San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, October 12th, 2017.

Joint communiqué.

International accompaniment and observation of human rights

The Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights, (Frayba) and the International Peace Service (SIPAZ) report that they will be accompanying the caravan organized in the framework of the tour of the National Indigenous Congress and the Indigenous Council of Government, which will take place from October 13th to 19th of this year in the state of Chiapas according to the following announced program:

Friday, October 13th, 2017.- Start of caravan to Las Margaritas.

Saturday, October 14th, 2017.- Village of Guadalupe Tepeyac.

Sunday, October 15th, 2017.- Morelia Caracol.

Monday, October 16th, 2017.- La Garrucha Caracol.

Tuesday October 17th, 2017 .- Roberto Barrios Caracol.

Wednesday, October 18th, 2017.- Palenque.

Thursday October 19th, 2017.- Oventik Caracol.

The objective of the accompaniment will be to provide a presence for observation and documentation for the respect of human rights in the course of the caravan and in the planned events. Regrettably, in the face of the denunciations made by the National Indigenous Congress (CNI in its Spanish acronym) in recent months, which have included threats, attacks and aggressions, we see this deterrent presence as necessary. We consider it important that these activities be carried out with peace of mind, as part of a peaceful organizational effort aimed at defending the rights of indigenous peoples in the country.

The present communiqué is to inform the Mexican authorities and international human rights bodies, so that in their area of ​​competence, they provide guarantees of protection to the caravan, which we reiterate, is a civil and peaceful action.

In the same way, we ask for guarantees of respect and protection of the integrity and safety of the members of the caravan, the right to life, and individual and collective rights and freedoms, guaranteeing in the immediate future the necessary conditions to carry out the caravan, without police accompaniment being considered in the activities.

The members of SIPAZ will be present in the activities wearing vests with the organization logo and the text ‘international observer’.

The members of the Frayba will be accompanying the Caravan as human rights observers.

See: https://www.congresonacionalindigena.org/

We call for permanent accompaniment by international human rights organizations.

We call for national and international solidarity to demand the Mexican State in its three levels of government:

1.- Guarantee the work of human rights defenders in Mexico.

2.- Immediately adopt appropriate measures to guarantee the safety and physical integrity of the members of the Caravan of the National Indigenous Congress as well as the Indigenous Council of Government.

3.- Ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9th, 1998.

4.- In general, ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards ratified by Mexico.

We declare that we will be attentive at all points of the tour, with the aim of ensuring respect for human rights and documenting any security incident.

This communiqué has been sent to the authorities of the Mexican State, as well as to international human rights bodies.

For more information:

Congreso Nacional Indígena (CNI)

Este sábado se registra Marichuy, la aspirante presidencial zapatista (El Proceso, 6 de octubre de 2017)

La aspirante indígena a la presidencia de México rechaza dinero público para su campaña (El País, 9 de octubre de 2017)

Para más información en ingles:

Mexico’s Indigenous Congress: Decolonising politics (Al Jazeera, 27 de septiembre de 2017)

Zapatista-Backed Indigenous Woman Registers to Run for Mexican Presidency (teleSUR, 7 de octubre de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Nacional : Candidata presidencial “no es decisión de una persona” (Subcomandante Moíses) (15 de noviembre de 2016)

Chiapas / Nacional : CNI y EZLN realizarán consulta para nombrar a una candidata indígena hacia las elecciones presidenciales de 2018 (15 de octubre de 2016)

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Chiapas: Theft, Burglary, Harrassment and Intimidation on the Chiapas Coast.

The Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center denounced that on October 2nd, the domicile of human rights defender Guadalupe Nuñez Salazar, Councilor of the Indigenous Council of Government, was raided.

The doors and veneers of the house, located on Calle 1º de Mayo No. 73 in the Colonia Evolucion in the city of Tonala, Chiapas, “were not forced, the subjects entered through the back of the house, until arriving at the room of Mrs. Guadalupe where they only took away a cell phone, Lanix brand, a TV, and her wallet containing the amount of $MXN 1500.00 as well as her personal ID.”

