National: Process of “Free, Prior and Informed Consultation” on Constitutional and Legal Reform of Rights of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples Begins

Photo @ Alcaldes de Mexico

According to the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI in its Spanish acronym) and the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB in its Spanish acronym) “there is a need to harmonize and reform the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, in accordance with the various international and national legal instruments on human rights of the indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples, as well as in the jurisprudential criteria and in the recommendations of various bodies of the United Nations Organization and the Inter-American Human Rights System.”

For this reason, on June 21st, the Mexican government began “the free, prior and informed consultation of the indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities, “which will aim to “receive opinions, and proposals on the principles and criteria that will sustain the Constitutional Reform Initiative and the corresponding regulatory laws on the rights of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples.” There will be 54 Regional Consultation Forums, 53 in Mexican territory and one last forum on August 4th in Los Angeles, California, USA specifically for the indigenous migrant population.

In the regional forums indigenous municipal authorities; community authorities, delegates, agents, curators, heads of tenure, site authorities, assistantships, among others, depending on what the federative entity may be; traditional indigenous and Afro-Mexican authorities; indigenous and Afro-Mexican agrarian authorities (communal and from ejidos); organizations, institutions and citizens belonging to indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples, and academic and research institutions related to indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples, may participate.

In a first informative stage, the subjects consulted must be informed through a wide dissemination of information on the subjects to be consulted. “For this, the document “Principles and Criteria for Constitutional and Legal Reform” has been prepared with the topics and their possible contents that encourage reflection, debate and consensus of proposals.” In addition, “community assemblies, discussion groups, workshops, among others, will take place in indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities and communities, as well as in academic institutions specialized in the investigation of indigenous problems.” In accordance with the consultation protocol, these actions will be done from the issuance of the convocation and up to one day before the Regional Consultation Forums.

The consultation focuses on the following topics:

With the purpose of generating the greatest possible consensus in the different subjects subject to consultation, a National Forum will be held in Mexico City on August 7th, 8th and 9th. In this National Forum representatives will participate, who must be indigenous authorities who were elected in the regional forums.

“For the follow-up of the agreements and consensus reached in the consultation process, in the National Forum, among the participants, a Follow-up Commission will be chosen that will have the objective of establishing dialogues with the national debate and decision-making bodies, as well being in charge of promoting the deliberation and analysis of the Constitutional Reform proposals and, where appropriate, the reforms to the corresponding secondary laws. Said Commission shall be composed of an equal number of men and women.”

For more information in Spanish:

Pueblos indígenas y afromexicano inician consultas para fortalecer sus derechos (Aristegui Noticias, 21 de junio de 2019)

Publica DOF protocolo de consulta para reforma sobre derechos indígenas (La Jornada, 21 de junio de 2019)

CONVOCATORIA al proceso de consulta libre, previa e informada para la Reforma Constitucional y Legal sobre Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas y Afromexicano. (Secretaría de Gobernación, 13 de junio de 2019)

PROTOCOLO DE LA CONSULTA LIBRE, PREVIA E INFORMADA PARA EL PROCESO DE REFORMA CONSTITUCIONAL Y LEGAL SOBRE DERECHOS DE LOS PUEBLOS INDÍGENAS Y AFROMEXICANO (Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas, 3 de junio de 2019)

PUBLICACIÓN DE LOS DOMICILIOS EN QUE SE REALIZARÁN LOS FOROS REGIONALES DE CONSULTA (Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/International: UN Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples Calls on AMLO Government to Comply with International Standards on Indigenous Consultation for Megaprojects in their Territories, March 19th, 2019

Oaxaca/National: Federal Government Presents National Program for Indigenous Peoples December 28th 2018

National/International: UN Special Rapporteur on Rights of Indigenous Peoples Presents Report in Mexico City One Year after her Visit (October 22nd, 2018)

 

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Chiapas: Destruction of Camps and Threats to Tsotsil Population in Forced Displacement

On December 23, 2018, the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center published this Urgent Action:

New forced displacements in Chalchihuitán, Chiapas

Destruction of camps and threats to Tsotsil population as forced displacement increases conditions of vulnerability and risks for 1,146 people.

Nine camps which housed internally displaced people in Chalchihuitán, Chiapas, were destroyed on December 21, 2018, between 14:00 and 17:00 hours, approximately, in a context of aggression on the part of Hermelindo García Núñez, Municipal Union of Chalchiuitán, member of the National Action Party.

