Guerrero: Injunction Granted to Me’Phaa Community against Mining in Guerrero

Members of the San Miguel de Progreso Commission. Photo@: Tlachinollan

On June 28th, the Me’Phaa community of San Miguel del Progreso – “Juba Wajiín” – were granted an injunction against the Declaration of Land Freedom, which considered their territory free for mining activity. According to the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center (Tlachinollan), the injunction and protection by Federal Justice were granted to the Community of San Miguel del Progreso, as there was essentially foundation for the claim of violation, and therefore non-compliance with the constitutional and conventional obligation of the Mexican State to respect the rights of this indigenous-agrarian community Me’phaa de La Montaña de Guerrero was demonstrated.

It should be remembered that this is the second injunction granted to the community of San Miguel del Progreso – “Juba Wajiín” – against the mining threat in their territory. The first judgment of injunction against mining concessions was notified on February 12th, 2014. The challenge of that historic ruling brought the case before the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN in its Spanish acronym).

Tlachinollan considers that this injunction “is an unprecedented achievement for the indigenous community and a recognition of the tireless and millennial struggle of the Me’phaa community of San Miguel del Progreso and the Regional Council of Agricultural Authorities of Montaña de Guerrero in the defense of their territory and their life in the face of the threat posed by open pit mining, which also encourages them to continue to organize locally and regionally.”

For more information in Spanish:

Júba Wajiín: Un rayo contra las mineras (Centro de derechos Humanos de la Montaña, a 17 de julio de 2017)

Otorgan amparo a comunidad Me’Phaa contra la explotación minera en Guerrero (Proceso, a 11 de julio de 2017)

Comunidad Me’Phaa de San Miguel del Progreso gana amparo contra Declaratoria de Libertad de Terrenos (Centro de derechos Humanos de la Montaña, a 11 de julio de 2017)

Otorgan amparo a comunidad me´phaa ante explotación minera (La Jornada, a 11 de julio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: San Miguel del Progreso exige resolución del amparo 429/2016 (24 de abril de 2017)

Guerrero: San Miguel del Progreso exige se determine inconstitucionalidad de Ley Minera (20 de mayo de 2016)

Guerrero: Comunidad indígena pide a la SCJN revisión de la Ley Minera (2 de julio de 2014)

Guerrero: CNDH on Acapulco Massacre Case and Warns of Risk of Torture in Guerrero Prisons

Prisoners’ families outside Las Cruces prison. Photo@: La Jornada

On July 6th, a riot between “opposing groups” for the internal control of Las Cruces prison in Acapulco left 28 people dead and three wounded.

According to Animal Politico, the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH in its Spanish acronym) had already identified the Acapulco CERESO [prison] as a red spot in Guerrero prisons since last year. It had urged the Astudillo government to “take necessary actions” to optimize the treatment and conditions of detention of persons deprived of liberty in the institution’s detention centers.

Likewise, the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (MNPT in its Spanish acronym) had issued a recommendation against the PRI government of Hector Astudillo Flores for considering that there are “pressing situations to see to”. According to Proceso, Astudillo publicly stated that he “had no time to comply” with the CNDH and MNPT’s observations to try to reverse the corrupt conditions that led to the massacre in the Acapulco prison.

On July 14th, the CNDH announced that it will resume the case “to investigate human rights violations.”

For more information in Spanish:


CNDH atrae caso de la masacre en Acapulco y alerta por riesgo de tortura en penales en Guerrero (Proceso, a 12 de julio de 2017)

Riña entre grupos rivales deja 28 muertos y 3 heridos en la cárcel de Acapulco, Guerrero (Animal Político, a 6 de julio de 2017)

Sube a 28 la cifra de muertos por motín en penal de Acapulco (La jornada, 6 de julio de 2017)

Guerrero: Follow-up Session of IACHR on Ayotzinapa Case Reports No Progress

Photo @ SIPAZ

On July 6th, the Ayotzinapa hearing was held at the 163rd session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Lima, Peru. The IACHR expressed its concern about poor progress.

According to the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center, the stagnation of the investigations, the use of technology to spy on victims and members of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (IGIE) and the inconsistencies of the historical truth were exposed, given that it was recognized that nine of the students’ phones were active after September 26, 2014.

Given this lack of progress, the relatives of Ayotzinapa informed the IACHR that they had to protest to demand truth and justice, but the response has been criminalization, threats, physical attacks, defamation campaigns and even spying. They also recalled that there are lines of investigation that the State agreed to resolve in June but to date have not presented results.

