Chiapas: FNLS Reports Delay in Forensic Investigation into Case of Minor Murdered in Ocosingo

Photo@ tiempo y forma

On June 26th, 2017, a team of Argentine forensics arrived to Chiapas to investigate the cause of death of Humberto Morales Santiz, aged 13, and from El Carrizal, who was assassinated in February 2017.

The Argentine experts found it difficult to start their activities due to the lack of X-rays that the Mexican government should have provided.

The National Front of the Fight for Socialism (FNLS in its Spanish acronym) demanded that “no motive obstructs the laudable work that will contribute to the right to the truth for the victim’s next of kin; trial and punishment for the material authors and responsible for the execution of our compañero; dismantlement and expulsion of the police-paramilitary camp that is unconstitutionally located in El Carrizal.”

Simultaneously, 14 members of the FNLS were detained while distributing information at the Chiapa de Corzo toll booth on the Tuxtla-San Cristobal highway on June 29th, 2017.

For more information in Spanish:

Forenses argentinos arriban a Chiapas para aclarar caso de menor asesinado en Ocosingo (FNLS, 27 de junio de 2017)

Represión y desalojo violento de la policía estatal preventiva a compañeros del Frente Nacional de Lucha por el Socialismo (FNLS, 27 de junio de 2017)

Detienen a 14 miembros del FNLS por toma de caseta en Chiapas (Proceso, 29 de junio de 2017)

For more information from SIAPZ:

Chiapas: Jornada Nacional: “Las víctimas del terrorismo de Estado son del pueblo, no desistiremos ¡hasta encontrarlos!” (14 de marzo de 2017)

Chiapas: “Jornada nacional contra el terrorismo del estado en Chiapas” del FNLS (2 de mayo de 2016)

National: “The Offensive of Those Above against the Movement from Below”, CNI Communiqué Reports Intensification of Repression

On June 12th, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI in its Spanish acronym) published a new communiqué titled “The Offensive of Those Above against the Movement from Below” “to repudiate the repressive escalation against compañeros from our peoples where they have been nominating councilors for integration of the Indigenous Council of Government for Mexico, which represents for us an attack against the CNI and our proposal that we have launched throughout the nation.”

It denounced threats, attacks, arrests and a murder in four communities in Chiapas, a community in Queretaro, one in Morelos, one in the State of Mexico, one in Michoacan, one in Campeche, and the situation of Mayan indigenous people in Guatemala who are displaced in Campeche.

The CNI identified these events as part of “the intensification of the war against our peoples, the storm that flashes across the sky and now seeks to end hope for all Mexicans represented by the Indigenous Council of Government and our spokeswoman, of the use of attack groups and paramilitaries to strike at the struggle of the peoples that make up the CNI, of the criminalization and persecution of those who fight for a just world, from below and to the left.”

 For more information in Spanish:

La ofensiva de arriba, ante el movimiento de abajo (CNI, 12 de junio de 2017)

“Escalada represiva” contra pueblos del Congreso Nacional Indígena (Contralínea, 12 de junio de 2017)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas : Aumenta tensión en Tila (9 de junio de 2017)

Chiapas : Allanamiento y robo de información a integrante de Semilla Digna, parte del CNI (8 de junio de 2017)

Chiapas: Asesinan a Rodrigo Guadalupe Huet Gómez(6 de junio de 2017)

Nacional / Chiapas : El CNI conforma su Concejo Indígena de Gobierno y elige a su vocera (31 de mayo de 2017)

National/International: Organizations and Defenders Take Urgent Action

Photo: https://contactohoy.com.mx/onu-mexico-rechaza-reforma-por-derecho-a-la-vida-desde-concepcion-en-veracruz/

Civil society organizations and environmental advocates called for urgent action to be taken by companies and the State following the report presented by the UN Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations.

The organizations recalled that “companies do not report what they do to detect and prevent the negative consequences of their actions on human rights” and the Government “has not yet set clear guidelines nor set definite expectations for companies in relation to their responsibility to respect human rights in all their activities.” This is exemplified, among others, in the case of Rio Santiago River, which, according to the organizations, the companies “throw whatever they want and in whatever quantities they want” with impunity, complicity and protection of the authorities; they recalled that in the area of ​​Rio Santiago, where around 300 industries operate, more than 600 people have died from industrial pollution.

The UN report demands that the right to prior, free, informed and culturally appropriate consultation, in accordance with ILO Convention 169, be respected, stating that “consultations should be carried out as early as possible in the process of designing the projects and should leave open the possibility that some projects are not viable.” Against this, Civil Society reported that 32 of the 68 documented cases of abuse by companies violated the right to land and territory and in 28 cases, access to information.

