards for this.

We also recognize the work that the defender Vidulfo Rosales Sierra has done for more than 20 years, who has stood out for his accompaniment of the victims of serious human rights violations in Guerrero such as Valentina Rosendo Cantu, Ines Fernandez Ortega, the relatives of the Ayotzinapa students Jorge Alexis and Gabriel Echeverria executed on El Sol highway in December 2011, and the victims of repression from Tlapa de Comonfort on election day in June 2015, struggles that have repeatedly led to threats and direct physical attacks, even causing his departure from the country to safeguard his life.

For all the above, we demand a cessation of the campaign of delegitimization against the defender Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, pointing out the seriousness of this type of statements, whose nature can encourage direct attacks against his life and physical integrity. Likewise, we consider that the statements of the former official seem to aim to divert attention and thus prevent the state authorities of Guerrero from being investigated, emphasizing that it is the violations of due process and the cases of torture with which the investigation of Ayotzinapa are now motivating judicial decisions that release probable perpetrators of the events, which is another example of the network of corruption and impunity that have marked this case and that have been constantly denounced by Tlachinollan and Vidulfo Rosales Sierra.

Organizations, collectives and networks

Acción de los Cristianos para la Abolición de la Tortura de Francia (ACAT-Francia)
Acción Colectiva (León, Guanajuato)
ALUNA, Acompañamiento Psicosocial
Asociadas por lo Justo (JASS)
Bios Iguana
Buscando desaparecidos en México BUSCAME
Causa en Común
Casa del Migrante de Saltillo
Cátedra UNESCO de Derechos Humanos de la UNAM
Centro de Capacitación en Ecología y Salud para Campesinos – Defensoría del Derecho a la Salud (CCESC-DDS)
Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres A.C. (CEDEHM)
Centro de Derechos Humanos Paso del Norte
Centro de Estudios Sociales y Culturales Antonio de Montesinos A.C.
Centro de Justicia para la Paz y el Desarrollo, A.C. (CEPAD)
Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social A.C. (CENCOS)
Centro para el Desarrollo Integral de la Mujer A. C. (CEDIMAC)
Ciudadanos en Apoyo a los Derechos Humanos A.C. (CADHAC)
Coalición Internacional para el Hábitat, Oficina para América Latina
Comité Cerezo México
Comité de Familiares de Personas Detenidas Desaparecidas en Mexico, COFADDEM.
Comisión Ciudadana de Derechos Humanos del noroeste A.C (CCDH)
Comisión de Solidaridad y defensa de los derechos humanos
Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH)
Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad Oaxaca A.C:
Coordinación Alemana por los Derechos Humanos en México
El Día Después
Espacio de Coordinación de Organizaciones Civiles sobre Derechos Económicos, Sociales, Culturales y Ambientales (ESPACIO DESCA)
FIAN sección México
Fundación Abogacía Española
Fundación Find
Fundación para la Justicia y el estado Democrático de Derechos A.C.
Idea A.C.
Justice Mexico Now (UK)
La Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias (AMARC)
La Sandía Digital, Laboratorio de Cultura Audiovisual A.C.
Laboratorio de Innovación para la Paz
Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia
Instituto Mexicano para el Desarrollo Comunitario, A.C. (IMDEC)
Instituto para la Seguridad y Democracia (INSYDE)
México vía Berlín
MISEREOR
Movimiento Morelense en Contra de la Minería
Observatorio de Violencia Social y de Género de Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez
Observatorio Internacional para la Abogacía en Riesgo.
Oficina en Washington para Asuntos Latinoamericanos
Otros Mundos/Chiapas
Procesos Integrales para la Autogestión de los Pueblos (PIAP)
Red Ciudadana de No Violencia y Dignidad Humana
Red Mexicana de Afectadas/os por la Minería (REMA)

National network of Human Rights Civil Organisms “All Rights for All” (composed of 87 organizations in 23 states if the Mexican Republic):