For more information in Spanish:


Estado mexicano exhibe ante la CIDH resultados en caso Ayotzinapa (Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinolla, a 7 de julio de 2017)

Celulares activos tras desaparición de los 43 (La Jornada Maya, 6 de julio de 2017)
Analiza CIDH caso Ayotzinapa (La Jornada, 6 de julio de 2017)

Evaluará la CIDH los avances de mecanismo para el caso Ayotzinapa, este jueves en Lima, Perú (El Sur de Acapulco, a 4 de julio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:


Guerrero / Chiapas: Llega la Caravana de Ayotzinapa a San Cristóbal de las Casas (3 de julio de 2017)

Guerrero/ Nacional: Madres y padres de los 43 consideran no acudir a la reunión con la PGR y la CIDH (20 de abril de 2017)

Guerrero : padres de los 43 participan en audiencia de la CIDH (22 de marzo de 2017)

Oaxaca: Death of “Hermanos en el Camino” Activist ‘Beto’ Donis

Jose Alberto Donis Rodriguez (@SDP Noticias)

On June 29th, the Guatemalan activist Jose Alberto Donis Rodriguez, known as Beto, died in a car accident. He was a coordinator at the “Hermanos en el Camino” (Brothers on the Road) shelter in the city of Ixtepec, Oaxaca.

Beto arrived in Oaxaca in his attempt to reach the United States and ended up staying in Ixtepec, where he pledged to fight and defend the rights of migrants who transit through Mexico. Amnesty International recognized him as “defender of the year” in 2008 for his work on migrant rights.

“Beto is not dead, he is spiritually alive,” Father Alejandro Solalinde Guerra, who was his great friend, said during a farewell homage Mass.

 For more information in Spanish:

Migrantes y amigos rinden homenaje póstumo a Coordinador del Albergue Hermanos en el Camino (Itsmo Press, 1ero de julio de 2017)

El activista guatemalteco Alberto Donis falleció tras un accidente, confirma el padre Solalinde (Sin Embargo, a 30 de junio de 2017)

Despiden a guatemalteco que ayudó por 9 años a migrantes en Ixtepec, Oaxaca (NVI Noticias, 2 de julio de 2017)

Muere coordinador de albergue en Ixtepec tras accidente, confirma Solalinde (Proceso, 30 de junio de 2017)

Fallece el activista ‘Beto’ Donis, del albergue Hermanos en el Camino (SDP Noticas, 30 de junio de 2017

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional/internacional: La CIDH expresa su preocupación ante el endurecimiento de las autoridades mexicanas hacia los migrantes y sus defensores en la frontera Sur (17 de junio de 2016)

Oaxaca: Nueva agresión a integrantes del Albergue para migrantes Hermanos en el Camino de Ixtepec (23 de septiembre de 2014)

Oaxaca: nueva amenaza de muerte en contra del Padre Solalinde (11 de octubre de 2012)

Guerrero/Chiapas: Ayotzinapa Caravan Arrives to San Cristobal de Las Casas

Press conference of the relatives of the 43 disappeared student teachers from Ayotzinapa in Cathedral Square, San Cristobal de Las Casas.  Photo @ Sipaz

On July 1st, the South Southeast Caravan of relatives and students of the 43 disappeared student teachers from Ayotzinapa (2014) arrived to San Cristobal de Las Casas on the last stage of their journey. The caravan was welcomed by students from the Jacinto Canek Intercultural Normal School, members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE in its Spanish acronym), as well as various groups and social organizations. The objective of the caravan was to make known the “four essential roads for truth and justice” of the case:

– open a thorough investigation into elements of the Mexican Army present during the night of September 26th, 2014.

– the arrest of members of the federal, municipal, ministerial and State police that carried at least 25 Huitzuco students.

– analyze the students’ cell phone activity and their geographical location and hand over the results to the relatives.

– to investigate the transfer of the drugs from Iguala to Chicago as a motive for the aggression.

At a press conference, Felipe de la Cruz, a spokesman for relatives, revealed that, “two telephones of the 17 student taechers continued to function and a message was sent from Military Camp Number 1 in Mexico City and another from the Center Research and National Security (CISEN in its Spanish acronym). And through investigations of independent bodies, it is known that the students Julio Cesar Ramirez Nava and Daniel Solis Gallardo, were killed with bullets manufactured by the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA in its Spanish acronym).”

At the end of the press conference, Felipe Cruz said that “the State crime committed in Ayotzinapa cannot be forgotten because if we stop fighting today it will happen again and other Mexican families will live that nightmare.”

 For more information in Spanish:

Reciben en San Cristóbal de las Casas a padres de los 43 (La Jornada, Sabado 01 de julio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional/ Guerrero : Caravana en el Sur Sureste en búsqueda de los desaparecidos de Ayotzinapa (27 de junio de 2017)

Guerrero/ Nacional: Madres y padres de los 43 consideran no acudir a la reunión con la PGR y la CIDH (20 de abril de 2017)

Guerrero : padres de los 43 participan en audiencia de la CIDH (22 de marzo de 2017)

Chiapas: Zoque People Mobilizing against Mega-projects in Chiapas

The movement declared itself against extractivist projects, “which put the social, environmental and cultural life of the 60,000 Zoque speakers at risk.” Photo: @Sipaz

On June 22nd, the indigenous movement of the Zoque Believing People in Defense of Life and the Earth organized a pilgrimage in Tuxtla Gutierrez, in which about six thousand people from 3 zones, members of civil society as well as priests of the Archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutierrez and the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas participated, according to La Jornada.

