Oaxaca: 75 arrests following march on 2 October

Photo @ Noticias Net

Like similar actions taken throughout Mexico, the 2 October march in Oaxaca was made to commemorate the 46 years since the Tlatelolco massacre and to express rejection of the grave murders and disappearances of students from Ayotzinapa in Iguala, in addition to other situations of violence experienced in Mexico.  The march in Oaxaca resulted in the arrest of 75 persons (44 females and 31 males), the majority of whom were minors.  It was also reported that members of the Indigenous Organization for Human Rights in Oaxaca (OIDHO) and of Section 22 of the National Union of Educational Workers (SNTE) were arrested.  The press bulletin released by OIDHO details that “at the bus stop to return home, eight members of the youth commission of our organization, one of them being a minor and several of the others being communal human-rights defenders, were victimized by an arbitrary arrest by the municipal and state police […].  After subjecting the youth in question to a brutal beating which angered neighbors and other passersby on the same street, they were carried off to two police trucks, and under constant physical and psychological abuse were transferred to the offices of the Secretary for Public (In)Security in San Bartolo Coyotepec.”

Norma Cruz Vázquez, the regional representative of Section 22 of the SNTE, confirmed the release of the 57 normalist students of the Normalist Student Coordination of Oaxaca (CENEO) who had been arrested as the presumed perpetrators of the destruction and vandalizations committed by a group of “anarchists” against at least 8 commercial establishments, an ATM, the offices of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), and the Palace for Governance.

For more information (in Spanish):

Boletín de prensa: Denunciamos la detención arbitraria de jóvenes de OIDHO (Educa, 2 de octubre de 2014)

Policía en Oaxaca detiene a estudiantes normalistas (Sección 22, 2 de octubre de 2014)

Liberan a normalistas tras detención ‘arbitraria’ por disturbios en marcha; ningún ‘anarquista’ detenido (Noticias Net, 3 de octubre de 2014)

Saldo de la marcha conmemorativa del 2 de octubre en Oaxaca: 75 personas detenidas (Kaos en la Red, 2 de octubre de 2014)

Con 37 marchas, bloqueos y daños a comercios se conmemoró la matanza del 2 de octubre de 1968 (Página 3, 2 de octubre de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

National: More confrontations and repression against social movement, 2 October (25 October 2013)

Chiapas/National: Mobilization #x1heightlaw in favor of the human rights of children and adolescents

Protest #x1heightlaw in San Cristóbal de Las Casas (@SIPAZ)

On 24 September, the Network for the Rights of Children in Mexico (#REDIM) and civil organizaitons carried out a symbolic protest in 11 cities of Mexico and in Geneva, Switzerland, “toward the end of calling on the Senate to be careful in the reforms it is implementing with regard to the bill presented by the president’s office, so that [senators] consider changes to be relevant and to guarantee the rights of the nearly 40 million children and adolescents who live in Mexico.”

The organizations stressed that “in this new General Law initiative, it is very important to guarantee an adequate and transparent budget for implementation; that the participation of civil society be contemplated via voice and vote; and that truly participatory mechanisms be established so that children and adolescents can opine regarding the decisions which affect them, such that these opinions be taken into account in terms of the construction of public policies having to do with children.”

Symbolic protests were carried out in Guadalajara, Jalisco; Morelia, Michoacán; Tehuacán, Puebla; Comitán, Tapachula , and San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas; La Paz, Baja California; Poza Rica and Xalapa, Veracruz, and in Mexico City.  Protestors carried black umbrellas to symbolize the protection that is sought with this new law.

For more information (in Spanish):

REDIM Y OSC REALIZAN ACTO SIMBÓLICO Y LLAMAN A SENADORESA CUIDAR LOS DETALLES PARA GARANTIZAR UNA LEY DE ALTURA (Melel Xojobal, 24 de septiembre de 2014)

REDIM presentará informe sobre los derechos de la niñez en México ante la ONU (Cencos, 24 de septiembre de 2014)

Organizaciones llaman a senadores para analizar ley infantil (Reporte Ciudadano, 24 de septiembre de 2014)

Hoy, debate final en el Senado de ley para proteger a niños (La Jornada, 24 de septiembre de 2014)

Para solidarizarse: http://chn.ge/1wwb3mg

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

National/Chiapas: “little to celebrate” for Children’s Day (16 May 2014)

Chiapas: Forum on “The rights of childhood and adolescence in southeastern Mexico” (15 March 2014)

National: Civil Commission for Pursuit and Search for two disappeared members of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) denounces lack of progress

(@Serapaz)

In a communique directed to public opinion published on 17 September, members of the Civil Commission for Pursuit and Search of the members of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) who have been disappeared since May 2007–Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez–lamented the lack of progress in finding their whereabouts.

The members affirmed that, “despite the commitment made on 4 August by the subsecretary of Governance, Luis Enrique Miranda Nava, to define a proposal of the path of work that would facilitate the observance of the sentence of the judiciary power of the federation in this paradigmatic case of forced disappearance, to date, and despite the meeting held just a few days ago with the legal team, we report no progress in this process.”