238 displaced families in the Barrio Shishimtotik, Tulantik, Ch’enmut, Bololchojon, Cruz K’ak’anam, Jolcantetik, Cruzton, Bejelton, and Barrio Pom camps lost the few belongings they had in the houses made of plastic, wood, and some with sheets. They also demolished toilets built with donations from solidarity organizations such as Caritas.

The population, mostly women and children, moved again after the aggression and intimidation. Families have lent them spaces, but there have been threats to expel anyone from their community if they help displaced people in this way. Testimonies say that community authorities prohibited humanitarian access, and threatened to tie up and burn representatives of the Chalchihuite Committee, as well as anyone who tries to enter the demolished camps.

At least 1,237 people remain in forced displacement in Chalchihuitán, Chiapas, in conditions of vulnerability and risk, without being able to return to their homes because their land is on the edge of the conflict where armed groups from Chenalhó continue to fire weapons which intensify in the early hours of the morning.

More than a year after the massive forced displacement of communities of Tsotsil people of Chalchihuitán, Chiapas, the situation remains serious and human rights violations continue due to the failure of the Mexican State. The government of Chiapas fails to comply with international commitments to care for and protect displaced people and violates precautionary measure No. 882-17 granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on February 24, 2018, “to guarantee the rights of members of indigenous peoples in a situation of risk to the life, safety, and personal integrity of the 10 displaced communities since November 2017.

For this reason, we demand that the Mexican State:

Guarantee the safety, integrity, and life of the population in forced displacement in Chalchihuitán, Chiapas.

Stop the threats and aggression coming from Hermelindo García Núñez, Municipal Union of Chalchiuitán, against representatives of the Chalchihuite Committee.

In accordance with the Guiding Principles on Forced Displacement of the United Nations, deal comprehensively with the forced displacement in Chalchihuitán, Chiapas.

We ask national and international solidarity to send your appeals to:

C. Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Presidente Constitucional de México     Residencia Oficial de los Pinos. Casa Miguel Alemán. Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, C.P. 11850 Ciudad de México. Fax: (+52) 55 5093 4901:Twitter: @lopezobrador_

Lic.Olga Sánchez Cordero. Secretaria de Gobernación de México                              Bucareli 99, 1er. piso. Col. Juárez. Delegación Cuauhtémoc;  C.P. 06600 Ciudad de México. Fax: (+52) 55 5093 34 14; Correo:secretario@segob.gob.mx: Twitter: @M_OlgaSCordero

Lic. Luis Raúl González Pérez. Presidente de la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Edificio “Héctor Fix Zamudio”, Blvd. Adolfo López Mateos 1922, 6°piso. Col. Tlacopac San Ángel. Delegación Álvaro Obregón. C.P. 01040; Ciudad de México.              Fax: (+52) 0155 36 68 07 67: Correo: correo@cndh.org.mx : Twitter: @CNDH

Lic. Rutilio Escandón Cadenas. Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Chiapas Palacio de Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas, 1er Piso Av. Central y Primera Oriente, Colonia Centro, C.P. 29009. Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México                                                Fax: +52 961 61 88088 – + 52 961 6188056; Extensión 21120. 21122;                              Correo: secparticular@chiapas.gob.mx: Twitter: @JuntoscnRutilio

Lic. Ismael Brito Mazariegos. Secretario General de Gobierno en Chiapas: Palacio De Gobierno, 2o. Piso, Centro C.P. 29000 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas. Conmutador: (961) 61 8 74 60 Ext. 20003: Correo: secretariaparticular.sgg@gmail.com

Lic. Alonso Méndez Guzmán. Subsecretario de Gobierno de la Región V. Altos Tsotsil-Tseltal: Francisco I. Madero No. 101, Barrio Guadalupe C.P. 29200 San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. Teléfono: 01 (967) 67 465 94 Fax: 01 (967) 67 465 94

C. Margarita Díaz García. Presidente Municipal de Chalchihuitán                                Avenida Central S/N, Palacio Municipal C.P. 29850 Chalchihuitán, Chiapas.              Teléfono: (01 919) 10 1-10-28 o Teléfono: 9671245086

 

For more information in Spanish:

Denuncia el Frayba la destrucción de 9 campamentos de desplazados (La Jornada, 24 de diciembre de 2018)

Destruyen nueve campamentos de mujeres e infantes en Chalchihuitán(Regeneración, 24 de diciembre de 2018)

Destruyen campamentos de 238 familias tsotsiles desplazadas en Chiapas(Contralínea, 24 de diciembre de 2018)

Navidad en Chiapas: destruyen 9 campamentos con 1146 indígenas, la mayoría mujeres, niñas y niños (Sin Embargo, 25 de diciembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: displaced families from Banavil return to their home to celebrate the Day of the Dead (November 3, 2018).