The Digna Ochoa Center also reported that the PGR Criminal Investigation Agents carried out acts of intimidation and harassment against their members on October 4th when they returned, after having toured three communities affected by the September 7th earthquake in Tonala. “A white Tacoma pickup with no plates blocked the way, three armed men came down and asked them to get out of the vehicle, when they did, the uniformed subjects began to take pictures and videos.” According to a bulletin from the Digna Ochoa Center, of PGR gave different reasons for the detention, the first was “that they had received a complaint stating that an organization was asking for money in exchange for providing food and that they were investigating” and the second “in Paredon there was a young man who had been arrested for automobile theft, stating that since we are new, they did not know how to proceed because the boy was asking for support regarding his rights, as we were told at the checkpoint that you were human rights [defenders], we stopped them and asked them.”

The Digna Ochoa Center. expressed its concern about the acts of robbery, search, harassment, intimidation and “demands the Mexican State and the Government of Chiapas:

– End all acts of threat, intimidation, harassment against Mrs. Guadalupe Nuñez, Councilor of the Indigenous Council of Government on the Coast of Chiapas.

-It will guarantee her physical integrity and her life as well as that of her family before any present or future situation.

– Investigate and punish those responsible for the search and theft of objects against Mrs. Guadalupe Nuñez.

– Investigate and punish the behavior of the three elements of the Criminal Investigation Agency attached to the PGR in Chiapas.

– Take the necessary measures to ensure the full exercise of their human rights in the framework of the political proposal of the Indigenous Congress of Government and to support the people affected by the earthquake on the coast of Chiapas.

– Stop all acts of intimidation and harassment against members of the Center for Human Rights by public officials, especially police bodies.”

 For more information in Spanish:

Acción Urgente: Allanamiento y Robo en casa de Concejal del Concejo Indígena de Gobierno en la Costa de Chiapas #CIG #CNI (Centro de Medios Libres, 3 de octubre de 2017)

Pronunciamiento del CNI por el allanamiento y robo a la concejala de la Costa de Chiapas (Congreso Nacional Indígena, 4 de octubre de 2017)

Agentes de Investigación Criminal de PGR realizan actos de intimidación y hostigamiento a integrantes del Centro de Derechos Humanos Digna Ochoa. (Centro de Derechos Humanos Digna Ochoa AC, 6 de octubre de 2017)

Pronunciamiento en solidaridad por el allanamiento y robo de Guadalupe Nuñez, concejala del Concejo Indígena de Gobierno (Centro de Derechos Humanos Digna Ochoa AC, 3 de octubre 2017)

Guerrero/National: Ayotzinapa Three Years Later

September 26th, 2017, marked three years since the extrajudicial executions of six people and the forced disappearance of 43 students from the “Raul Isidro Burgos” Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa in Iguala, Guerrero. In this context, there was a mass and a silent march in which the fathers, mothers and companions of the student teachers participated, leaving from the Angel of Independence to the Antimonumento +43 in Mexico City. Thousands of others also marched in Chihuahua, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan and Chiapas, among other states, to demand that impunity end in this case.

Abel Barrera Hernandez of La Montaña Human Rights Center greeted the parents of the 43, remembering that they have spent “three years removing the debris that the holders of the PGR piled up with hundreds of files to fabricate its historical truth. With great perversity the government broadcast on television how they shredded our children. They preferred morbidity to scientific evidence.” He also stressed that although there is evidence of the Army’s participation in the disappearance of the 43, “the authorities, instead of guaranteeing an impartial investigation, close ranks to prevent progress in this line [of investigation].”

The National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH in its Spanish acronym) demanded that the investigations into the disappearance of the 43 students should consider all aspects based on objective and scientific elements and should not be ended. Meanwhile, Amnesty International Mexico warned: “For three years, we continue to look for our disappeared among the debris of corrupt institutions and the crime of oblivion, where the real political will of the authorities has never been present. The historical lie of this case will mark Peña Nieto’s six-year term, but we, in solidarity with their fathers and mothers, will continue to count them, continue to seek them, fight to bring the truth to light and have access to justice.”

