August 26, 1999

Chiapas: Army Moves on Rebel Communities

To: US Civil Society
From: Mexico Solidarity Network Re: Request for urgent action regarding recent events in Chiapas

Over the past two weeks there has been an alarming increase in militarization and a near state of siege in indigenous communities in Chiapas, Mexico. The following letter, signed by thirteen non-governmental organizations in Chiapas, requests our urgent assistance. The situation is critical and appears to be deteriorating. Following the letter is a set of recommended actions. Please act today.

To national and international civil society
To national and international human rights organizations

Since August 14, the Mexican army has sent 10,000 soldiers into new camps in the Lacandon Jungle. For the first time since 1994, the army has penetrated the Montes Azules biosphere where the general command of the EZLN is presumed to live. Approximately thirty communities in the region are in a virtual state of siege. Army troops attacked the inhabitants of Amador Hernandez in the municipality of Ocosingo with US-made tear gas, wounding several indigenous men and women. Access to the community has been obstructed, even for the people who live there. The army has taken possession of lands near the community and has surrounded them with barbed wire. The community is being terrorized by constant airplane and helicopter flights over the area and by the presence of Public Security forces.

On Thursday August 19, PRI supporters from Taniperlas detained three members of the Fray Bartolomé Human Rights Center, who were on their way to investigate the arbitrary detention of three people from the community Viejo Velasco. One of the community members, Pedro Gómez Aguilar, has been missing since July 23. The PRI supporters detained the human rights workers for two hours, threatening them and repeating xenophobic rhetoric such as "you are foreigners and are coming to impede the progress of this area," even though the detainees were all Mexican. The PRI members also told the human rights workers that only the Ocosingo municipal authorities could give permission to travel through that area, and if they tried to enter again without authorization they would have to pay the consequences. Finally, the PRI supporters gave them half an hour to leave, threatening that if they did not, members of the community would burn their vehicle.

On August 21, a Mexican doctor and two foreign human rights observers were brutally beaten by a group of PRI supporters who were blocking the road immediately after a military checkpoint in the community of Vicente Guerrero, municipality of Las Margaritas. The PRI supporters sexually assaulted the female doctor. So far, no authority has responded to the formal complaints filed.

The substitute governor of Chiapas, Roberto Albores Guillen, has mounted xenophobic campaign. In an unprecedented act, the xenophobia has even been directed at Mexican citizens, as in the aforementioned cases. Officials have also threatened to expel from Chiapas Mexican actress Ofelia Medina, who is known for her strong work around human rights abuses. The National Institute of Immigration has increased its presence at checkpoints on the roads to indigenous communities and is expelling many foreigners using the so-called "definitive departure order." It is also worrisome that this week Immigration agents have been visiting hotels in San Cristobal, searching for names and room numbers of tourists in order to give them citations.

Army troops have, on many occasions, violated the Mexican Constitution. Examples include violations of the right to free transit, free expression and article 129, which states: "In peace-time, no military authority can carry out functions other than those that have a direct connection to military discipline. There will only be permanent and fixed military commanders in the bases, forts, and military warehouses that are directly dependent on the federal government or in the camps, barracks, and deposits that are established, outside of population centers, to station troops." The army is also violating its own Military Justice Code. No sanctions have been applied by Executive, Legislative or Judicial authorities and no one has been prosecuted for these violations. In fact, these government officials have been co-participants in the unconstitutional operations, maintaining a climate of terror in indigenous communities. At the same time, the state government is agitating PRI militants from indigenous communities to block roads and prevent national and international observation in areas where the most grave injustices have occurred, so no witnesses can attest to these human rights violations.

We respectfully and urgently call for visitors, observers or accompaniers for the above-mentioned indigenous communities, in order to restrain the repressive actions orchestrated by the federal government and carried out by the state government and members of the Mexican National Army.

Experience and history confirm that the presence of observers, both national and international, help to prevent massacres and repression. Moreover, individuals have the right to carry out human rights observation under the UN Convention on Human Rights, which has been signed by Mexico.

Sincerely,
CIEPAC, A.C; Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolome de las Casas; SOS Chiapas; Red de Derechos Humanos Todos los Derechos para Todos; Comisión Mexicana para la Defensa y Promoción de Derechos Humanos; Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez; Enlance Civil; Kinal Antzetik; Boletin Resistencia; Junax; Formacion y Capacitacion, A.C.; Coordinadores Regionales de los Altos, Costa y Soconusco; Centro; Frontera Sur y Norte por la Consulta en Chiapas;

Demands:

1) Respect the demands of the indigenous communities by demilitarizing the state of Chiapas.

2) Implement the San Andres peace accords.

Actions suggested by the Mexico Solidarity Network

1) Call your Representatives. Inform them of the current crisis in Chiapas and the possibility of open warfare.

a) Ask them to call the Mexican Embassy in Washington, DC, (Tel: 202-728-0694) and the State Department (202-647-8113) to register their concerns.

b) Ask them to travel to Chiapas (or send an aide) with an emergency Congressional delegation that is being organized by the Mexico Solidarity Network (Tel: 773-583-7728 or 415-255-7296).

c) Ask them to sponsor a "Dear Colleague" letter to inform other members of Congress about the situation. (A sample "Dear Colleague" letter is available from the Mexico Solidarity Network, msn@mexicosolidarity.org.)

2) Call the Mexican Embassy in Washington, DC, the Mexican Consulate nearest you and the State Department with the demands listed above.

3) Organize an educational/fundraising event in your community to inform your community about current events in Chiapas and to raise funds for the indigenous communities that are struggling against dramatically increased government repression. (Contact the Mexico Solidarity Network for materials.)

For more information, please contact the Mexico Solidarity Network at 773-583-7728 or Global Exchange at 415-255-7296 ext. 236 or 239