Participants denounced that the energy reform approved in 2013 along with ten other constitutional reforms “constitute a serious threat of dispossession of indigenous peoples’ lands”, as only their proponents would benefit from them.

In this case, the International Public Bidding known as Round 2.2 involves “the concession of 12 natural gas and oil extraction wells in the coastal states of the Gulf of Mexico and Southeastern Basin, which is composed of 12 blocks, two of which have an impact on the state of Chiapas. A total of 84,500 hectares of land in nine municipalities in northern Chiapas would be used for the extraction of natural gas through dispossession and environmental contamination of Zoque territory.”

Blocks 10 and 11 in Chiapas would affect the municipalities of Tecpatan, Francisco Leon, Ostuacan, the town of Chapultenango, Ixtacomitan, Ixtapangajoya, Pichucalco, Solosuchiapa, Sunuapa and even Teapa (Tabasco) in order to obtain moist gas, light oil and super light oil.

Photo: @Sipaz

In March 2017, representatives of the movement reported a series of irregularities in the bidding process awarded by the Federal Government’s Energy Secretariat (SENER in its Spanish acronym), because all the affected communities were not consulted and there were no translators in their maternal Zoque language and neither has an Environmental Impact Statement been presented as required by law.

According to the movement, the specific risks would be “excessive use of water, migratory movements, contamination of soil, air and springs, loss of biodiversity, environmental imbalance, reduction of food production, damage to property and public health.”

 The movement stated that they are proceeding “to make the corresponding complaints before the national and international courts over omission in the absence of the presentation of the corresponding Environmental Impact Statement, as well as by the faults that are being committed in the process prior, free and informed consultation.”

Equally, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI in its Spanish acronym) said that “we salute the mobilization and organization undertaken from below for respect for what is theirs … to resist and to repudiate in an organized manner the so-called Round 2.2 on their ancestral territory with which the capitalists plan the extermination of the peoples of the north of Chiapas.”

Photo: @Sipaz

For more information in Spanish:

Pagina facebook del movimiento

Comunidades zoques resisten a proyectos de despojo (Chiapas Denuncia, a 22 de Junio 2017)

Marchan 6 mil personas en Chiapas en rechazo a explotación de hidrocarburos (La Jornada, a 23 de Junio 2017)

“Alto al despojo, destrucción y muerte”: Pueblo Zoque ante Ronda 2.2 de la SENER que ofrece su territorio al mejor postor (Desinformémonos, a 23 de Junio 2017)

Pronunciamiento del Congreso Nacional Indígena en apoyo y solidaridad con la lucha del pueblo Zoque y por la libertad de Luis Fernando Sotelo (Enlace Zapatista, a 23 de Junio 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: machan ejidos y comunidades de la zona zoque contra los proyectos extractivos

Chiapas: Libre activista zoque, Silvia Juárez Juárez

Chiapas : denuncian criminalización de defensores de la Madre Tierra en zona zoque

Chiapas : comunidades zoques se oponen a extracción de hidrocarburos en el norte de Chiapas

 

Chiapas: The Center for Women’s Rights Denounces Lack of Due Process and Access to Justice in Cases of Violence against Women and Femicides

Photo: @CDMCH

On June 26th, 2017, the Center for Women’s Rights of Chiapas (CDMCH in its Spanish acronym), announced that the state government has failed both to implement the urgent measures and the basic agreements taken in the different sessions of the Inter-Institutional and Multidisciplinary Group, established since the Declaration of a Gender Violence Alert of (GVA) in Chiapas, more than half a year ago now. It is worth mentioning that on November 18th, 2016, the GVA was declared in the state of Chiapas.

 The CDMCH stated that, “We denounce in particular the most recurring acts and omissions that we continue to document in our day-to-day work as Rights Defenders before the bodies responsible for procuring and administering justice in Chiapas.”

Specifically, they showed “Omission by the Operators of the system to their duty to preserve the life, physical integrity, rights and interests of women in situations of violence” as well as “Omission in the application of the Protocol of Operative and Technical Action in the Investigation of the crimes of homicide and femicide.”

The Center for Women’s Rights in Chiapas reported that “These patterns of action and omission are just some of the most common that we observe in a systematically, directly by the cases that we have accompanied we have documented these faults in prosecutors such as Bachajon, Yajalon, Ocosingo and San Cristobal; similarly in other Districts, without the Indigenous Public Prosecution taking on the responsibility conferred, we document negligent attention to indigenous people of municipalities such as Salto de Agua, Palenque, Margaritas and Teopisca.”

 Therefore, the CDMCH assured that “we will remain vigilant to the actions that the State implements to meet its obligation to safeguard the life and integrity of women in the state.”

For more information in Spanish:

Omisiones ante Alerta de Violencia de Género en Chiapas (26 de junio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Centro de Derechos de la mujer de Chiapas denuncia amenazas (8 de diciembre de 2015)

Guerrero : emiten Alerta de Género en 8 estados (24 de junio de 2017)