 For more information in Spanish:

Tres años de impunidad: Los 43 de Ayotzinapa (Telesur, 26 de septiembre de 2017)

Fundidos en un abrazo en medio del dolor (La Jornada, 26 de septiembre de 2017)

Padres de los 43 alistan marcha silenciosa a tres años de Ayotzinapa (Proceso, 26 de septiembre de 2017)

Víctimas del desastre: del dolor a los enfrentamientos con autoridades (Aristegui Noticias, 25 de septiembre de 2017)

Foto-reportaje de la marcha silenciosa (Regeneración Radio, 26 de septiembre de 2017)

A casi 3 años, protestan en 27 Batallón por Ayotzinapa (La Jornada, 23 de septiembre de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: plataforma Ayotzinapa: una cartografía de la violencia (19 de septiembre de 2017)

Guerrero: tercera visita del mecanismo de seguimiento de la CIDH sobre le caso Ayotzinapa a casi tres años de los hechos (7 de septiembre)

Guerrero: a 34 meses de la tragedia de Ayotzinapa familiares convocan a unas jornadas de lucha (31 de julio de 2017)

Guerrero: NGOs Ask “to guarantee victims’ rights, commnities ans individuals and human rights defenders’ organizations in the State”

Civil Observation Mission, September 2017 (@Tlachinollan)

Within the framework of an Observation Mission conformed by Amnesty International Mexico, Serapaz, the National Network of Civil Organisms of Human Rights All Rights for All and All (TDT Network), CodigoDH and Tequio Jurídico de Oaxaca (Oaxaca Judicial Work) with the support of the International Peace Brigades (PBI) and the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH), several meetings were held in Chilapa and Chilpancingo with relatives of victims of forced disappearance and members of human rights organizations in the state of Guerrero on September 20th. They also toured some communities in the area that have suffered forced displacement.

In their main conclusions, they pointed out that it is “unacceptable the normalization of the military presence as well as the forced displacement in different municipalities of the state of Guerrero.” Regarding the situation of family members of victims of forced disappearance, the Observation Mission “witnessed the pain and impotence derived from the impunity and indolence of the authorities responsible for guaranteeing access to justice for victims and their families.” They also express their concern “for stigmatization against human rights defenders, both by state and non-state players.”

 For more information in Spanish:

COMUNICADO | Situación de víctimas, comunidades y personas defensoras es sumamente preocupante: Misión de Observación (Red Todos los Derechos para Todas y Todos, 20 de septiembre de 2017)

Violaciones a los derechos humanos son política de Estado en Guerrero: ONG (La Jornada, 21 de septiembre de 2017)

Tras ir a Chiapas, ONG urgen a acciones de gobierno ante el grave problema de la violencia (El Sur, 21 de septiembre de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero : se declara “alerta” para proteger a defensores y defensoras de derechos humanos (19 de septiembre de 2017)

Chiapas: “Faced with the unilateral decision to draw up a Water Law” Civil Society Calls for Consultation

In a press release published on September 25th last, the Education for Peace and Human Rights Collective (CEPAZ) reported that “it has become aware in recent days that in the State Congress a reform is being made to the State Water Law.”

It denounced that the “Water Resources Commission is preparing a further reform, ignoring the citizens of Chiapas, violating Article 4 of the Constitution that recognizes the importance of citizen participation in defining the bases, supports and modalities for equal and sustainable access, use and development of water resources.” “Close consultation and collaboration with all key stakeholders, especially civil society groups” was also one of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation in his mission report to Mexico, presented last September 11th before the UN Human Rights Council.

Due to this, he invited the Water Resources Commission and the state congressional deputies “to open a public debate with the participation of representatives of different sectors: irrigation districts, neighborhoods, social organizations, NGOs, researchers, academics, systems operators, basin committees, basin councils, interested persons, etc. And construct responsibly the Law that we need for the State of Chiapas.”