Academia Hidalguense de Educación y Derechos Humanos A.C. (ACADERH) (Hidalgo); Agenda LGBT (Estado de México); Alianza Sierra Madre, A.C. (Chihuahua); Aluna Acompañamiento Psicosocial, A.C.(Ciudad de México); Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (AsiLegal) (Ciudad de México); Asociación Jalisciense de Apoyo a los Grupos Indígenas, A.C. (AJAGI) (Guadalajara, Jal.); Asociación para la Defensa de los Derechos Ciudadanos “Miguel Hidalgo” (Jacala Hgo.); Bowerasa, A.C. “Haciendo Camino” (Chihuahua, Chih.); Casa del Migrante Saltillo (Saltillo, Coah.); Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, A.C. (Ciudad de México); Centro de Capacitación y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos e Indígenas, Asociación Civil (CECADDHI) (Chihuahua); Centro “Fray Julián Garcés” Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Local, A. C. (Tlaxcala, Tlax.); Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador, A.C. (CAT) (Ciudad de México); Centro de Derechos de la Mujeres de Chiapas (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis.); Centro de Derechos Humanos “Don Sergio” (Jiutepec, Mor.); Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas”, A. C. (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis); Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Francisco de Vitoria O.P.”, A. C. (Ciudad de México); Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Matías de Córdova”, A.C. (Tapachula, Chis.); Centro de Derechos Humanos “Juan Gerardi”, A. C. (Torreón, Coah.); Centro de Derechos Humanos “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez”, A. C. (Ciudad de México); Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña, Tlachinollan, A. C. (Tlapa, Gro.); Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres (Chihuahua); Centro de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos del Sur de Veracruz “Bety Cariño”, A.C. (Tatahuicapan de Juárez, Ver.); Centro de Derechos Humanos Digna Ochoa, A.C (Tonalá, Chis.); Centro de Derechos Humanos Paso del Norte (Cd. Juárez, Chih.); Centro de Derechos Humanos Toaltepeyolo (Orizaba, Veracruz); Centro de Derechos Humanos Victoria Diez, A.C. (León, Gto.); Centro de Derechos Humanos Zeferino Ladrillero (CDHZL) (Estado de México); Centro de Derechos Indígenas “Flor y Canto”, A. C. (Oaxaca, Oax.); Centro de Derechos Indígenas A. C. (Bachajón, Chis.); Centro de Investigación y Capacitación Propuesta Cívica A. C. (Propuesta Cívica) (Ciudad de México); Centro de Justicia para la Paz y el Desarrollo, A. C. (CEPAD) (Guadalajara, Jal.); Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (Ciudad de México); Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL-Guadalajara) (Guadalajara, Jal.); Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos “Fray Juan de Larios”, A.C. (Saltillo, Coah.); Centro Juvenil Generando Dignidad (Comalcalco, Tabasco); Centro Kalli Luz Marina (Orizaba, Ver.); Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA) (Ciudad de México); Centro Mujeres (La Paz, BCS.); Centro Regional de Defensa de DDHH José María Morelos y Pavón, A.C. (Chilapa, Gro.); Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos “Bartolomé Carrasco”, A.C. (BARCA) (Oaxaca, Oax.); Ciencia Social Alternativa, A.C. KOOKAY (Mérida, Yuc.); Ciudadanía Lagunera por los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (CILADHAC) (Torreón, Coah.); Colectivo contra la Tortura y la Impunidad (CCTI) (Ciudad de México); Colectivo Educación para la Paz y los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (CEPAZDH) (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis.); Comisión Ciudadana de Derechos Humanos del Noroeste (Mexicali, Baja California); Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Laborales del Valle de Tehuacán, A.C. (Tehuacán, Pue.); Comisión de Solidaridad y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (COSYDDHAC) (Chihuahua, Chih.); Comisión Independiente de Derechos Humanos de Morelos, A. C. (CIDHMOR) (Cuernavaca, Mor.); Comisión Regional de Derechos Humanos “Mahatma Gandhi”, A. C. (Tuxtepec, Oax.); Comité Cerezo (Ciudad de México); Comité Cristiano de Solidaridad Monseñor Romero (Ciudad de México); Comité de Defensa de las Libertades Indígenas (Palenque, Chis.); Comité de Defensa Integral de Derechos Humanos Gobixha A.C. (CODIGODH) (Oaxaca, Oax.); Comité de Derechos Humanos “Fr. Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada”, A. C. (Ocosingo, Chis.); Comité de Derechos Humanos “Sierra Norte de Veracruz”, A. C. (Huayacocotla, Ver.); Comité de Derechos Humanos Ajusco (Ciudad de México); Comité de Derechos Humanos de Colima No Gubermantal A. C. (Colima, Col.); Comité de Derechos Humanos de Comalcalco, A. C. (CODEHUCO) (Comalcalco, Tab); Comité de Derechos Humanos de Tabasco, A. C. (CODEHUTAB) (Villahermosa, Tab); Comité de Derechos Humanos y Orientación Miguel Hidalgo, A. C. (Dolores Hidalgo, Gto.); Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos “Hasta Encontrarlos”(Ciudad de México); Comité Sergio Méndez Arceo Pro Derechos Humanos de Tulancingo, Hgo A.C. (Tulancingo, Hgo.); Consultoría Técnica Comunitaria AC (CONTEC) (Chihuahua); El Caracol, A.C (Ciudad de México); Estancia del Migrante González y Martínez, A.C. (Querétaro, Qro.); Frente Cívico Sinaloense. Secretaría de Derechos Humanos (Culiacán, Sin.); Fundación para la Justicia y el Estado Democrático de Derecho (Ciudad de México); Indignación, A. C. Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Mérida, Yuc.); Instituto de Derechos Humanos Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J. Universidad Iberoamericana- Puebla (Puebla, Pue.); Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia (Ciudad de México); Instituto Mexicano para el Desarrollo Comunitario, A. C. (IMDEC) (Guadalajara, Jal.); Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente. Programa Institucional de Derechos Humanos y Paz (Guadalajara, Jal.); Justicia, Derechos Humanos y Género, A.C. (Ciudad de México); La 72, Hogar-Refugio para Personas Migrantes (La 72) (Tenosique, Tabasco); Mujeres Indígenas por la Conservación, Investigación y Aprovechamiento de los Recursos Naturales, A. C. (CIARENA) (Oaxaca); Oficina de Defensoría de los Derechos de la Infancia A.C. (ODI) (Ciudad de México); Promoción de los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (PRODESCAC) (Estado de México); Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC) (Ciudad de México); Proyecto sobre Organización, Desarrollo, Educación e Investigación (PODER) (Ciudad de México); Red Solidaria de Derechos Humanos, A.C. (Morelia, Michoacán); Respuesta Alternativa, A. C. Servicio de Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Comunitario (San Luis Potosí); Servicio, Paz y Justicia de Tabasco, A.C. (SERPATAB) (Villahermosa, Tab.); Servicios de Inclusión Integral, A.C. (SEIINAC) (Pachuca, Hgo.); Tequio Jurídico A.C. (Oaxaca, Oax.); VIHas de Vida (Guadalajara, Jal.); Voces Mesoamericanas, Acción con Pueblos Migrantes AC (San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas).
Sabuesos Guerreras A.C.
Servicio, Desarrollo y Paz, A.C. (SEDEPAC)
Servicio y Asesoría para la Paz (SERAPAZ)
Zacatecanas y Zacatecanos por la Paz