The UN Working Group also denounced that, “too often attacks on human rights defenders go unpunished, without investigations or effective sanctions being applied.” From the civil society they denounced that the existence of hired assassins and paramilitary forces on the payroll of companies that harass and fracture communities were ignored. Mario Luna, spokesperson for the Yaqui community of Sonora and opponent to the Independencia aqueduct, explained that, “we, in the exercise of our rights, have been criminalized, demonized.” Facing this, defenders and civil society demanded that both the State and the companies carry out the recommendations of the UN Working Group and that “the highest government officials and CEOs should make it very clear that intimidation and attacks against human rights defenders are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

CSO members and defenders pointed out that the UN report addressed very few cases and that it could talk more about how companies and authorities relate, labor rights, tourism projects, environmental impacts and the rights of indigenous peoples, in most cases defenders and guarantors of the environment.

For more information in Spanish:

Urge que Estado y empresas acaten informe sobre derechos humanos realizado por ONU: OSC (CentroProdh, a 13 de junio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: Visita oficial del Grupo de Trabajo de la ONU sobre empresas y derechos humanos a México

 

 

 

Guerrero: Attack on Proceso Correspondent

Ezequiel Flores Contreras (@Desinformémonos)

For the seventh time in four years since May 2013, Ezequiel Flores Contreras, the correspondent of Proceso in Guerrero, has been victim of intimidation by unknown and allegedly armed individuals who were in a green car on the night of June 9th. It was also reported that, the day before, people aboard the same vehicle were asking “where the Proceso correspondent lived.” It is worth noting that Ezequiel Flores mainly covers corruption, narco-politics, social conflicts and human rights in the state.

In response to the events, Flores Contreras requested support from the Human Rights and Journalists Protection Mechanism of the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB in its Spanish acronym), of which the journalist is already a beneficiary due to past attacks. According to the same journalist, “the federal authorities took approximately two hours to go to his home and protect the reporter, due to a lack of effective communication between the Mechanism and members of the Federal Police in the state. It was because of the delay that he had to look directly to the officials of the Federal Public Security Secretariat in Guerrero, who finally escorted him to his home.”

ARTICLE 19 has called on the SEGOB Protection Mechanism to carry out the “necessary measures to ensure the journalist’s safety in a prompt manner and according to the risk he faces. The lack of response and attention in time and form put the safety of Flores Contreras and other journalists at risk.” Furthermore, it demanded that the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Attention to Crimes Committed against the Freedom of Expression (FEADLE in its Spanish acronym), investigate crimes committed against Flores Conteras, possibly in connection with his journalistic work.

For more information in Spanish:

Corresponsal de Proceso en Guerrero denuncia actos de hostigamiento en su contra (Proceso, 11 de junio de 2017)

Continúan agresiones contra corresponsal de Proceso, en Guerrero (Artículo 19, 11 de junio de 2017)

Continúa hostigamiento a corresponsal de Proceso en Guerrero: Artículo 19 (Desinformémonos, 12 de junio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero : Atacan a balazos a comunicadora originaria de Xochistlahuaca en Ometepec (5 de junio de 2017)

Nacional/Guerrero: Siguen ataques y homicidios de periodistas y defensores de Derechos Humanos (19 de mayo de 2017)

Guerrero : asesinan al periodista Cecilio Pineda (6 de marzo de 2017)

Chiapas: Rodrigo Guadalupe Huet Gomez Murdered

Cruzton community demands investigation into the murder of Rodrigo Guadalupe Huet Gomez Photo: @Chiapas Denuncia Publica

In a statement published on June 1st, residents of the Cruzton community in the municipality of Venustiano Carranza demanded justice in the case of the murder on May 22nd of Rodrigo Guadalupe Huet Gomez, an adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, in that community.

They indicated that on that same day, several adherents were ambushed by “a heavily armed group with high-caliber weapons from New Guadalupe Victoria [that] began a shootout that lasted four and a half hours, we had to take refuge between the trees, and stones to protect our lives” (sic).

As soon as the shootout subsided, Rodrigo Guadalupe got up to “observe and received a shot to the left side of his head our compañero managed to say they hit me I need help” (sic). An ambulance was called from Venustiano Carranza, and this was stopped in Colonia Guadalupe Victoria. They then called an ambulance from Teopisca, which was accompanied by a civil defense van, but “both units were stopped approximately 100 meters from our compañero Rodrigo Guadalupe Huet Gomez.” They were intercepted “by three heavily armed individuals and around these people there were more armed individuals in firing position” (sic). Rodrigo Guadalupe died in the meantime.

Regarding the event, the community of Cruzton demanded that they investigate and punish responsible material and intellectual authors responsible for these of these facts, as well as the disarmament of the identified group so that threats and harassment cease. “That the group that ambushed us be disarmed to end the threats and harassment in our community.”