 For more information in Spanish

Boletín de prensa postura  sobre la reforma de la ley de aguas del estado (CEPAZ, 25 de septiembre de 2017)

Denuncian que Congreso de Chiapas prepara Ley de Aguas sin consulta (somosmas99, 27 de septiembre de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: Relator Especial de Naciones Unidas sobre los derechos humanos al agua y el saneamiento concluyó visita a México (16 de mayo de 2017)

Chiapas : Foro “Servicios de Agua en Tuxtla Gutiérrez” denuncia el “deficiente servicio que se brinda por parte del SMAPA” (28 de marzo de 2017)

Chiapas: Ciudadanxs de Tuxtla Gutiérrez están preocupados por el tema del agua potable (8 de diciembre de 2016)

Guerrero: Ayotzinapa Platform: Mapping the Violence

On September 7th, almost three years after the events, Forensic Architecture published its interactive platform in which it reconstructed what happened on the night of September 26th and 27th, 2014, when students from the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa were attacked by police in alleged collusion with criminal organizations. That attack in Iguala left three students dead, 43 disappeared and several seriously injured and in coma.

The Prodh Center and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF in its Spanish acronym) also participated in this initiative. Videos, notes and journalistic books, photographs, telephone records and the report prepared by the International Group of Independent Experts (IGIE) were taken into account to make it.

According to the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center, with this interactive platform “the case of the forced disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students has been rebuilt for the first time exhaustively and comprehensively.”

 For more information in Spanish:

Plataforma Ayotzinapa: http://www.plataforma-ayotzinapa.org/

El caso Ayotzinapa: Una cartografía de la violencia (Centro de derechos humanos de la montaña Tlachinollan, 7 de septiembre de 2017)

Introducción a la Plataforma Ayotzinapa (Proceso, 7 de septiembre de 2017)

Cartografía de la violencia: muestran en 3D y video las distintas versiones del caso Ayotzinapa (Animal Político, 9 de septiembre de 2017)

Introducción a la Plataforma Ayotzinapa (Aristegui Noticias, 7 de septiembre de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:


Guerrero: tercera visita del mecanismo de seguimiento de la CIDH sobre le caso Ayotzinapa a casi tres años de los hechos (7 de septiembre)

Guerrero: a 34 meses de la tragedia de Ayotzinapa familiares convocan a unas jornadas de lucha (31 de julio de 2017)

Guerrero: ‘Alert’ Declared to Protect Human Rights Defenders

On September 11th, the National Network of Civil Organisms for Human Rights “All Rights for All” (Red TDT in Spanish) announced the launch of an Alert for human rights defenders in Guerrero. The purpose of this alert is to take actions that especially protect the organizations that are part of the TDT Network in that state: the Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon Regional Center for Defense of Human Rights, (Chilapa), the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center (Tlapa), as well as the Collective Against Torture and Impunity.

As the first action of this alert, a civil observation mission will be held in Chilapa and Chilpancingo on September 19th and 20th. According to Proceso magazine, this mission aims to have dialogue with victims of human rights violations, to note the difficulties that human rights defenders live on a daily basis in that area and to visit places that have experienced forced displacement.

The TDT Network stated that, “facing State inaction, civil society is obliged to generate follow-up and visibility actions, in order to protect individuals and groups that defend human rights.” It reported, however, that it hopes to have a “high level” meeting with Governor Hector Astudillo, members of his cabinet and mayors from different municipalities affected by violence.

 For more information in Spanish:

ONG documentarán atropellos en Guerrero (La Jornada, 18 de septiembre de 2017)

SE REALIZARÁ LA PRIMERA MISIÓN CIVIL DE OBSERVACIÓN A CHILAPA (Centro de derechos humanos Tlachinollan, 17 de septiembre de 2017)

Ante el desastre de la seguridad; la defensa comunitaria (Centro de derechos humanos Tlachinollan, 18 de septiembre de 2017)

Organizaciones emiten alerta para proteger a activistas en Guerrero (La Jornada, 11 de septiembre de 2017)

Ponen en marcha “Alerta” para proteger a defensores de derechos humanos en Guerrero (Proceso, 11 de septiembre de 2017)

Alerta Defensa DH | Red TDT declara Alerta para personas defensoras del Estado de Guerrero y anuncia Misión de Observación (RedTDT, 10 de septiembre de 2017)