Individuals

Alberto Xicotencatl Carrasco, Presidente del Consejo Consultivo del Mecanismo para la Protección de Personas Defensoras de Derechos Humanos y Periodistas.
Alberto Athier
Alfredo Lecona Martínez
Alfredo Limas Hernández
Catalina Pérez Correa
Cecilia Saviñón Casas, Feminista / Nuevo León
Comité de Solidaridad México-Salzburgo
Daniel Vázquez
Investigador de tiempo completo del IIJ-UNAM
Investigador de tiempo parcial de la FLACSO-México.
Daniel Giménez Cacho
Denise Dresser
Dra Gloria Ramirez
Edith Hanel
Fernando Ríos
José Mario de la Garza Marroquín
Jesús Sarabia Contreras Torreón Coahuila
Jorge Javier Romero Vadillo
Ixchel Cisneros Soltero
Lídice Ramos, Académica de la Univresidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
Lylia Palacios, Académica de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
Santiago Corcuera Cabezut
Paola Zabala Saeb
Pablo Romo Cedano
Ruth Fierro Pineda
Raymundo Sandoval
Gabino Gómez Escárcega
Marcela Villalobos Andrade
Michel Chamberlin
Maite Azuela
Mariclare Acosta
María Isabel Cruz Bernal
María Dolores Estrada, Feminista / Nuevo León
Maricruz Flores, Feminista e Intengrante del Colectivo Plural de Mujeres / Monterrey, N.L.
Ricardo Loewe
Rosalinda Zavala Salazar, Feminista
Sandra H. Cardona, Feminista
Séverine Durin, Académica del CIESAS Noreste
Walter Schnöll

Guerrero: Disappearance of Activist in Tlapa de Comonfort Reported. Member of Regional Council of Agrarian Authorities in Malinaltepec

Photo @ Tlachinollan

In the afternoon of October 11th, a member of the Popular Front of La Montaña (FPM in its Spanish acronym) and the Movement for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of the State of Guerrero (MOLPEG in its Spanish acronym), Arnulfo Ceron Soriano, was reported missing in Tlapa de Comonfort.

According to a public complaint from the La Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center, relatives reported that the last information they had about him was when Ceron Soriano “left his home to go to talk at a recovery center for Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), located in the Caltitlan neighborhood Tlapa de Comonfort city, Guerrero, where he never arrived.”