The members recalled that the sentence consists in “the creation of a special commission for searching; the carrying out of visits to the places of possible arrest and disappearance of those missing, especially military bases; the taking of testimony from civil servants and soldiers who were working in May 2007, the time of the forcible disappearances; and the reporting on the possible exhumations carried out in military bases to see if bodies buried there correspond with those of the disappeared.”  They denounced that “this lack of observance of one’s word is the most worrying aspect of the repressive environment experienced in this country, one that is expressed among other things in the lack of political will to open spaces for effective dialogue.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Comunicado: “La Comisión Civil de Seguimiento y Búsqueda de Edmundo Reyes Amaya y Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez informa al PDPR-EPR y a la opinión pública” (Serapaz, 17 de septiembre de 2014)

Acusan a Segob de incumplir sentencia en caso de eperristas desaparecidos (Proceso, 17 de septiembre de 2014)

Lamentan activistas incumplimiento de la SG en caso de eperristas desaparecidos (La Jornada, 18 de septiembre de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Nacional/Internacional: Actions taken on the International Day of the Detained and Disappeared (6 September 2014)

National: International Week of the Detained and Disappeared concludes in Mexico (10 June 10 2014)

National: 30 August, International Day for Victims of Forced Disappearance (16 September 2013)

Oaxaca: Bounty placed on head of female rights-defender for 100,000 pesos

Photo @Voces de Oaxaca

On 19 August, the indigenous human-rights defender Silvia Pérez Yescas, member of Conservation, Investigation, and Exploitation of Natural Resources (CIARENA), received notice that in the community of San José Río Manzo, unknown persons had placed a bounty on her head amounting to 100,000 pesos, this following a long absence of hers from her home. On 16 January 2013, a group of twenty armed men irrupted into the defender’s home, threatening and intimidating her. She and her son escaped unharmed, but following the attack they did not return to their home, for security reasons.

It should be mentioned that in recent years, Silvia Pérez has received more than ten death-threats against her person due to her work with CIARENA. Furthermore, she has been awarded precautionary measures by the Oaxaca state government, though “these have never been completely implemented,” as Front Line Defenders has stated. She also forms a part of the National Mechanism for the Protection of Human-Rights Defenders and Journalists, though “the measures that have been taken have proven insufficient for her security guarantees.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Ponen precio a vida de defensora de derechos Oaxaqueña (Voces de Oaxca, 26 de agosto de 2014)

Mexico: Amenazas en contra de Silvia Pérez Yescas, defensora de derechos humanos de CIARENA (Frontline Defenders, 26 de agosto de 2014)

En inglés: Mexico: Threats against Silvia Perez Yescas, human rights defender from CIARENA (Frontline Defenders)

Acción Urgente: Amenazan a Silvia Pérez Yescas, defensora de DH de CIARENA (Educa, 26 de agosto de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Oaxaca: Armed men threaten human-rights defender (29 January 2013)

Oaxaca: Resurrection of the Tepeyac Center for Human Rights in the Tehuantepec Isthmus

Arturo Lona Reyes (Foto @ Juchitan Informa)

On 17 and 18 August, Arturo Lona Reyes, bishop emeritus of the Tehuantepec diocese, reinitiated the work of the Tepeyac Center for Human Rights (CDHT), given that “we are concerned by the difficult realities experienced by the peoples and organizations of the Isthmus” and “so as to share and generate orientations and lines of work to strengthen our processes and struggles for life.” The CDHT, which Arturo Lona originally founded in March 1992, “is committed to beginning a new phase of work, orientated to accompany and encourage the spirit of organization and articulation among the peoples and communities who defend their cultures, lands, territory, resources, and rights.”

The first activity the CDHT held was a workshop on human rights which featured the experiences and knowledge of Sara Méndez, coordinadator of the Gobixha Committee for the Comprehensive Defense of Human Rights (Código-DH), and of Miguel Álvarez, president of the Services for Peace Center for Human Rights (Serapaz). During the event, indigenous persons from San Dionisio del Mar denounced that six concessions have been granted to mining companies which threaten the life of the Ikoots people, while Zapotec indigenous persons from Álvaro Obregón, Juchitán municipality, stressed that they would maintain the defense of their autonomy.

Beyond this, fatehr Lucio Santiago declared that, “as a diocese, the Church should intervene more in the realities of our indigenous peoples and prophetically denounce all that which threatens their lives. As parish priests, we must advocate changes which favor human rights.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Comunicado del CDHT: Pronunciamiento a los pueblos y organizaciones del Istmo (Educa, 19 de agosto de 2014)

Relanza Lona Reyes Centro de DH Tepeyac (Blog Juchitan Informa, 19 de agosto de 2014)

Asume el Obispo Emérito Lona Reyes la coordinación de CDHT (Agencia Quadratín, 18 de agosto de 2014)

Comienza nueva etapa Centro de Derechos Humanos Tepeyac (Noticias Net, 19 de agosto de 2014)