Chiapas: State Congress asks the government to address the issue of forced displacement; displaced people from Colonia Puebla return to San Cristóbal de Las Casas (October 30, 2018).

National: 20,390 Forcibly Displaced in 2017 – Over 329,900 in the Last 12 Years (May 11, 2018).

 

Guerrero: Tlachinollan celebrates 20 years of struggle in defense of human rights

In Tlapa de Comofort, Guerrero, on 25 and 26 July, the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights celebrated its XX anniversary, with these twenty years being characterized by struggle besides indigenous peoples in defense of their rights.   More than 400 representatives from 85 communities of the Mountain region, together with different organizations and social movements from various states and representatives of international institutions, arrived to attend the forum “From the communal heart of resistance.”  On this occasion Abel Barrera Hernández, director of Tlachinollan, declared that “the criminalization of indigenous peoples has risen, and so has the threats against their lands.  There are attempts to loot [these lands] by means of mining concessions and attempts to build hydroelectric dams.  The situation of life in these communities is worsening due to abuse, looting, and the complacence of the authorities in the face of organized crime.”  Furthermore, he stressed the inequity and lack of attention from the government for indigenous peoples in the region.

At the end of the forum, a march was held toward the city center to demand the release of representatives of the Regional Coordination of Communal Authorities-Communal Police (CRAC-PC) and of the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to La Parota (CECOP), including Nestora Salgado García, Arturo Campos, Gonzalo Molina, and Marco Antonio Suástegui.  Furthermore, members of the Council of Victims of the Mountain of Guerrero demanded that the state government observe its promises to support communities that were affected by the storms that destroyed crops and homes last September.

During the event itself, the importance of collective work was recognized as fundamental for the defense of human rights in the Mountain region, and Abel Barrera Hernández expressed his gratitude to indigenous peoples: “They gave us tortilla, coffee, petate, and shade, and they showed us how to sow communal justice.  For this reason, these twenty years have no sense without you, because you are the fathers, mothers, and founders of Tlachinollan.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Festeja Tlachinollan sus 20 años con una marcha en Guerrero (La Jornada, 27 de julio de 2014)

Reconocen 20 años de Tlachinollan, trabajo que busca justicia social para las comunidades (Sididh, 28 de julio de 2014)

Tlachinollan, 20 años de defensa de los derechos humanos en la Montaña(Sin Embargo, 28 de julio de 2014)

OPINIÓN: 20 años por los derechos humanos (Tlachinollan, 23 de julio de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: Celebration of the 19th anniversary of the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights (4 August 2013)

Guerrero: 18th Anniversary of Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights (20 June 2012)

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

Protest in Jamiltepec. Photo @Sipaz

On 14 March, to mark the “International Day of Action against Dams and for Rivers, Water, and Life,” the Council of Peoples United for the Defense of the Verde River (COPUDEVER) carried out a “funerary march” and peacefully occupied the offices of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) in the Santiago Jamiltepec municipality to protest the construction of the Paso de la Reina dam.  Another 16 communities from the Coast and union delegations from Section 22 of the National Coordination of Educational Workers (CNTE) also participated in the action.  With the slogan “Enough of imposing projects against the will of the people,” they denounced that the Paso de la Reina hydroelectric project will negatively affect indigenous peoples and their territory, culture, natural resources, and subsistence practices, due to the formation of the reservoir the dam would imply.  Moreover, they have reported as having their right to consultation violated in the process to date.

This same day there were carried out actions against dams and for rivers, water, and life in other parts of the republic and the world.  Furthermore, other cases such as the dams in Chicoasén II (Chiapas), Las Cruces (Nayarit), Atoyac (Veracruz), and Zapotillo (Jalisco) were similarly denounced.