For more information in Spanish:

Comunidad Cruztón exige se investigue asesinato de Rodrigo Guadalupe Huet Gómez (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, a 2 de junio de 2017)

CNDH pide a Chiapas medidas cautelares para familia de activista (La Jornada, 27 de mayo de 2017) ONU-DH condena los asesinatos de activistas en Jalisco y Chiapas (ONU-DH, 23 de mayo de 2017)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: OSC publican informe “Violencia generalizada en la cabecera municipal de Venustiano Carranza”

Chiapas: Se agudiza situación en Venustiano Carranza; enfrentamientos con la fuerza pública y varias detenciones

Chiapas: Leader of CIAOC-H Executed in Comitan de Dominguez

Luis Hernandez Cruz, ex-federal deputy for the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) (Photo@Alfaro Noticias)

On May 4th, 2017, one of the leaders of the Historical Independent Center of Agricultural Workers and Campesinos (CIOAC-H in its Spanish acronym) was assassinated in Chiapas. His name was Luis Hernandez Cruz, who was a federal deputy for the PRD.

The campesino leader was executed by gunmen in a van in front of his home in the Magueyes neighborhood of the city of Comitan de Dominguez.

CIOAC-H, an organization to which Luis Hernandez Cruz belonged, is linked to different conflicts in the area, including clashes with the EZLN and the assassination of Jose Luis Solis Lopez (the Zapatista Galeano), in May 2014. “In particular, Luis Hernandez had had political differences with other campesino groups who singled him out for financing armed groups to dispute land in the Las Margaritas region,” Proceso highlighted.

The investigation continues.

For more information in Spanish:

Ejecutan a exdiputado federal del PRD en Chiapas (Proceso, 4 de mayo de 2017)

Matan a ex diputado del PRD en Chiapas; investiga Fiscalía (El Universal, 5 de mayo de 2017)

Asesinan a dirigente de la Cioac Comitán en Chiapas (La Jordana, 4 de mayo de 2017)

Asesinan a líder de la CIOAC a balazos (El Heraldo de Chiapas, 4 de mayo de 2017)

Ejecutan a ex diputado del PRD en Chiapas (El Milenio, 4 de mayo de 2017)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: “Grupo armado de la CIOAC-Histórica atacó” a comunidad en el municipio de Las Margaritas (26 de enero de 2016)

Chiapas: Desplazados del Poblado Primero de Agosto denunciaron escalamiento de hostigamiento, amenazas de muerte y desalojo (7 de enero de 2016)

Chiapas: Denuncian hostigamiento militar a la JBG zapatista de La Realidad (13 de marzo de 2015)

Chiapas: Agresión contra Bases de Apoyo del EZLN deja un muerto y 15 heridos zapatistas (6 de mayo de 2014)

National/International: Mexico Second Most Violent Country World (IISS)

On May 9th, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) published the results of its 2017 Armed Conflict Study, which places Mexico as the second country with the highest number of deaths (23,000 counted in 2016) after Syria (50,000), and before Afghanistan (17,000) and Iraq (16,000). Mexico is the only country in America in the top ten.

The IISS claims that the levels violence coming from the fight against organized crime in Mexico reached those of a country in open war. “It is very unusual for criminal violence to reach a level similar to an armed conflict. But it happened in the Northern Triangle of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) and especially in Mexico”, the IISS warned.

 The Mexican Interior Ministry (SEGOB in its Spanish acronym) and Ministry for Foreign Affairs (SRE in its Spanish acronym) criticized the report questioning both the figures that it uses for being “unlikely” and “lacking technical rigor”; such as the fact that “Organized crime violence is a regional phenomenon that goes beyond the borders that Mexico shares with the United States, Guatemala and Belize, among many other countries. The challenges Mexico faces in this area cannot be isolated from related phenomena in other jurisdictions, such as arms trafficking and drug demand. The fight against transnational organized crime must be analyzed in an integral way.”

For more information in Spanish:

México es el segundo país del mundo con más muertos por “guerra”, según estudio (SDP Noticias, 9 de mayo de 2017)

México alcanzó los niveles de violencia de un país en guerra abierta: IISS (Proceso, 9 de mayo de 2017)

México, el segundo país más violento del mundo: IISS (La Jornada, 9 de mayo de 2017)

La SRE y Segob niegan que haya un conflicto armado en México; Trump retuitea encuesta inglesa (Sin Embargo, 10 de mayo de 2017)

Reporte del IISS sobre la violencia en México “carece de rigor técnico”: Segob y SRE (Proceso, 10 de mayo de 2017)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional : Pobres resultados diez años después de iniciar la guerra contra el crimen organizado ; El Ejército seguirá en las calles, EPN (16 de diciembre de 2016)