On October 12th, the van in which “the activist Ceron Soriano was traveling in the Magisterio neighborhood was found abandoned, even with the keys in it, without any further indication of him. Due to these facts, a complaint was lodged with the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Enforced Disappearance and Search for Missing Persons in the city of Chilpancingo, Guerrero, to which the investigation file number 12022510400165121019 was assigned.”

According to different newspapers 11 social organizations have stressed “that Cerón Soriano accused the mayor of Tlapa of having threatened him because of the defense he made so that street traders were not evicted.”

On October 13th, social and family organizations “took over the town hall of Tlapa to demand the mayor’s presentation of the indigenous leader and demanded that the Ministerial Police, the State, the National Guard begin an operation” to find the missing activist.

For its part, the State of Guerrero Human Rights Commission (CDHEG in its Spanish acronym), urged the corresponding agencies of the state and federal government, to speed up investigations.

During the same weekend, on Friday, Isaias “N”, president of the Commissariat of Paraje Montero Communal Assets, in the municipality of Malinaltepec, was killed, El Sol de Acapulco reported. The victim “had attended meetings in the morning that Friday and in the afternoon on his return he was murdered near the police station.” He was “member of the Regional Council of Agricultural Authorities in Defense of the Territory (CRAADT in its Spanish acronym), which opposes the mining exploitation of the region.”

For more information in Spanish:

ACCIÓN URGENTE: DESAPARECEN AL LUCHADOR SOCIAL DE LA MONTAÑA: ARNULFO CERÓN SORIANO (Tlachinollan, 13 de octubre de 2019)

Exhorta la CDHEG agilizar investigaciones por desaparición de Arnulfo Cerón Soriano (El Sol de Acapulco, 13 de octubre de 2019)

Un defensor de la montaña de Guerrero es asesinado y otro es reportado desaparecido el fin de semana (Sin Embargo, 14 de octubre de 2019)

Identifican a tres hombres asesinados en distintos hechos (El Sol de Acapulco, 14 de octubre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Declaran libres de minería los municipios de Malinaltepec y San Luis Acatlán. (October 8, 2019)

Guerrero: Denuncian una “campaña de desprestigio” en contra de una abogada de Tlachinollan y una reportera del El Sur de Acapulco (11 de julio de 2019)

National: Four Members of National Guard Die in Guerrero and Chiapas

@Cuartoscuro

During the last week of September, four members of the National Guard died due to two unrelated attacks. In Guerrero in the community of El Balsamar, municipality of Leonardo Bravo, three elements died in an attack, presumably by organized crime, while in the process of destroying narcotic plants, within the framework of the “Operation Intensive Eradication Guerrero 3-19″.

Another attack occurred in Bochil, Chiapas, on September 26th, when elements of the National Guard in an operation carried out jointly with police in Chiapas were trying to free a road, which people from that municipality had blocked to demand two million pesos from the government for roadworks. The attack left two other members wounded.

In response to the attack in El Balsamar, the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) deployed more elements, and two helicopters to the area.

Regarding the attack in Bochil, the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE in its Spanish acronym) published a statement that gives more information about the attack and the government’s response: “The State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) initiated an investigation folder for the violent events that occurred this Thursday morning in the municipality of Bochil, where a group of transport workers attacked with firearms members of the Mixed Operations Base (BOM), composed of the Municipal Police, State Police and National Guard … A special group of this prosecutor was sent to that municipality to put together an investigation file, in order to clarify the facts and disclaim responsibilities.”

For more information in Spanish:

Mueren 3 militares en emboscada; AMLO condena los hechos expansión política, 27 de septiembre de 2019.

Fallece elemento de la Guardia Nacional agredido en Bochil, Chiapas 29 de septiembre de 2019.

Identifican a militares que murieron en emboscada El Universal, 27 de septiembre de 2019.

Tres elementos de la Guardia Nacional son heridos en enfrentamiento con habitantes de Bochil, Chiapas MSN Noticias, 27 de septiembre de 2019.

Inicia Fiscalía carpeta de investigación por hechos violentos ocurridos en Bochil Fiscalía General del Estado, 26 de septiembre de 2019.

Pobladores de Bochil, Chiapas, disparan contra elementos de la Guardia Nacional expansión política, 26 de septiembre de 2019.

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Visita SIPAZ a desplazados de Leonardo Bravo y Zitlala 2 de mayo de 2019.

Chiapas: First Depolyment of National Guard in Chiapas at Siglo XXI Migration Center (May 23, 2019)

National: AMLO Confirms Head of National Guard Will Be Serving Military Officer (April 9, 2019)

Chiapas: Municipios de El Bosque y Bochil enfrentan una grave situación de inseguridad 4 de diciembre de 2018.