For more information (in Spanish):

Copudever se suma al 14 de marzo Día Internacional de Acción contra las Represas (Copudever, 14 de marzo de 2014)

Copudever insiste en cancelación del proyecto “Paso de la Reina”; atenta vs los pueblos (Página3, 14 de marzo de 2014)

Con “marcha fúnebre” inicia Copudever toma simbólica de CFE en Jamiltepec (Diario Oaxaca, 14 de marzo de 2014)

Celebran en Oaxaca día en Defensa del Agua (NSS Oaxaca, 14 de marzo de 2014)

Marchan en Jamiltepec contra la presa Paso de la Reina (Pinodebate, 14 de marzo de 2014)

Elevado riesgo para la fauna de Nayarit con presa Las Cruces (La Jornada, 12 de marzo de 2014)

El agua del río Atoyac no se negocia (Zapateando, 25 de febrero de 2014)

En Chiapas se declaran territorios libres de represas y mineras (Derecho a la Consulta Previa, 3 de enero de 2014)

Municipios afectados por hidroeléctricas, sin riqueza ni prosperidad garantizada (Chiapas Paralelo, 2 de diciembre de 2013)

http://pasodelareina.org/

EDUCA: Galería de fotos y los videos: En Río Verde, Oaxaca, otra batalla por el agua (7 min.) y Presa Paso de la Reina ¿Desarrollo para Quien? (6 min.)

Para más información de SIPAZ:

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

Guerrero: prisoners of the OPIM are released

The Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Montaña (CDHM, El Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan) released the following press release regarding the appeal granted to 4 of the 5 members of the Indiginous Me’phaa People’s Organization (OPIM, Organización del Pueblo Indígena Me’phaa):

Federal judge grants appeal by Me’phaa indigenous men imprisoned in Ayutla

• The verdict was announced on 15th October in favour of four prisoners. One will remain in prison.
• The prisoners who won the appeal should be freed by tomorrow, Tuesday 21^st October.
• The verdict demonstrates that the aim of the arrests was to put an end to their organised work

Tlapa, Guerrero, Mexico on October 20, 2008- The Eigth District judge based in Acapulco, Livia Lizabeth Larumbe Radilla, granted the appeal by four of the five members of the Indigenous Me’phaa People’s Organisation (Organización del Pueblo Indígena Me´phaa, OPIM). For six months they have been imprisoned in Ayutla jail, accused of the murder of an Army informer.

Following this verdict that was announced on 15th October, the First Instance Mixed judge in Ayutla, Alfredo Sánchez Sánchez, was notified on Friday 17th and he has 24 hours to release the accused indigenous men.

This would mean that tomorrow, 21st October, at the latest, the prisoners will be leaving the jail, except for Raúl Hernández Abundio, who will remain in prison because the District judge says that the witnesses claim that he was present when the gun that killed Alejandro Feliciano García was fired, on 1st January this year. However, this accusation is very vague.

The II Hemispheric Meeting Against Militarization takes place in La Esperanza, Honduras

Slideshow of the II Hemispheric Meeting Against Militarization

The II Hemispheric Meeting Against Militarization took place between 3 and 6 October, 2008 in La Esperanza, Intibucá, Honduras. The meeting saw the participation of some 800 individuals and 175 organizations from 27 different countries including: Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, the United States, Canada and five European countries.

During the 4 day gathering 19 regional based cases of “solidarity/urgent actions” were presented in which participants denounced the current militarization status of Haiti, Colombia, The United States, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Chile, Mexico, El Salvador, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the Triple Border (between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay), Honduras, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, Uruguay, Guatemala y Paraguay.

On October 3 and 4 workshops were presented on several diverse theme including: Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Americans and Campesinos; Immigration; Social Movements; the Criminalization of Social Struggle; the Fourth Fleet; the Triple Border; Military Bases; the Military Industrial Complex; the SPP (Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America); Free Trade Agreements; the Mesoamerican Project (formerly the PPP, Plan Puebla Panama); IIRSA (Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America), the Merida Initiative and Plan Colombia. The reflection on possible plans of action was divided into regions: South America, Mesoamerica (including southern Mexico), the Caribbean and the North (including northern Mexico).

At the closing of the meeting the Final Declaration was read to the participants and later made public (in Spanish, see below). On the morning of the 6th, the gathering was concluded with a march and subsequent demonstration held in front of the United States military base located in Palmerola, Comayagua, Honduras.

Final Declaration of the II Hemispheric Forum Against Militarization (Spanish)

More information:

Hundreds Gather to Confront Militarization of the Americas (Americas Policy Program, 05/10/08)

More Information (in Spanish):

Sitio del II Encuentro Hemisférico contra la Militarización

Campesinos e indígenas protestan en base de Palmerola y exigen su cierre (Proceso, 06/10/08)

Campaña por la Desmilitarización de las Américas