Oaxaca: The Diocese of Puerto Escondido expresses its full support to the communities in resistance to hydro project Paso de la Reina

Demostration form COPUDEVER (@SIPAZ)

Coinciding with International Environment Day, the Bishop of the Diocese of Puerto Escondido, Pedro Vasquez Villalobos, conducted a Mass in which he expressed the full support of the diocese to the community of Paso de la Reina and other communities organized in the Council of Peoples United for the Defense of the Verde River (COPUDEVER). In relation to their resistance to the construction of the Paso de la Reina Hydroelectric Dam, in the Municipality of Jamiltepec, Oaxaca, he stressed: “I say to those who live here and are striving to protect this river and the land, feel our support … our spiritual presence and strength of will because we are united to you, saying NO to the construction of the dam at Paso de la Reina … We are united with you, it is an union of the Church with you … “.

The bishop noted that the project violates the human rights of hundreds of thousands of people and stressed the importance of the river to the lives and development of communities that benefit from it: “You are the guardians of water, plants, animals, and the land they inhabit,” said the bishop in reference to the Indians, “rightful owners of these lands and territories”. 3.100 hectares of 40 villages from six municipalities would be affected by the dam.

About the smear campaign undertaken by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) against the Diocesan Church of Puerto Escondido, the bishop said: “It has made serious disqualifications against our work saying that we come from outside the region and accuses of misinforming and confusing public opinion. “

For more information (in Spanish):

Pronunciamiento diocesano (Diócesis de Puerto Escondido, 5 de junio de 2014)

La Iglesia se opone a proyecto hidroeléctrico en Oaxaca (Proceso, 5 de junio de 2014)

CFE desprestigia a Diócesis de Puerto Escondido por oponerse a Presa Paso de la Reina (Página 3, 5 de junio de 2014)

La Diócesis de Puerto Escondido y agentes de pastoral reiteran su apoyo al Consejo de Pueblos Unidos en defensa del Río Verde (Fé y resistencia, 6 de junio de 2014)

Respalda obispo lucha de pueblos contra Paso de la Reina (Noticias, 6 de junio de 2014)

Reitera Diócesis de Puerto Escondido oposición a hidroeléctrica Paso de la Reyna (E-Oaxaca, 6 de junio de 2014)

CFE desprestigia a Diócesis de Puerto Escondido por oponerse a Presa Paso de la Reina (Chiapas Paralelo, 6 de junio de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English)

National: National Program on Infrastructure presents projects with possible effects for the populace (May 16, 2014)

Oaxaca/National: Peaceful protest by COPUDEVER to mark “International Day of Action against Dams and for Rivers, Water, and Life” (March 28, 2014)

Oaxaca: COPUDEVER and EDUCA present report on “Paso de la Reina” (July 19, 2013)

Chiapas: EZLN requests support for the reconstruction of the autonomous school and clinic in La Realidad

Zapatista Women (@SIPAZ)

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, spokesperson of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), reported that at a meeting was held with “Zapatista comrades from La Realidad” who agreed to ask to “the comrades of the Sixth Declaration in Mexico and the world” to organize and try to get some money for the purchase of construction materials with which a new autonomous school and clinic could be built in the caracol.

The Zapatista facilities were destroyed last May 2 by members of the Historical Independent Center of Agricultural Workers and Campesinos (CIOAC-H), who also assaulted several Zapatista support bases, and killed the Zapatista support base José Luis Solis Lopez (“Galeano”).

The total cost for the building, which will be a two-story building both for the school and the clinic, is 200,209 pesos. Apart from building materials, “health equipment, the thermometer, baumanometer, auriscope, etc., and also the medicine are needed.”

Subcomandante Moisés concluded: “Well compas of the Sixth, that is what I wanted to tell you. You see if you are able to gather any money together”.

In response to the request made by the EZLN, individuals and organizations in Mexico and the world have organized the “Global Campaign for the reconstruction of the school and clinic in La Realidad, Chiapas, Mexico”, in order to collect the necessary funds.

For more information (in Spanish):

Una reunión en La Realidad zapatista hace unos pocos días. Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés (Enlace Civil, 8 de junio de 2014)

Circular informativa Campaña mundial para la reconstrucción de la esculea y clínica de La Realidad, chiapas, México (Enlace Civil, 8 de junio de 2014)

Pide EZLN 200 mil pesos para obras en La Realidad (El Universal, 8 de junio de 2014)

EZLN llama a La Otra Campaña a reunir 200 mil pesos para construir escuela y clínica en La Realidad (SDP Noticias, 8 de junio de 2014)

“Con ley o sin ley” practicaremos autonomía en derechos y cultura: EZLN (La Jornada, 9 de junio de 2014)

EZLN reconstruirán escuela y clínica en La Realidad, pide solidaridad de adherentes (Chiapas Paralelo, 9 de junio de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: EZLN announces dates for the exchanges between Zapatistas and indigenous peoples of the CNI (June 12, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN announces upcoming activities (June 10, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN pays tribute to murdered Support-base and announces organizational changes (June 10, 2014)